New Chassis Opinion Pole

[Mark in Oshawa]

I disagree that no serious fan of racing wants to see a spec series. I enjoy many spec series from GP2 to Spec Miata.

I do agree that a top series cannot be taken seriously if "spec"

No top International or National series is Spec.
F-1
WRC
WTCC
BTCC
DTM
LeMans
V8 Supercars...ect.

Even NASCAR, while is mostly a Spec series, they go to great effort to prevent that from becoming common knowledge.

Your point though is mine. No top International or National series is spec. The IRL is supposed to be the top North American series with a unique American flavour to it. Giving everyone Italian chassis with Japanese motors with little or no connection to the American public has been a death sentence of sorts.

They need to make a set of rules, and invite anyone who wants to play to play within those rules, engines or chassis and let the chips fall where they may. Worrying about car counts I know is a concern, but I would rather have a real series with 20 cars than 26 identical cars in theory, with only 6 to 8 always running up front like we do now.

[call_me_andrew]

Robin Miller hints there will be more than one chassis provider. I assume this means Dallara and Lola will collaborate to build a single chassis.

[Lousada]

Robin Miller hints there will be more than one chassis provider. I assume this means Dallara and Lola will collaborate to build a single chassis.

Or that they will continue with the current Dallara's...

[Mark in Oshawa]

Robin Miller hints there will be more than one chassis provider. I assume this means Dallara and Lola will collaborate to build a single chassis.

No...this means both will put chassis out there for team's to buy. If they collaborate, then they might as well do nothing...

[anthonyvop]

If only it looked like this.

The new GP2 Series car, which will be used from the start of next year, has hit the track for the first time.

As AUTOSPORT's exclusive spy shot of the new GP2/11 car shows, it marks a radical visual departure from its predecessors.

The car will be raced in both the main and Asia Series, and was put through its paces by former GP2 racer Ben Hanley at the Magny-Cours club circuit on Monday morning.

The aerodynamic package of the car has been completely overhauled to bring it more into line with the current generation of Formula 1 cars.

Despite being visually very different, the basic chassis remains fundamentally the same apart from an enlarged driver head protection area.

This means that teams will have the option of either buying brand-new cars or having their current tubs modified to bring them up to spec.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/85014

[champcarray]

#1, please. I fall into the n0-self-respecting-top-flight-series-is-spec camp.

[champcarray]

If Indycar continues single-spec, I fully expect the death of a clown.

[px400r]

I appreciate your point, px400r. But as you said, it was on track competition that determined one chassis' dominance (and popularity) over another. It was not a mandate from the series. If there had been a mandate on what to run by CART, we'd have never seen the innovation of the "Reynske" or the Swift or the Fernandez(?) "Frankenstein" car. And even when it was March, Lola or Reynard that was the most competitive, the teams basically just used the base chassis. Unlike today, they could still heavily modify the base chassis and make it their own.

None of us have to shell out the dollars it would take to buy a chassis. But at the same time, as fans, we at least want to believe that a guy who has the knowledge to build a better mousetrap, or improve on a good mousetrap and make it better, can do so. If all they're doing is assembling kit cars, and like most ladder series, they can't deviate from the original design AT ALL, many of us have a hard time seeing that as top tier racing. It might be good racing. I'd rather watch GP2 than some F1 races, especially a few years ago when the F1 shows weren't always so good. When it's mandated spec, you do get a better idea of what one driver can do versus the others, because the cars are roughly equal. In F1, the only way to compare drivers (really) is to compare teammates to one another. But I don't care about that so much. I'm as fascinated by the innovations brought to the track by the McLaren, Red Bull or Ferrari organizations as I am about how good the drivers are. I guess the trick is finding the balance so that you don't consistently have someone like Danica being able to put a lap on Lewis Hamilton... ya know, should he ever lose his F1 ride (and his mind) and come to the IRL.

My only reservation about the IRL going away from the spec formula is that so much of the field depends on ride buyers, and doesn't have the resources to run anything other than a (cheap/inexpensive) spec chassis; they don't have the funds to develop it. But by the same token, if the league has not much more than broke teams funded by ride buyers, it's not really top tier anyway, huh? As the song goes, "if you ain't got no money, take your broke azz home!"

I understand your point. In truth, I subscribed to the same opinion. But the reality is that Indy Car's on track product is so boring and predictable that a variety of chassis and engines is only "lipstick on a pig." What's needed is to upgrade the on track competition. I'm willing to take the ugly spec Dallara-Honda if the racing was 10 times better. It's really no use to have a variety of chassis/engine combinations on the grid if the Penske/Ganassi domination continues.

[Mark in Oshawa]

I understand your point. In truth, I subscribed to the same opinion. But the reality is that Indy Car's on track product is so boring and predictable that a variety of chassis and engines is only "lipstick on a pig." What's needed is to upgrade the on track competition. I'm willing to take the ugly spec Dallara-Honda if the racing was 10 times better. It's really no use to have a variety of chassis/engine combinations on the grid if the Penske/Ganassi domination continues.

The racing WONT be better under the current format because the cars are about all developed out and there is a lack of room to find new ideas when the rules are so restrictive. What makes racing or passing interesting is the ability of cars to pass each other. You hit the right setup, you can drive by people. Now, most teams are so close to each other, passing is difficult. This in theory is a good thing, but people want to see passes. They want to see the fast car shuffled back because of a pit stop carving his way through the field. Under the current rules, you put a fast guy out with no pit stops remaining about mid field, he wont get to the front. If there was greater room for different setups and ideas, cars would be faster at different parts of the track and really fast guys would have the ability likely to carve their way forward. It is game of inches in this scenario, but right now it is a game of thousands...and you cannot really gain much of an advantage.

It is a dichotomy. Cars have to be different from each other enough that there are faster and slower cars, but not be SO great that it is a run away. You get that when the rules are open enough that there are few different chassis, more engine possiblities and different aero tricks.

[Jag_Warrior]

I understand your point. In truth, I subscribed to the same opinion. But the reality is that Indy Car's on track product is so boring and predictable that a variety of chassis and engines is only "lipstick on a pig." What's needed is to upgrade the on track competition. I'm willing to take the ugly spec Dallara-Honda if the racing was 10 times better. It's really no use to have a variety of chassis/engine combinations on the grid if the Penske/Ganassi domination continues.

I agree with you. I don't know what they need to do to get there, but that is what needs to happen. Isn't it funny that in the (nearly) laissez-faire world of Formula One, a change in the rules set the F1 world on its head last season? And with Red Bull now a top team, it's still somewhat on its head. What confuses me is that in GP2 the racing is typically VERY good with a good amount of passing, but they have a spec chassis too. I mean there are top teams that tend to attract the best drivers every year in GP2. But watching a GP2 race is like watching a pack of wild, hungry dogs fighting over the last scrap of bread. I continue to think that one issue with the IRL is the drivers being too sweet & nice to each other. I'd rather see Paul Tracy, Mike Andretti, Alex Zanardi, Greg Moore, Jacques Villeneuve and Juan Montoya type people (truly) going for it, as if their lives depended on getting that next spot... like in GP2. But you can't just go out and buy those types of "win at any cost" personalities, so I don't know...

I guess the latest rumor is an announcement of multiple chassis next week. We'll see what that does.