Dan Wheldon and the 2012 IndyCar were at Iowa Speedway for a day of testing Tuesday. It was the first test for the car on an oval. I talked to Dan and will have a post on what he said later (posted on 9/21/11 HERE), but for now, click here for many high-resolution photographs.
We were allowed in during lunch time to get photos of the parked car and talk to Dan. No media was allowed to stay while the car was running or on the track. Honda has requested no media during those times to prevent competitors from getting intel on its engine development efforts, etc.
(Note to the blogging brethren: feel free to use the photos for your posts. I'd appreciate you throwing me a "Photo: Bill Zahren, pressdog.com" photo credit bone.)
Did you get to touch it?
Is it true that it can heal the sick?
Posted by: Tom G. | September 20, 2011 at 03:27 PM
Bill,
Thanks for the photos...looks good!
Posted by: Chiefswon | September 20, 2011 at 03:35 PM
Let me just say, Tom, that before I touched it I was nearsighted, and now I have 20/20, lost 45 pounds and can run triathlons. There were also encampments of diseased people outside the gates just trying to touch my garments after I touched the car.
Posted by: pressdog | September 20, 2011 at 03:53 PM
great job, dog, best photos yet. It's really growing on me, I want to hear the different engines and see some different paint jobs.
but I have a question for the more observant--it looks the same (to me) as the road course version. at the "premiere" at Indy they showed two versions, but this chassis looks just like the photos from Mid-Ohio to me. what's the difference?
Posted by: redcar | September 20, 2011 at 04:22 PM
Why is it that every time I look at the rear end of this car I am reminded of that Sir-Mix-a-Lot song; “Baby Got Back”?
Posted by: Chris Lukens | September 20, 2011 at 04:43 PM
Yeah...the oval version was supposed to have a itty-bitty front wing in comparison to the road course config...maybe that's the "superspeedway" config?
NO MORE DALLARA SNOW PLOWS!
Posted by: ThatGuy | September 20, 2011 at 06:09 PM
Yes, the "superspeedway" config for IndyCars has always had smaller front/rear wings and the short-oval config has always been the road-course config because of the higher downforce needed
Posted by: fleshwound_NPG | September 20, 2011 at 09:28 PM
I am so glad that you went! Fantastic for you -- and good for us to see the photos. I was very surprised to see the giant, fierce-looking, multi-element front wing assemblies on a speedway car ...
Posted by: Br!an McKay | September 20, 2011 at 11:26 PM
What Nathan said up there (that the Iowa wing setup is closer to the road course config than the superspeedway one). Also, I have a feeling that there's only one actual, working test mule right this second, and that's the one that's doing all of the testing at all of the venues, whether road course, short oval or superspeedway. The name of the game right now is making sure that nothing crazy goes wrong (like, bodywork collapsing in on itself, wings folding up at half-speed, plumbing spewing their contents all over the track, the engine having what those in the business call a "thermal event", etc.). The actual testing where they go for lap times and run the thing at 10/10ths happens in a month or two.
Posted by: The Speedgeek | September 21, 2011 at 12:00 PM
Speedgeek .. NAILED IT. Relatively early days on the testing schedule. You'll see them get the wings WAY back later. For now, step-by-step. Danno made that pretty clear.
Posted by: pressdog | September 21, 2011 at 12:25 PM
Well, P-Dog, I definitely think you chose the best angle for the car with the picture attached to this post. The less seen of the rear-end business the better.
Then again, I've gotten used to the narrow rear wings in F1 so maybe I'll get used to this too.
Posted by: ThatGuy | September 21, 2011 at 02:45 PM