Props to MoreFrontWing.com for getting HVM's Keith Wiggins -- a strong advocate for hearing fans voice -- on record recently as to the difficulty with the whole aero kit thing.
The owner's big issue seems to be timing. Wiggins says the car comes out in December 2011, the alternative kits won't be available until May 2012 (which is news to me). So that leaves the first four-ish races wherein the owners HAVE to buy and use the Dallara kits (because there are no alternatives). Asking them to then purchase second kits after Indy is a bit much.
If the Wigg's comments -- especially his central assertion that alternative kits won't be available until May -- are accurrate, then the owners' objection is not so much IF they buy kits, but WHEN they buy kits. Unless the initial Dallara kits are provided for FREE with the car, then the argument goes out the window. Not sure which it is, frankly.
I don't know if the initial kits are "free" or not... but AOW cars without wings or sidepods generally do not handle very well, so does it really matter?
Apparently Wiggins seems to feel that he, as well as every other owner, will need another kit to be competitive and that the kits should be held off until he (and everyone else) can afford them. That's what he's saying, at least...
Posted by: Brian Duddy | May 05, 2011 at 02:54 PM
So basically, if the other kits were available from the get-go, then the owners would be able to just buy the kit they want (presumably the one supplied by their engine manufacturer) and be done with it. But since they're not, they need to buy Dallara kits to hold them over until the other kits are available. PDog's right, there are two ways this all falls apart: either everyone gets one free Dallara kit with the purchase of a new chassis purchased before 1/01/12 (Get 'em while they're hot!) or the other kits need to be done in time to safely make the grid at the opener. Other than that, I begrudgingly concede that the situation is indeed mildly annoying for the owners.
Though weren't the rules going to allow them two kits per team anyway? And since I doubt a Lotus team would be allowed to run a Chevy kit, doesn't that mean they were all going to likely buy a Dallara kit anyway, just as insurance against teething problem with the third-party kits?
Posted by: FTHurley | May 05, 2011 at 04:16 PM
For starts, from what I remember from the days after the ICONIC annoucement, the Dallara aero kit is included with the purchase price of the chassis. I don't believe that the Dallara aero kits, at least at the point of purchase of a new chassis, will cost anybody one extra thin dime.
I think the thorny part (for the team owners) comes when the new kits come out, then you theoretically have to buy not just the kit to put on the race car, but one to put on the spare car and then one or two more for spares (or six more, in the event that EJ Viso drives for you), all times $70 or 75k. Add to that the fact that your aero setup notebook goes out the window as soon as you put the new kit on the car, and those who can afford it (read: Chip and Roger) will put the new kit through a wind tunnel or a CFD computer or a coast down tunnel. According to Wiggins, costs for aero get multiplied by two as soon as the new car comes out...
...BUT as far as I'm concerned, if a team can not afford that stuff, then they just should not buy a new kit in May. Stick with the Dallara kit (which you got included in the box with your new chassis in December or January and which you've been using for 5 months) and work on your setups with what you have. If Roger and Chip and whoever else, in case Michael Andretti or Eric Bachelart or whoever win the lottery over the winter, if they want to buy those other kits and divide their attention between two kits, let them. In 2013, when you're not faced with buying all-new chassis, go ahead and break the bank for 2 new aero kits from the vendors of your choice. You'll have a better idea of what the pros and cons of each kit by then, too. That's my take, anyway.
Posted by: The Speedgeek | May 05, 2011 at 04:39 PM
All that I'll say is that the Dallara chassis and all aero kits from all vendors ought to be deliverable January 2.
Posted by: Brian McKay | May 05, 2011 at 06:11 PM
How soon do the aero-kit makers get their hands on a wind tunnel-ready Dallara safety cell? If they don't until December, there is no way in heck any team is going to risk that any aero-kit maker is going to beat Dallara at the aero game in 2012, cause unless they poach Adrian Newey from Red Bull, they won't have the time to match Dallara's head start.
Since the logical response is "just don't buy a non-Dallara kit", I have to assume that the owners are subsidizing the kit builders in some form beyond the oft-quoted $75k kit cost and have no interest in paying this Indycar-levied "tax" until the playing field gets leveled in 2013.
Posted by: ThatGuy | May 05, 2011 at 07:04 PM
I don't get the issue because with the current aero kit makers we believe are out there, you'd always end up Dallara and who ever built your engine's kit anyways. No one's going to have a Lotus and Honda or Honda and Chevy. And by having a Dallara you'll have some insurance if your other kit sucks. I mean, you get 2 kits, so even if one's bad, you should be okay.
Posted by: Dylan | May 05, 2011 at 08:16 PM
Randy's making a big mistake if he knuckles under to this crap. There is no rule that says a team can't run a Dallara kit for the entire season if that is what they want/need to do.
Really getting tired of the spec mentality.
Posted by: Concerned Fan | May 05, 2011 at 09:22 PM
It's all pretty confusing. Nobody will be FORCED to buy a second kit after Indy, right? I guess I understand the argument that BANNING extra kits prevents the Super Rich (Death Star) from buying them when the poor teams can't, but as Geek said, that's nothing new. Rich teams now use their cash to help them kick everyone's ass. The ENTIRE thing makes my head hurt at this point. They are making me work to hard to understand/care lately.
Posted by: pressdog | May 05, 2011 at 09:29 PM
Yep... I feel your pain, Bill.
But here's the thing. At least back when the series was selling this concept, it was said that teams could have more than one kit per year---not replacing broken stuff, but a completely different kit.
So the rich team/poor team thing is going to happen as long as the rules stay that way. All we are really talking about at this point is that everybody will start out with Dallara kits---the option to switch kit makers mid-season has always been there.
Maybe the rules have changed. Cotman doesn't actually say too much with those status updates of his. But as long as teams are allowed to go through two (I think it's two) kits per season, then I don't see any reason to wait.
Keep the momentum going. Don't slow down for anything. Bernard has done a bang up job of selling the idea of "momentum," and I think it is pretty dumb to do anything to kill that buzz.
Posted by: Concerned Fan | May 05, 2011 at 10:15 PM