I've always thought that the new batch of IndyCars were hideous, but when you get up close and you see the tech poking out from under the quasi-closed-wheel rear, and suddenly you see all the beauty in the tech itself.
These Dallara-built cars will run over 220 miles an hour at some of their oval races, and they were topping out at around 180 at this past weekend's Baltimore GP. That's on a narrow, bumpy street course. These DW12s are about 100 pounds heavier than F1 cars, but they are some of the fastest race cars ever made, discounting straight line vehicles.
Despite that these are spec chassis cars with only two engine suppliers, there's all kinds of amazing little details to spot. That trumpet thing is the inlet for the air jack, which raises the car up in a pit stop.
What's more, if you can get yourself onto the grid walk, you're can go wherever you want, so long as you're "not standing on the car," as one team mechanic told me. I was free to cram my camera anywhere I wanted.
Here are all the air jack inlets, suspension arms, exhausts, transmission housings, driveshafts, brakes, ducts, and wings I could find. The cars absolutely glowed in the humid Baltimore heat, and hopefully this gives you a sense of what IndyCars are like up close.
Plus Oriol Servia's gold helmet with Dali on it was absolutely boss.
All Photo Credits: Raphael Orlove