oddlycalm
05-27-03, 08:15 PM
What I have in mind is not actual old cars, but rather a retro series that has vintage feel. Race weekends are a bit thin event wise IMO, and this would provide a companion series that perhaps even some CART drivers would want to get involved with. The Barber Pro and Atlantic events don't quite fill out the race weekend.
In this case the vintage vibe would come from old style pre, or very low, downforce cars. I think a stock block in a safe version of a pre-aero tub would be great entertainment. Expensive materials outlawed (with the exception of Kevlar composite in the drivers box). Could be a build your own engine to a fairly tight stock block spec, or a series supplied package (quantity discounts). Say a 5.7L aluminum block and heads with simple EFI and onboard air starters. No Airboxes.
Ideally, it should be designed to run a whole season of shortish races with zero rebuilds. No pit stops during the race for service, so fuel capacity equals race length. My initial thought was that peak power should be in the 500-550hp range with high torque as well. Radio yes (safety), telemetry and driver aids no. Non-sequential crashboxes only. Make the tires good and wide to keep drag coefficient and mechanical grip high. Sidepods should also be designed to provide serious drag. They could even pick a design profile evocative of one of the better looking vintage chassis. I'd like to see costs in the Barber Pro range, realizing the transporters and other fixed costs would be unavoidable.
I haven't thought this one through much, so feel free to fire away or contribute. This came out of a discussion on stock blocks, which IMO don't belong in CART, but might be fun on CART race weekends. The popularity of vintage races inspired these thoughts. Who among us doesn’t like to see powerful formula cars power sliding around a corner? Lap times would suck, but who cares?
This is probably a poor time to further dilute the sponser pool. On the other hand, CART would pre-empt what I imagine is the inevitable retro formula car series before the IRL or NASCAR does it. Who knows, GM, Ford or DCX might even be mildly interested once it was established, if it was successful. Especially if it was the most exciting race of every weekend...oc;)
In this case the vintage vibe would come from old style pre, or very low, downforce cars. I think a stock block in a safe version of a pre-aero tub would be great entertainment. Expensive materials outlawed (with the exception of Kevlar composite in the drivers box). Could be a build your own engine to a fairly tight stock block spec, or a series supplied package (quantity discounts). Say a 5.7L aluminum block and heads with simple EFI and onboard air starters. No Airboxes.
Ideally, it should be designed to run a whole season of shortish races with zero rebuilds. No pit stops during the race for service, so fuel capacity equals race length. My initial thought was that peak power should be in the 500-550hp range with high torque as well. Radio yes (safety), telemetry and driver aids no. Non-sequential crashboxes only. Make the tires good and wide to keep drag coefficient and mechanical grip high. Sidepods should also be designed to provide serious drag. They could even pick a design profile evocative of one of the better looking vintage chassis. I'd like to see costs in the Barber Pro range, realizing the transporters and other fixed costs would be unavoidable.
I haven't thought this one through much, so feel free to fire away or contribute. This came out of a discussion on stock blocks, which IMO don't belong in CART, but might be fun on CART race weekends. The popularity of vintage races inspired these thoughts. Who among us doesn’t like to see powerful formula cars power sliding around a corner? Lap times would suck, but who cares?
This is probably a poor time to further dilute the sponser pool. On the other hand, CART would pre-empt what I imagine is the inevitable retro formula car series before the IRL or NASCAR does it. Who knows, GM, Ford or DCX might even be mildly interested once it was established, if it was successful. Especially if it was the most exciting race of every weekend...oc;)