IndyCar tests roll hoop digital position display
As INDYCAR holds its Preseason Open Test at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama on March 16 and 17, the series will test a device that will help spectators clearly see the position of each car on the track during a race. If the tests go well, a digital track position system will be mounted on the roll hoop on each car that will show their position in the race as an aid to spectators at the event in time for this year’s 99th Indianapolis 500 on May 24.
In the past, spectators have relied on the scoreboards that post car numbers but, at some venues, it is difficult to tell the relative positions of each car, especially when lapped traffic gets in the way, and a spectator would have to use a stopwatch to determine the gap between their favorite driver and the leader.
Technology is about to take a giant leap forward in that department, according to INDYCAR President of Competition Derrick Walker.
“It’s the car positioning system that is a digital number,” Walker explained. “That system will materialize if all goes according to plan at Indy. It might happen sooner but more than likely it will be Indy. We had a prototype system that was tested and we changed the requirement that we needed bigger numbers and more clear display. The manufacturer made a prototype and one of the teams will test it at Barber. Then, if we are happy with it, no more changes and we go off and make 50 of them.
“We set a goal that we will have it at Indy to run. That is our target. If we have it done sooner we will use it sooner but we have a lot of work to do to make sure we have the right display and the right color. The digital display bolts onto the roll hoop and will have a picture frame that goes around the panel with the number on to make it smooth on the side. We are making that part now.
“If Tony Kanaan is in third place … when his car goes by you will see the No. 3 on it. We have other plans in place for it but at the start it will just display the car position.”
The TUDOR Championship currently features digital position displays on each car to help fans at the track keep on top of the action.
Although fans sitting in the stands will be greatly aided when they see the order of each car clearly visible as they speed by, the extra digital piece on the car could also be more debris on the race track in the event of the crash. But in the “Era of Aero” that has become part of the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series, there will be plenty of extra pieces on the track because of the extra winglets and bits that make up the Honda and Chevrolet Aero Kits.
“There are a lot more pieces and they are smaller or thinner pieces so there is always a danger there that will happen,” Walker predicted. “I’m not sure we will change our rules to protect the drivers where they end up breaking their bodywork off. We are trying to improve performance and that is what you have to do to get performance. If we limited performance it would have been very simple designs. Every driver will know that it’s important, you can’t break off parts of the car and have to make a pit stop because you ruined your front wing. The owners realizing how much this costs will tell the drivers to be more careful and aware of what happened.
“But there will be more debris. I don’t know any other way around it. We have smaller bits on the kits themselves.”
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