An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars , stock cars , and touring cars , which have their wheels below the body or inside fenders . Open-wheel cars are built both for road racing and oval track racing . Open-wheel cars licensed for use on public roads ( street legal ), such as the Ariel Atom , are uncommon, as they are often impractical for everyday use.
43-580: The Toleman TG280 is an open-wheel ground effect Formula 2 racing car , developed and made by Toleman for the European Formula Two Championship , in 1980. It was designed by South African designer and engineer Rory Byrne . It successfully won and completely dominated the European F2 Championship in 1980 , with Brian Henton and Derek Warwick finishing 1st and 2nd in the championship standings. It
86-550: A heavy emphasis has been placed on deemphasizing the IRL name and replacing it with "IndyCar". This became official on January 1, 2011, as Indy Racing League LLC adopted as its trade name INDYCAR. On November 1, 2013, the company's legal name was changed to INDYCAR LLC. The dispute between CART and IRL centered on the Indianapolis 500, long considered the flagship race of the sport. From 1980 until 1995, USAC continued to sanction
129-657: A new national championship racing series, the Indy Racing League . This resulted in a legal battle over the IndyCar trademark: In March 1996, CART filed a lawsuit against the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in an effort to protect their license to the IndyCar mark after the Indianapolis Motor Speedway had attempted to terminate it. In April, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway filed a separate lawsuit against CART to prevent them from further use of
172-502: A number of attempts at a compromise board failed, IMS formed the Indy Racing League in 1994 , with the series being slated to begin racing in 1996 . CART had primarily sanctioned Indy car racing since 1979 , when the organization broke away from USAC. George blueprinted the IRL as a lower-cost open-wheel alternative to CART, which in his view had become technology-driven and dominated by a few wealthy multi-car teams. The IRL
215-666: A proposal that included free cars and engine leases to Champ Car teams willing to run the entire 2008 IndyCar Series schedule in exchange for adding Champ Car's dates at Long Beach , Toronto , Edmonton , and Australia to the IndyCar Series schedule, effectively reuniting American open-wheel car racing . The offer was initially made in November 2007. On February 10, 2008, Tony George, along with IRL representatives Terry Angstadt and Brian Barnhart , plus former Honda executive Robert Clarke, traveled to Japan to discuss moving
258-580: A protection system to the cockpit called the "halo" , a wishbone-shaped frame aimed to deflect debris away from a driver's head. Despite initial criticism, including for the reason of obstructing the driver's vision, it gained some praise in the Formula 2 sprint race in Catalunya when Nirei Fukuzumi spun and had the back of his car land on fellow countryman Tadasuke Makino 's halo. In the 2018 Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix , McLaren driver Fernando Alonso
301-479: A revolutionary concept which would become the originator and forefather of the single-seater (i.e. monoposto) racecar design. Harroun has also been credited by some as pioneering the rear-view mirror which appeared on his 1911 Indianapolis 500 winning car, though he himself claimed he got the idea from seeing a mirror used for a similar purpose on a horse-drawn vehicle in 1904. Prior to World War II , street automobiles generally had wheels that protruded beyond
344-580: Is 1,500 kilograms (3,200 lb). Open-wheeled racing is among the fastest in the world. Formula One cars can reach speeds in excess of 360 kilometres per hour (220 mph). At Autodromo Nazionale Monza , Antônio Pizzonia of BMW Williams F1 team recorded a top speed of 369.9 kilometres per hour (229.8 mph) (over 102 m/s) in the 2004 Italian Grand Prix . Since the end of the V10 era in 2006, such high speeds have not been reached, with later vehicles reaching around 360 kilometres per hour (220 mph). It
387-748: Is difficult to give precise figures for the absolute top speeds of Formula One cars as the data are not generally released by teams. The 'speed traps' on fast circuits such as Monza give a good indication, but are not necessarily located at the point on the track where the car is travelling at its fastest. BAR Honda team recorded an average top speed of 400 kilometres per hour (250 mph) in 2006 at Bonneville Salt Flats , with unofficial top speed reaching 413 kilometres per hour (257 mph) using their modified BAR 007 Formula One car. Speeds on ovals can range in constant excess of 210–220 miles per hour (340–350 km/h), and at Indianapolis in excess of 230 miles per hour (370 km/h). In 2000, Gil de Ferran set
430-474: Is expected in covered-wheel racing, as for example in NASCAR. Open-wheeled drivers must be extremely precise to avoid contact. Regulations tend to permit much lower open-wheel car weights than in categories that more closely resemble street-legal vehicles, such as sports , touring , and stock cars . For instance, a Formula One car must weigh at least 798 kilograms (1,759 lb); the minimum weight for NASCAR
473-642: Is not always the case; some open-wheel categories raced primarily as development or amateur categories, such as Formula Ford or Formula Vee , do not permit the use of wings or ground effect aerodynamics. Some major races, such as the Singapore Grand Prix , Monaco Grand Prix (sanctioned by Formula One) and the Long Beach Grand Prix (sanctioned by IndyCar), are held on temporary street circuits . However, most open-wheel races are on dedicated road courses , such as Watkins Glen in
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#1732780042908516-530: The Champ Car World Series before acquiring the latter. Today, IndyCar is owned by Roger Penske via Penske Entertainment Corp., a subsidiary of Penske Corporation . Penske purchased IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from Hulman & Co. in November 2019. The term "Indy Car" began as a nickname for the cars that competed in the USAC's Championship Division of open-wheel racing in
559-601: The Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi . Moving that race, or postponing it, would be required in order to accommodate the Long Beach Grand Prix , which was scheduled for the same weekend. Optimism following the meeting was high. In February 2008, Indy Racing League founder and CEO Tony George and owners of the Champ Car World Series completed an agreement to unify the sport for 2008. The result
602-719: The Monza Circuit the fastest lap in the 2021 Grand Prix ( Daniel Ricciardo 1:24.812) is more than six seconds per lap faster than the fastest closed-wheel racing car, an LMP1 sports car , and more than 20 seconds per lap faster than the DTM touring car lap record. Driving an open-wheel car is substantially different from driving a car with fenders. Virtually all Formula One and IndyCar drivers spend some time in various open-wheel categories before joining either top series. Open-wheel vehicles, due to their light weight, aerodynamic capabilities, and powerful engines, are often considered
645-473: The "CART PPG Indy Car World Series" despite the body not sanctioning the 500. In 1992, during an attempt by CART to broaden their board membership, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway registered the camel case trademark IndyCar with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and licensed it to CART as their new trade name. In 1996, Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George launched
688-510: The Indy 500, although CART drivers predominantly competed in the race and points that drivers scored during the event counted towards the CART drivers' championship. George felt that his opinions regarding increasing costs and revenue sharing were being ignored, while CART team owners felt George used his influence over USAC to have a disproportionate impact on the general operation of the sport. After
731-440: The Indy 500. Compared to covered-wheel race cars, open-wheeled cars allow more precise placement of the front wheels on the race course, as the tires are clearly visible to the driver. This allows the maximum potential of the cars to be achieved during cornering and passing. Furthermore, open-wheeled cars are less tolerant of vehicle-to-vehicle contact, which usually results in vehicle damage and retiring, whereas some level of contact
774-420: The IndyCar Series for the 2003 racing season. CART, beset by team departures and other financial issues, filed for bankruptcy that year; a trio of former CART team owners were selected by the bankruptcy court to purchase CART's assets, which they used to reorganize the Champ Car World Series . The two series were unified for the 2008 season, with the unified series using the IndyCar Series name. Post-unification,
817-767: The US, Nürburgring in Germany, Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Silverstone in Great Britain. In the United States, some top-level open-wheel events are held on ovals, of both short track and superspeedway variety, with emphasis more on speed and endurance than the maneuverability required for road and street course events. The Whelen Modified Tour is the only opened wheeled race car series endorsed by NASCAR . This series races on most of NASCAR's most famous tracks in
860-475: The United States, deriving from the sport's most popular competition, the Indianapolis 500 . The division's link with Indianapolis soon resulted in the term surpassing the official term "championship car" (or its short form "champ car") in common use and promotions. The term continued to be used by the USAC's replacement as the dominant governing body for open-wheel racing, CART, which called its main series
903-570: The United States. Other asphalt modified series race on short tracks in the United States and Canada, such as Wyoming County International Speedway in New York. The best-attended oval race in the world is the annual Indianapolis 500 (Indy 500) in Speedway, Indiana , sanctioned by IndyCar; in the United States it is quite common to refer to open-wheel cars as IndyCars, because of their recognizable appearance and widespread popularity across America at
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#1732780042908946-696: The Whelen Modified Tour, where the engine is in front of the driver. Depending on the rules of the class, many types of open-wheelers have wings at the front and rear of the vehicle, as well as a very low and virtually flat undertray that helps achieve additional aerodynamic downforce pushing the car onto the road. While many other categories of racing cars produce downforce, the top categories of open-wheel racing cars (particularly Formula One and IndyCar ) produce far more downforce relative to their mass than any other racing category, allowing much higher corner speeds on comparable tracks. However, this
989-536: The death of Tony Renna in testing at Indianapolis, the IRL made additional changes to reduce speeds and increase safety. IndyCar was the first racing series to adopt the SAFER soft wall safety system, which debuted at the Indianapolis 500 and has now been installed at almost all major oval racing circuits. The SAFER system research and design was supported and funded in large part by the Hulman-George family and
1032-429: The degradation in quality especially apparent during the Indianapolis 500, which saw a dramatic decline in prestige. The IRL began to draw top teams from CART starting in 2002, contributing to the latter's bankruptcy , replacement by the Champ Car World Series in 2003, and ultimate demise and absorption by the IRL in 2008. After absorbing Champ Car, the IndyCar Series became what the CART series from which it separated
1075-492: The fastest racing vehicles available and among the most challenging to master. Wheel-to-wheel contact is dangerous, particularly when the forward edge of one tire contacts the rear of another tire: since the treads are moving in opposite directions (one upward, one downward) at the point of contact, both wheels rapidly decelerate, torquing the chassis of both cars and often causing one or both vehicles to be suddenly and powerfully flung upwards (the rear car tends to pitch forward, and
1118-598: The front car tends to pitch backward.) An example of this is the 2005 Chicagoland crash of Ryan Briscoe and Alex Barron . The lower weight of an open-wheel racecar enables better performance. While the exposure of the wheels to the airstream causes a very high aerodynamic drag at high speeds, it allows improved cooling of the brakes, which is important on road courses with their frequent changes of pace. In 2018, several single seater series such as Formula One, Formula 2 (with their new Dallara F2 2018 chassis), and Formula E (with their new Spark SRT05e chassis) introduced
1161-467: The lack of run-offs on oval tracks, coupled with higher speeds due to the long straights and banked turns, means that there is far less margin for error. Car design was attributed as a leading cause of early injuries, and the series made improvements to chassis design to address those safety concerns. Following a series of spectacular high-profile accidents in 2003 , including American racing legend Mario Andretti and former champion Kenny Bräck , as well as
1204-507: The main body of the car, and thus the open-wheel design became almost exclusively associated with racing vehicles. Formula One cars have almost exclusively used the open-wheel design throughout the history of the championship. The only notable exception was the "Monza body" variation of the Mercedes-Benz W196 racer of 1954–55, which covered the wheels with bodywork for aerodynamic reasons. Modern Formula One regulations mandate
1247-427: The mark. Eventually a settlement was reached in which CART agreed to give up the use of the IndyCar mark following the 1996 season and the IRL agreed not to use the name before the end of the 2002 season. CART returned to branding as simply CART for 1997, and resurrected the term "champ car" to describe their vehicles. Following a six-year hiatus, the Indy Racing League announced it would rename their premier series
1290-529: The one-lap qualifying record of 241.428 miles per hour (388.541 km/h) at California Speedway . Even on tight non-oval street circuits such as the Grand Prix of Toronto , open-wheel Indy Cars attain speeds of 190 miles per hour (310 km/h). Regardless of top speeds, Formula One open-wheel race cars hold the outright lap record at the circuits where they race due to their combination of top speed, acceleration, and cornering abilities. For example, at
1333-482: The open-wheel configuration. A typical open-wheeler has a minimal cockpit, sufficient only to enclose the driver's body, with the head exposed to the air. In the Whelen Modified Tour and other short track modified series, the driver's head is contained in the car. In modern cars, the engine is often located directly behind the driver and drives the rear wheels; except in asphalt modified cars, such as
Toleman TG280 - Misplaced Pages Continue
1376-690: The premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis 500 as its centerpiece, and the developmental series Indy NXT . IndyCar is recognized as a member organization of the FIA through the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States . The sanctioning body was formed in 1994 under the name Indy Racing League by Hulman & Company , which also owned the Indianapolis Motor Speedway complex, and began competition in 1996 . The trademark name INDYCAR
1419-618: The start of the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix , Romain Grosjean collided with Daniil Kvyat in which his car broke in two and burst into flames as it split the barrier. The halo helped protect Grosjean from possible decapitation while it allowed him to escape from the fire. IndyCar IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR ), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana . The organization sanctions two racing series :
1462-410: The vehicle's main body, though they were typically covered with mudguards to protect the car body and following traffic from water and mud spray. With the advent of unibody vehicle construction, the desire to maximise interior space, to improve aerodynamics, and aircraft-inspired styling trends of the era, by the end of the 1950s the majority of new road-registerable vehicles had wheels that were under
1505-605: Was an early pioneer of the concept of a lightweight single-seater, open-wheel "monoposto" racecar. After working as a mechanic in the automotive industry, Harroun began competitive professional racing in 1906, winning the AAA National Championship in 1910. He was then hired by the Marmon Motor Car Company as chief engineer, charged with building a racecar intended to race at the first Indianapolis 500 , which he went on to win. He developed
1548-415: Was and its related European open-wheel formula counterparts: former prominent CART teams such as Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske are frequent race winners, there is a strong contingent of foreign-born drivers, the cars are increasingly electronic and aero dependent and the schedule includes more road and street courses than oval tracks. On January 23, 2008, Tony George offered Champ Car management
1591-565: Was designed only to run on oval tracks, in order to promote American drivers from the midget and sprint car ranks to graduate to IndyCar racing, the same way that IndyCar legends A.J. Foyt , Mario Andretti , Johnny Rutherford , and the Unsers ( Al Unser, Sr. and Bobby Unser ) had in the 1960s. Starting with the first IRL season, the league proclaimed that 25 of the 33 spots in the Indy 500 starting grid would be reserved for cars from full-time IRL teams. In 1996, CART retaliated by scheduling what
1634-489: Was introduced for the 2012 season. IndyCar collaborated with DreamWorks Animation to launch comedy film Turbo in 2013. Bernard was fired in October 2012, and replaced by Mark Miles . Driver safety has also been a major point of concern, with a number of drivers seriously injured, particularly in the early years of the series. There have been five fatal crashes in the history of the series. Compared to road racing venues,
1677-611: Was officially adopted on January 1, 2011. The sport of open-wheel car racing, also historically referred to as championship car racing or Indy car racing, traces its roots to as early as 1905. It is the fourth major sanctioning body to govern the sport of Indy car racing, following the American Automobile Association 's AAA Contest Board , the United States Auto Club (USAC), and Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), and operated alongside
1720-593: Was powered by the 305 hp (227 kW) Hart 420R 2.0 L (120 cu in) four-cylinder engine , which droves the rear wheels via a Hewland F.T.200 5-speed manual transmission . After Formula 2 racing, it was later converted into a Can-Am -style prototype , and used in the European-based Interserie series. This motorsport-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Open-wheel car American racecar driver and constructor Ray Harroun
1763-654: Was sent airborne after being hit from behind by the Renault of Nico Hülkenberg and struck the halo of Sauber driver Charles Leclerc , thereby saving the Monegasque driver from a visor strike. In 2019 , the newly-formed FIA Formula 3 Championship introduced a halo to their new chassis which was unveiled at the 2018 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix . In 2020 , the IndyCar Series adopted a halo combined with an aeroscreen, built by Red Bull Advanced Technologies. At
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1806-453: Was supposed to become its new showcase event, the U.S. 500 , at Michigan International Speedway on Memorial Day , the traditional date for the Indy 500. The new 1997 technical rules featured less expensive chassis and "production-based" engines that were purchased rather than leased, but most importantly, were technically incompatible with CART specifications. The IRL's early seasons consisted of sparse schedules and inexperienced teams, with
1849-460: Was that the Champ Car World Series was suspended except for the Long Beach Grand Prix . Many of the former Champ Car teams moved to the IndyCar Series using equipment provided by the IRL. Randy Bernard was announced as the new IRL CEO in February 2010. In 2011, the sanctioning body dropped the Indy Racing League name, becoming IndyCar to reflect the merged series. The new Dallara DW12 racecar
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