One-time Indianapolis 500 winner Scott Dixon says IndyCar’s new universal aerokit for 2018 could make qualifying for next year’s race “super-easy”.
Dixon tested at Indianapolis and Texas Motor Speedway for Chip Ganassi in the second of four manufacturer-led tests before teams begin their own running in 2018.
After completing the test Dixon, who has taken two of the last three poles for the Indy 500, fears that next year’s qualifying will be artificial.
“I don’t want to sound negative just on the basis of the first [oval] test,” said Dixon, “because I’m not sure how it’s going to play out.
“We all know that teams always find a workaround to get to the next level, but at the moment the rules are very restrictive and you don’t have much difference between teams.
“So the difference will still occur because the best teams will do things differently, but the magnitude of what we can do to separate ourselves will be much less.
“Qualifying there could be super-easy and everyone runs the same thing, which would be a bit disappointing.
“If everyone qualifies within two miles an hour, it means there’s no real gain for taking a chance by trying to trim out – and for me, that’s a big part of Indianapolis – those risks you take in qualifying for the 500.”
But Dixon said that qualifying was his only concern for the Indy 500, and that the new car should make the race more challenging.
“Qualifying is the only thing I’m a bit worried about,” he said.
“Everything else is good, and it’s a difficult car to drive over a long run because you don’t have the window of putting on all the downforce we had last year.
“I think Indy is going to be tough as the tyres wear out.
“Our race runs in the test were really difficult.”
Servia: Driving will be more natural at Indy
Oriol Servia has been the designated Honda universal aerokit tester, alongside Juan Pablo Montoya for Chevrolet, and believes that the new car will feel more natural on superspeedways like Indianapolis.
“I think IndyCar isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel for Indy because they have a package that works in terms of the racing,” he said.
“So they are trying to come up with a similar downforce level to what we’ve had before but with the downforce being created under the car.
“One of the interesting things was that getting rid of the rear pods means the car just behaves more naturally.
“The current car, even when you have understeer, just before the middle of the corner it gives you this wiggle that no one can get rid of. It’s a pain in the ass.
“And on my first lap with the new aerokit I thought, ‘Ah, at last, a car that handles in a normal way’.
“I’m sure it’s because of the rear pod being removed.”