Champ car annouced it’s new chassis for 2007. Surprisingly, Panoz will be the sole chassis manufacturer instead of Lola or Reynard as in the past. The engine package will also be a more powerful version of the turbocharged 2.65-liter Cosworth V8 currently in use, and will remain a forced induction (re: turbo) engine.
I like the new design, it’s less box-like/ ninety-degree anglish, and more fluid in terms of body lines. I think the package will be faster than the current one, and more stable as well. I did notice the front nose now looks similar to what F1 was running this year. I hope this doesn’t slow the cars down or cause any undue handling issues when the cars are bunched up closely. However since CHAMP car is focusing almost exclusively on street and road circuits, it probably won’t be an issue to worry about.
Interesting. A little surprised to see that Panoz is the sole provider for the chassis. But the first thing I noticed myself was the similarity to the F1 design… especially in the front. And I think its more of the underbody aerodynamics that affect the cars when bunched together, and they don’t show much of that. Just have to wait til next year.
Panoz does seem as odd choice given the amount of open-wheel racing car development that has been done over the years by Lola and Reynard. They’ve got alot more experience to back them up.
Not really. Open wheel drivers tend not to do any rubbing at all. Only NASCAR, and to some extent, the Rolex Sports Car series get serious with the rubbing. Even the Rolex series has cut down significantly since last season.
You will only see bumper car racing in NASCAR, BUSCH, NASCAR TRUCKS, and similar roundy round affair racing.
Come to think of it, even when the good ol’ boys hit the road course, they stop the bumping (for the most part) as well.
Looks like a pretty big reduction of frontal area. Should be faster, but I’m not sure if they’ll be able to get as much downforce at the rear. It depends upon how the underbody is designed.
More like… grazing 