By Dave Lewandowski – Indycar.com
Monday, February 8, 2010

Officials of the Indy Racing League have been in ongoing discussions with Dallara Automobili, DeltaWing, Lola and Swift Engineering about designing, manufacturing and supplying the IZOD IndyCar Series chassis scheduled to hit the racetrack for the 2012 season.

Swift Engineering, Lola, Dallara and DeltaWing have provided design concepts based on the league’s objectives. Dallara released images of its concepts Feb. 5 and Swift Engineering’s are above. The DeltaWing project will be unveiled to the media Feb. 10 at the Chicago Auto Show.

Click it: Indy Racing League’s objectives for the next chassis

San Clemente, Calif.-based Swift Engineering provided this news release:

American race car company Swift Engineering, Inc. is proud to announce key motorsport partnerships with industry-leading companies to further its bid to design and build the next generation race car chassis for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series.

“Given Swift is the leading U.S. race car design and manufacturing company and our 27‐year history was founded in motorsport, it is only natural that we aspire to partner with the nations’ premier open‐wheel formula, the IZOD IndyCar Series,” Jan Wesley Refsdal, Swift’s president, said.

Key business alliances have been cemented between Swift and Cray Inc. (The Supercomputer Company), Indianapolis‐based Mark One Composites, Inc. and Cruden America, world leaders in motion racing simulators.

“Individually, each one of these partnerships is critical to Swift’s continuing commitment to motorsport; however, collectively and in conjunction with one another they will help us set new industry standards in innovative design, manufacturing and support,” Refsdal stated.

Swift’s strategic industry partnerships were carefully selected and cultivated through a focused effort to realize the challenge the IZOD IndyCar Series has set for its next generation car.

Cray supercomputers will be used at Swift’s facility to further enhance its capabilities in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), an important tool in the design and development of aerodynamic concepts. In conjunction with Swift’s existing on‐site wind tunnel designs will be tested in accurate virtual models allowing for valuable driver feedback and performance data collection on Cruden’s state‐of‐the‐art 3Ctr 6‐DOF motion racing simulator which is soon to be operational at Swift.

“Speed‐to‐market is critical in any business, but probably more so in racing as the green flag doesn’t wait for anyone,” Refsdal said. “Rapid development is just as much about the speed and quality of the design process as it is manufacturing. We are evolving our four‐year exclusive certified composite repair relationship with Mark One Composites, Inc. to provide further manufacturing and inventory support directly to teams from its Indianapolis‐based facility.”

Swift is currently developing a detailed value proposition with finalized performance data and conceptual designs for IndyCar’s consideration.

“Our goal is no less than for the 100th anniversary of the Indy 500 to be run exclusively with Swift chassis. We are very proud to release some of our conceptual designs today that were developed specifically for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series program,” said Casper Van der Schoot, Swift’s director of motorsports. “IndyCar fans love to see the engines and mechanical bits normally shielded behind bodywork. These concepts incorporate retro-styling cues that harkens to the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s Indy car eras. Our wind tunnel tests have shown the engine cover has very little effect on aerodynamics compared to most other components on the car. We saw an opportunity to showcase the engine and other ‘jewelry’ while preserving efficiency with a much smaller fairing.”

source http://www.indycar.com/news/