INDYCAR - DALLARA IR18

Scroll to discover

Since 1997 Dallara has supplied the cars for Indycar, the open-wheel cars American Championship. Since 2006 Dallara has been the sole supplier for this series after having routed various American and English manufacturers. The Indycar, initially named the Indy Racing League (IRL), in 2008 integrated the CART-Champ Car and created a single championship, the Indy Car Series, to which Dallara is the sole supplier. In 2019 Roger Penske acquired the ownership of the Indianapolis Speedway from the Hulman-George family.

This championship is the only one in the world characterized by a great variety of circuit types: superspeedway (oval circuits from 1.5 to 2.5 miles, such as IMS, Pocono, Texas, and Fontana), short ovals (ovals from 0.75 to 1.25 miles, such as Milwaukee, Nashville and Iowa), permanent road courses (such as Sonoma, Mid-Ohio and Barber in Alabama), and street circuits (such as Long Beach, Toronto, and San Paulo in Brazil). The season includes the prestigious Indianapolis 500, whose first race took place over 100 years ago. This historical race involves 33 drivers in a 200 laps race, with averages that have reached and exceeded 350 km/h.

Between 1997 and 2021, Dallara has produced eight different cars, including complete kits for the aerodynamic updates. The first car, built in 1997, named IR7, was replaced the following year by the IR8. After three years of the regulation life-cycle, the IR01 arrived in 2000; followed in 2003 by the Dallara IR03/05, the model with the longest life-cycle, which continued until 2011. The revolutionary IR12 (sometimes called the DW12 in honor of the champion Dan Wheldon) was updated in 2018 with a radical aerodynamic package, and named IR18. These cars, with carbon fiber chassis, 5 meters long and 2 meters wide, are equipped with two types of engines, one Honda and the other one Chevrolet: both produce about 700 horsepower. The car today, is equipped with an Aeroscreen that involves a titanium halo and windshield style screen for safety measures against  debris, both small and large.

The Indy 500, one of America's national historical landmark, takes place every May on the eve of Memorial Day. This event takes place on the famous oval circuit of Indiana which is 4023 meters long. The first edition of the race dates back to 1911, and to this day it  is the most eagerly awaited motorsport event in the USA, followed by an audience of 250 thousand spectators. The first victory of a Dallara at the Indy 500 was in 1998 with the Italian-American Eddie Cheever driving the Oldsmobile motorized IR8 Dallara, and since then Dallara has triumphed 21 times and counting.