This past weekend, the first high-speed tests of IndyCar’s future IR-28 chassis were completed on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
More than just a couple trundles down pit lane, Alexander Rossi and Alex Palou each spent time turning quick laps around the full circuit.
The car proved up to the task, and there were next to no unexpected issues that halted the testing. Runs of over 20 consecutive laps were achieved before a pit lane visit was necessary.
Despite being a one-of-one prototype at this stage, the functionality of the chassis was clear to see.
“A couple things that stand out to me: just the comfort of the cockpit,” noted Rossi. “The ergonomics of the car are fantastic. You can just feel the build quality of the car.
“Down pit lane for the first time, taking the pit lane speed limited off, you just feel like the car has elevated a level in terms of smoothness and feel that you have.
“The big thing that was pretty amazing, and not to draw comparisons to F1 because we don’t like doing that, but I think anyone that drives a Formula 1 car for the first time notices how smooth the car is. Not from a powertrain standpoint, but an on-the-surface standpoint.
“And this car starts to get to that level. It just comes down to build quality and how well put together the entire package is.”
Trouble-free debut
In addition to driver praise, the project’s progress has earned accolades from IndyCar’s VP of competition Mike O’Gara.
O’Gara has become the leader of the IR-28 project, and noted after the first tests that he feels the chassis is polished enough that it would be capable of entering competition next season.
Multiple obstacles make that an impossibility, however, including the need to finish developing an engine and hybrid system and the need for Dallara to produce enough copies of the final product to have a full field of entrants.
Regardless, the state of development ahead of the planned 2028 introduction looks promising.
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