Car Rear Wings

Marco Andretti's blog: Coping with realities

Since our trials and tribulations at Indy, I guess it's no secret that we don't have the best oval racecars in the IZOD IndyCar Series. As soon as we rolled off the trailer, we knew we were in trouble. It was a case of, “OK, we've got a slow car this month.” I knew I was going to have to be putting the No.26 Venom Energy car's rear wing where other people weren't in order to go as quick as them, so that's how I kept my sanity on Bump Day. I was mentally prepared for just that situation, and Ryan Hunter-Reay and I had a talk about potential cannibalism within the Andretti Autosport team – that we could end up in a situation where we're trying to put each other out of the race, when all we're doing is our job. So it was a tough situation, but we were ready for it.

The problem originated from the off-season, because we didn't do as much wind tunnel work for the ovals as we did shock and damper work for road and street courses. That's why I was frustrated that some people were asking, “How did this happen?” and my reply was, “How did you expect this not to happen?! We didn't do as much aero work as the others.” I mean, it is what it is: I'd say we've seen the benefits of what we did get done over the winter; we've definitely made progress on street courses. But to expect miracles on the ovals was just wrong.

There are no bad teams out there. Even the teams that used to be weak are still spending money in the wind tunnel and at shaker rigs. So if they're doing it, we need to do the same, or instead of being part of a Big Three, we're going to be nowhere. We were already behind Penske and Ganassi, and when we don't improve, other teams will fill the gap between us and the best.

It's logical, isn't it: I qualified 16th in 2010 at Indy, and I was best of the five of us – isn't that a big enough wake-up call already? As the field increases in depth, and you get a couple more Ganassi cars, you get three or four strong Sam Schmidt cars, and so on, well, so we must expect that last year's 16th is going to equate to this year's 27th if we haven't made progress. It's the old cliché – stand still and you're actually going backward in racing. And I'm afraid two weeks practice – with or without the rain interruptions – isn't enough to correct the situation. What's needed for that place is stuff you learn in wind tunnels – a lot of little things, not one big thing that allows you to “bolt on speed.

Red Bull adds rear wing endplate fins « auto insurance quotes usa

Since the Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull have new rear wing endplates that feature an extension behind the diffuser. Pioneered on the Toyota TF109, McLaren have been using a similar design since the beginning of this season, and as of the Spanish GP have gotten company by Ferrari and Red Bull. All designs feature a number of fins, considered in the regulations as part of the rear wing endplate.

Because they are allowed to extend down to the level of the reference plane, they are particularly interesting to help diffuser efficiency. The fins help guide air away from the centre of the car, reducing the air density in the central part behind the diffuser and guiding air into the rear wheel's wake. As such, downforce can be increased while the drag induced by the wheels' wake can be reduced.

Since the Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull have new rear wing endplates that feature an extension behind the diffuser. Pioneered on the Toyota TF109, McLaren have been using a similar design since the beginning of this season, and as of the Spanish GP have gotten company by Ferrari and Red Bull. All designs feature a number of fins, considered in the regulations as part of the rear wing endplate.

Because they are allowed to extend down to the level of the reference plane, they are particularly interesting to help diffuser efficiency. The fins help guide air away from the centre of the car, reducing the air density in the central part behind the diffuser and guiding air into the rear wheel's wake. As such, downforce can be increased while the drag induced by the wheels' wake can be reduced.

Since the Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull have new rear wing endplates that feature an extension behind the diffuser. Pioneered on the Toyota TF109, McLaren have been using a similar design since the beginning of this season, and as of the Spanish GP have gotten company by Ferrari and Red Bull. All designs feature a number of fins, considered in the regulations as part of the rear wing endplate.

Because they are allowed to extend down to the level of the reference plane, they are particularly interesting to help diffuser efficiency. The fins help guide air away from the centre of the car, reducing the air density in the central part behind the diffuser and guiding air into the rear wheel's wake. As such, downforce can be increased while the drag induced by the wheels' wake can be reduced.

Since the Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull have new rear wing endplates that feature an extension behind the diffuser. Pioneered on the Toyota TF109, McLaren have been using a similar design since the beginning of this season, and as of the Spanish GP have gotten company by Ferrari and Red Bull. All designs feature a number of fins, considered in the regulations as part of the rear wing endplate.

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