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LE MANS: DeltaWing Gaining Traction
Highcroft’s Duncan Dayton hopeful of Sebring 2012 debut...
Highcroft team principal Duncan Dayton, left, and DeltaWing designer Ben Bowlby, right, unveiled the DeltaWing Le Mans project last month at la Sarthe. (Photo: Rick Dole/Highcroft)
What was being touted as the future of IndyCar just 18 months ago could end up leading a revolution in the world of sportscar racing. If you don’t believe that yourself, just ask Duncan Dayton, owner of Highcroft Racing, whose organization is heading up the revived DeltaWing project, targeted for next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Dayton and his two-time American Le Mans Series championship-winning team took the wraps off the ambitious program last month at Le Mans, which will see the Ben Bowlby-designed prototype compete as the 56th entrant in the world’s most prestigious endurance race.
The car’s revolutionary, yet controversial design, has already raised a new level of awareness, in and outside of the motorsports world. The initial announcement generated over 127 million page views on the web, including coverage from mainstream outlets such as FOX News and the Wall Street Journal. A photo of the DeltaWing even made its way into New York’s Times Square.
But from industry experts, perhaps the biggest attention-getter has come from the car’s technical specifications. With the original design parameters calling for half the weight, horsepower and fuel capacity of a traditional prototype, yet aimed at matching or even possibly exceeding performance levels of current LMP1 cars, it’s a bold step away from traditional wisdom.
In fact, with the car employing a 1.6-liter, four-cylinder turbo engine, that’s aimed to produce 300 hp, yet weighing just 150 pounds, the DeltaWing sheds away from alternative propulsion technologies being currently developed for endurance racing. However, that could end up being the winning move, as Dayton explains.
“Certainly the technology of hybrid, hydrogen, electric and all those types of vehicles are all very interesting. But the technology is not yet at a state that really can be translated into the road-going cars that we drive,” Dayton says.
“99.9 percent of all the propulsion in the world is the internal combustion engine, fueled by liquid fuel. So if we can find a way to half the consumption, it extends the useful lifespan of the internal combustion engine by a considerable amount.
"Those other technologies will become more and more important over time but they're not yet at the stage where they're going to make a significant impact on fuel consumption or energy consumption around the world. Whereas lightweight and efficient design like we're proposing with the Delta Wing will have an immediate impact on that kind of consumption."
While the DeltaWing will run unclassified next year at Le Mans, as it doesn’t currently fit into any particular category, Dayton is hopeful that this project could serve as a catalyst for helping shape future prototype regulations, which are due out for the 2014 season.
Few details have been released on what the LMP1 and LMP2 categories could look like in three years’ time, but the Automobile Club de l’Ouest has been in ongoing meetings with manufacturers and partners to help define the regulations, which is likely to take a drastic step forward in energy efficiency.
“From my understanding, the proposed regulations is to use half the fuel consumption by 2014. If we can demonstrate that we can do it in 2012, I’m not necessarily sure they’d want to wait until 2014 to implement that,” Dayton says. “I think you could see cars like this become the next LMP cars going forward.
“The good thing about it is that the powertrain is pretty [open]. It doesn’t matter what you put in it. You could have petrol-powered cars, diesel-powered cars, flywheel hybrids, electric hybrids, full-electric, it could be anything. This isn’t the ultimate evolution of the car. It’s the first step in the catalyst to promote ‘outside the box’ thinking.”
But for now, the immediate focus has been getting the DeltaWing on track. The car’s design, which had to be slightly modified from the initial IndyCar concept, is nearing completion, with the first of two chassis, built by Dan Gurney’s All American Racers, expected to be delivered to Highcroft in late October or early November.
Testing won’t likely begin until December, but Dayton has already penciled in 22 test days in the run up to the twice-around-the-clock classic. Most importantly, though, he’s hopeful of the car making its race debut at the Twelve Hours of Sebring next March, although the ALMS and ACO have yet to approve such a sanction.
“[Sebring] is certainly on the radar for sure,” Dayton says. “We’re very hopeful that we’ll be able to participate there. They do want it to run in competition beforehand. It’s important for the drivers to be able to gauge GT cars and other prototype cars [on track]. Hopefully we’ll be able to do it but we haven’t been given that green light yet.”
Dayton and his two-time American Le Mans Series championship-winning team took the wraps off the ambitious program last month at Le Mans, which will see the Ben Bowlby-designed prototype compete as the 56th entrant in the world’s most prestigious endurance race.
The car’s revolutionary, yet controversial design, has already raised a new level of awareness, in and outside of the motorsports world. The initial announcement generated over 127 million page views on the web, including coverage from mainstream outlets such as FOX News and the Wall Street Journal. A photo of the DeltaWing even made its way into New York’s Times Square.
But from industry experts, perhaps the biggest attention-getter has come from the car’s technical specifications. With the original design parameters calling for half the weight, horsepower and fuel capacity of a traditional prototype, yet aimed at matching or even possibly exceeding performance levels of current LMP1 cars, it’s a bold step away from traditional wisdom.
In fact, with the car employing a 1.6-liter, four-cylinder turbo engine, that’s aimed to produce 300 hp, yet weighing just 150 pounds, the DeltaWing sheds away from alternative propulsion technologies being currently developed for endurance racing. However, that could end up being the winning move, as Dayton explains.
“Certainly the technology of hybrid, hydrogen, electric and all those types of vehicles are all very interesting. But the technology is not yet at a state that really can be translated into the road-going cars that we drive,” Dayton says.
“99.9 percent of all the propulsion in the world is the internal combustion engine, fueled by liquid fuel. So if we can find a way to half the consumption, it extends the useful lifespan of the internal combustion engine by a considerable amount.
"Those other technologies will become more and more important over time but they're not yet at the stage where they're going to make a significant impact on fuel consumption or energy consumption around the world. Whereas lightweight and efficient design like we're proposing with the Delta Wing will have an immediate impact on that kind of consumption."
While the DeltaWing will run unclassified next year at Le Mans, as it doesn’t currently fit into any particular category, Dayton is hopeful that this project could serve as a catalyst for helping shape future prototype regulations, which are due out for the 2014 season.
Few details have been released on what the LMP1 and LMP2 categories could look like in three years’ time, but the Automobile Club de l’Ouest has been in ongoing meetings with manufacturers and partners to help define the regulations, which is likely to take a drastic step forward in energy efficiency.
“From my understanding, the proposed regulations is to use half the fuel consumption by 2014. If we can demonstrate that we can do it in 2012, I’m not necessarily sure they’d want to wait until 2014 to implement that,” Dayton says. “I think you could see cars like this become the next LMP cars going forward.
“The good thing about it is that the powertrain is pretty [open]. It doesn’t matter what you put in it. You could have petrol-powered cars, diesel-powered cars, flywheel hybrids, electric hybrids, full-electric, it could be anything. This isn’t the ultimate evolution of the car. It’s the first step in the catalyst to promote ‘outside the box’ thinking.”
But for now, the immediate focus has been getting the DeltaWing on track. The car’s design, which had to be slightly modified from the initial IndyCar concept, is nearing completion, with the first of two chassis, built by Dan Gurney’s All American Racers, expected to be delivered to Highcroft in late October or early November.
Testing won’t likely begin until December, but Dayton has already penciled in 22 test days in the run up to the twice-around-the-clock classic. Most importantly, though, he’s hopeful of the car making its race debut at the Twelve Hours of Sebring next March, although the ALMS and ACO have yet to approve such a sanction.
“[Sebring] is certainly on the radar for sure,” Dayton says. “We’re very hopeful that we’ll be able to participate there. They do want it to run in competition beforehand. It’s important for the drivers to be able to gauge GT cars and other prototype cars [on track]. Hopefully we’ll be able to do it but we haven’t been given that green light yet.”
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