Your IndyCar tech questions: Hybrid, dampers, aero and an uncertain future

The Race IndyCar Podcast brings you a mega episode full of your questions relating to tech, and no stone is left unturned in the present or hypothetical future of the series.

Of course, questions about IndyCar’s recently delayed hybrid unit dominate, but JR Hildebrand and our very special guest, engineer Charlie Ping, also take questions on a range of other topics including the 12-year-old chassis, while Hildebrand even outlines his future for what he thinks IndyCar should do to avoid stagnating in an impassioned plea for change.

It’s not just tech itself we’re talking about, it’s why certain areas of tech are allowed to be developed or not in what is a spec-chassis series. How dampers came to be open to development and where the series engine regs could be improved to lower costs also form part of the answers.

Ping also gives a full explainer of dampers - the most open area for development outside of the engine on an IndyCar - what they control in the IndyCar machine and how they impact set-up philosophy, with Hildebrand explaining what it’s like as a driver to be at an under-funded team trying to outsmart the bods at the well-funded top outfits.

We’ve still got some questions left over to answer in a future episode, so if you have a question for our hosting team, email [email protected]

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