Watch the First 2018 Indycar Tests

Look for a sneak peek at the road course aero.

byJames Gilboy|
Watch the First 2018 Indycar Tests
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There's always a huge gap between concept renderings of cars and the cars that make it to the road. This holds true in motorsport, too, as January's 2018 Indycar concept has next to no resemblance to the real McCoy. The actual car was revealed Monday, complete with wings that look like lip service to the concept of downforce. 

But don't be fooled. These new cars are designed to be less reliant upon inefficient wing-generated downforce, which comes with great amounts of drag and leaves a wake of dirty air that effects cars close behind. Instead, 66 percent of downforce is now generated by the underbody of the car in the high-downforce road course configuration, and it makes up an even bigger proportion in full oval kit.

Not only are the new cars more handsome than their DW12 predecessor, they might be faster, too. The cars will be lighter than before, which the official release speculates may result in quicker lap times at some circuits. The racing will improve further as well, as the decrease in dirty air has halved the following distance.

Autosport has uploaded a video taken from the first test day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, featuring the next generation of Indycar in action, with Oriol Servia driving the Schmidt Petersen-Honda and Juan Pablo Montoya in the Penske-Chevy. Their impressions of the new cars have been documented too. Both drivers praised the car's appearance, but they noticed different changes with how the car drove. Montoya noted that it was possible to follow other cars at closer distances than before, and Servia described a difference in weight distribution and how different the floor-derived downforce feels in comparison to current cars.

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For those impatient for a glimpse at the as-of-yet unrevealed road course aero package, have a close look at the video. To the left of Servia, a more stout rear wing can be viewed. Is this an unintended reveal of the road course kit, or just an old DW12 win? You decide.

2018 Road Course Aero Kit?, Autosport on YouTube
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