DeltaWing Raced a Fine Line between Foolhardy and Genius

Every once in a while, someone in racing tries to reinvent the wheel.

And, as racer Gabby Chaves will attest, the line between foolhardy and pure genius can be a blurry one.

Take the DeltaWing, which made its racing debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans as the Garage 56 entry in 2012 and closed out its racing life at Petit Le Mans in 2016. It was a car that was a laughingstock to some, an innovation breakthrough set to turn the racing world upside down to others.

And to at least one group of forward-thinking dreamers, the DeltaWing was going to be the future of IndyCar.

However, the DeltaWing never quite lived up to the hype. And the Indy Racing League (later IndyCar) passed on its opportunity to pick the DeltaWing as its car for the 2012 season and beyond after series officials held an open competition of sorts among designers for the series’ new car.

“The car was a little bit ahead of its time,” said Chaves, the 2015 IndyCar Rookie of the Year who drove the DeltaWing for Don Panoz in 2014 and 2015.

DeltaWing is not the the first, nor will it be the last, car considered ahead of its time by those closest to it.

Consider the Tyrrell P34 six-wheeler car that won the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix for Elf Tyrrell Racing with Jody Scheckter behind the wheel. The car had a short shelf life, just two seasons in Formula 1, but it made its mark with 10 podium finishes. The P34 also had eight retirements, many attributed to added wear and tear on the four 10-inch front tires (they rotated more times than conventional tires) and brake issues.

The car was off the grid after the 1977 season.

Then there was the Brabham BT46B fan car of 1978 that incorporated a fan at the rear of the car to suck the air from underneath the car to create incredible downforce. Niki Lauda won with the car in Sweden that year. Team boss Bernie Ecclestone pulled the car from competition after rivals challenged its legality under F1 rules. The car was ultimately banned after starting—and winning—its only F1 race.

These were cars that even without looking under the hood, a casual observer could tell something wasn’t quite right.

Then there was the wackiest-looking race car race fans have seen (so far, anyway) this young century, the DeltaWing. The car championed by a group that included designer Ben Bowlby, constructor and racing pioneer Dan Gurney and his All American Racers team, Duncan Dayton of Highcroft Racing and managing partner Panoz featured a design that looked more like something that Danny Thompson would race on the Bonneville Salt Flats than a race car capable of running a road or street circuit.

Would the car even turn?

“I saw some of the video, pictures when it first came out as the Nissan DeltaWing,” said Chaves. “When I finally saw it, I didn’t realize how small it was. It looked almost like a go-kart or something.”

Chaves, 26, currently drives a Hyundai Veloster N in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge sports-car series for Bryan Herta Autosport.

“The concept worked,” Chaves said of the car whose designers promised a recipe for success that included half the weight, half the drag, less power (300 hp) and less fuel consumption. “But I don’t think it worked as well for one-lap time. We were competitive. We were also often a second, second and a half off the prototypes.

“I thought it was promising.”

DeltaWing had 4-inch-wide and 23-inch-tall Michelin-supplied front tires. The car was lighter than its rivals, and the stress on the tires was so low that while it might not be as quick for a full lap, the car would be in line for fewer tire changes and fuel stops.

In its race trim for the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans, the car checked in for its racing debut at just under 1,100 pounds. By comparison, the race weight of the 2011 Le Mans-winning Audi R18 TDi was nearly 2,000 pounds. The DeltaWing was named the Garage 56 entry (reserved for a car using the race to advance technology while not competing for points).

Driven by Marino Franchitti, Michael Krumm and Satoshi Motoyama, DeltaWing completed just 75 laps that maiden voyage before being knocked out by contact.

DeltaWing proved to be less than hearty when brushed by even the slightest contact on the racetrack.

“The biggest flaw was actually that everything was so lightweight,” Chaves said. “The gearbox was extremely light. We were giving up some reliability. When you get 50 cars sharing a track, that was an issue. One bump, and the chassis got bent out of shape. Those things took a beating.”

The DeltaWing made its final start at Petit Le Mans in 2016, where it finished 36th with a lineup of Sean Rayhall, Katherine Legge and Andy Myrick.

Unlike the Tyrrell P34 or Brabham BT46B, the DeltaWing’s innovative—some might say foolhardy—design failed to put its drivers on the top step of the podium.

“It was still one of the coolest chapters of my career,” Chaves said.

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