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Mar132012

Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 09:24AM

March 14, 2012

Nissan goes all-in on the DeltaWing.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

(Posted 3/13, 9:30 a.m.) Detroit. The wildly innovative DeltaWing racing car has been controversial since its inception. The critics and pundits weighed-in suggesting it was a harebrained moon shot with no possibility of actually working, with the common epithet hurled, "It won't turn." Brilliant. Well, all of the pundits, amateur racing engineers and the high-placed engineers at a certain Detroit-based car company who insisted it wouldn't work have grown largely silent. Why? Because the DeltaWing is for real.

It not only turns, it turns in amazingly well. Its mid-corner performance is solid and its ability to accelerate out of a corner is sensational. Its braking performance is nothing short of a phenomenal and it's blistering fast in a straight line because of its miniscule frontal area. In short, the visionary Ben Bowlby-designed DeltaWing racing machine is bristling with potential, and it may just stand the racing world on its ear.

Yes, it should have been the new IndyCar, but tradition - make that hoary "not invented here" syndrome - killed any chance of it seeing the light of day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which is a complete travesty. But that's over with and not worth re-hashing again, because the DeltaWing racing machine is going to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, against all odds.

Duncan Dayton, the owner of Highcroft Racing, worked tirelessly to make this program a reality. Believe me, there were some dark days for Dayton, Bowlby, Dan Gurney, et al, because, as it can be told now, the two domestic automakers turned down the program flat. One because of a virulent "not invented here" cabal in engineering that pissed on the idea and said that there were too many "unknowns" and that it couldn't be ready for Le Mans in ten months anyway. The other because of internal politics.

Fortunately the lack of conviction and terminal short-sightedness demonstrated by our domestic automakers was replaced by genuine vision and the willingness to push the envelope by Nissan, and the program's tire development partner, Michelin. By throwing its support behind this innovative racing program, Nissan is demonstrating that it not only understands the "blue sky" technical ingenuity showcased in the DeltaWing, it is embracing it and nurturing it, signaling that it believes that pushing the envelope is what racing needs more than anything at this juncture. And they're absolutely right. To that end a race-prepared 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine, featuring direct fuel injection and a turbocharger, will power the Nissan DeltaWing, which is half the weight and has half the aerodynamic drag of a conventional racer.

Right now, because of its support of the DeltaWing racing program, Nissan is the most visionary car company in the world. Many car companies looked at this project, some were even seriously considering it while being very complimentary of it, but Nissan was the only manufacturer in the world with the cojones to step up and fully support it. Kudos to them and to Michelin, and kudos to Ben Bowlby, Duncan Dayton, Dan Gurney and Don Panoz. Well done, gentlemen, and I look forward to the DeltaWing being the story at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.

Q&A with Ben Bowlby.
Q&A with Duncan Dayton.
Q&A with Dan Gurney.
Q&A with Don Panoz.
Q&A with Nissan Europe's Head of Brand Strategy, Darren Cox.

Editor-in-Chief's Note: The DeltaWing will make its first public on-track debut on Thursday, March 15, at Sebring International Raceway in an event hosted by Michelin. The DeltaWing launch video can be viewed here. - PMD

Publisher's Note: As part of our continuing series celebrating the "Glory Days" of racing, we're proud to present another noteworthy image from the Ford Racing Archives. - PMD

(Courtesy of the Ford Racing Archives)
Sebring, Florida, March 26, 1966. The No. 1 Shelby American-entered Ken Miles/Lloyd Ruby Ford GT-X1 427 roadster makes a scheduled night pit stop on its way to the win in the 12 Hours of Sebring that year. The No. 3 Ford Mk II 427 entered by Holman & Moody and driven by Walt Hansgen and Mark Donohue finished second, while the No. 19 Essex Wire Ford GT40 289 driven by Skip Scott and Peter Revson came in third. Watch the video here.

Publisher's Note: Like these Ford racing photos? Check out www.fordimages.com. Be forewarned, however, because you won't be able to go there and not order something. - PMD

See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" with hosts John McElroy, from Autoline Detroit, and Peter De Lorenzo, The Autoextremist, and guests this Thursday evening, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv.