Another Patrick Callahan Post:

Going fast in racing is all about grip. Grip is determined by the tires, the way the tires touch the ground and the amount of force pushing down on the tires. There are many ways to increase that final variable and Christian Rado’s team recently brought one of them into the realm of time attack; the front wing. While this is perhaps the first time it has been introduced to US organized time attack, the front wing actually has quite a history. Sure, there are more elegant ways to add downforce to the front end, but the wing is unparalleled for efficiency. The first example of a front wing on a road car that I can think of is the Audi Quattro S1, although another Group B car may have been first.

The low-mounted front wing has gone on to appear on many full-bodied competition cars including the amazing carbon-bodied Honda Z600 featured here from a few weeks ago. The nature of racing the Pike’s Peak hillclimb, at which the Quattro S1 is pictured, puts a very high premium on downforce. Hence, it makes sense that the next logical step in the progression of the front wing was also debuted at the famous race on the Speedway Motors Corvette which unfortunately I have not been able to find a picture of. Imagine a purple tubeframe Corvette C5 with a giant front wing mounted to the hood and you’re not too far off. I’m happy to see this concept applied succesfully to a FWD time attack car. This is truly form over function at its most extreme, and you know what? I like it!