Coyne will run Pippa Mann at Indy but admits concern

Last December, when Coyne revealed Conor Daly as a full-time driver for 2016, and Bryan Clauson as an Indy 500 entry, he described Pippa Mann’s chances of a fourth attempt at Indy with his team as “very likely.”

He has now confirmed to Motorsport.com that this will happen, although the details of deals with Mann’s backers for 2016 are still sketchy. The Susan G. Komen organization has traditionally had its branding on her car, and it is a cause particularly close to Coyne’s heart, given his wife Gail’s battle with breast cancer.

Therefore the Susan G. Komen pink ribbon logo is expected to be on the car, as well as Mann’s helmet and firesuit, but to what extent has not yet been finalized.

This will be the fifth time that Mann has entered the Indy 500 (her first time, 2011, was with Conquest Racing), and although she has made only 14 IndyCar starts in her career, she will be the IMS veteran in Coyne's driver lineup, which will consist of season full-timers Daly and Luca Filippi, along with USAC sprint car ace Clauson.

However Coyne told Motorsport.com he’s still unhappy that domed skids have been confirmed for the 100^th running.

“I don’t like that we’re using domed skids,” he said. “It takes away stability for everybody.

“The new flaps on the beam wing would have prevented take-offs traveling backward at 200. The domed skids are supposed to slow the car as it spins, but they also increase your chances of spinning in the first place, so why risk it?” 

Car is too heavy at the rear

Coyne says the philosophy of the DW12, in original and aerokit-equipped IR15/IR16 form, is wrong, with far too much of the weight toward the rear.

He commented: “The problem with this car, especially on ovals, has always been the weight at the back because it almost guarantees broken parts.

“If you take a dart and throw it at a dartboard backward, it still sticks, because the heavy end does all the leading. These cars are so heavy at the rear that whenever they spin they’re trying to back into the wall all the time. They don’t spin right around; they stop spinning once the heavy end is doing the leading.

“And with the aero kit we added more weight to the back, the attenuator, and now the beam wing… so we’ve just been making that characteristic worse and worse. When a driver loses control, it’s gone.

“At places like Michigan, which was our fastest track, you could spin off Turn 2 and eventually stop, and you’d still not hit the wall. When this car lets go, chances are you’re going to wreck.”