IndyCar
IRL: G Force announces 2003 expansion
Indy Racing League chassis manufacturer G Force today announced it will enter the 2003 IRL season with a dramatically different look. The American manufacturer will have a new name, a new logo, an exciting new car and a dramatically expanded ...
Edited: Mar 27, 2008, 5:32 AM
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Indy Racing League chassis manufacturer G Force today announced it will enter the 2003 IRL season with a dramatically different look.
The American manufacturer will have a new name, a new logo, an exciting new car and a dramatically expanded technical team - moves which aim to put the car in victory lane on a regular basis in 2003.
G Force owner Don Panoz made the announcements today at Texas Motor Speedway on the eve of the final round of the 2002 IRL championship.
From next season, the G Force will be known as a "Panoz G Force", reflecting the unprecedented commitment the company owner has placed in the Indy Racing League program.
As part of that commitment, Panoz G Force has dramatically expanded its design and technical team.
New appointments include Chief Executive Officer, David Bowes; Chief Designer, Simon Marshall and Technical Consultant, Ben Bowlby.
The trio previously worked at Lola where they were extensively involved in that company's CART program.
They join forces with Panoz G Force's existing team led by Director of Sales, John Biddlecombe; Chief Aerodynamicist, Tony Tyler and Technical Consultant, Nigel Bennett.
The technical team were also joined at the media conference today by Elan Motor Sports Technologies President, Tony Mastandrea and Panoz Motor Sports Group President and COO, Scott Atherton.
Panoz today unveiled the new company logo as well as giving a sneak preview of the 2003 Indy Racing League challenger - the first IRL design to be known as the Panoz G Force.
"The level of competition in the Indy Racing League has increased remarkably and we believed our commitment to the program needed to reflect that," Panoz G Force owner, Don Panoz said.
"Over the past 12 months, we have closely examined every area of G Force and have worked towards providing significant improvements in design, manufacturing and customer service.
"We are totally committed to ensuring the new Panoz G Force car is undisputed as the chassis of choice for IRL competition. Our target is the IRL championship and the Indy 500 - that is our complete goal.
"We have gone out and recruited the best people to greatly enhance our technical capabilities.
"Tony George, Brian Barnhart and the IRL have done an outstanding job in growing this championship and has achieved a level of competitiveness and professionalism never seen before.
"We at Panoz G Force have 'answered the call' to match that growth to make a similar quantam leap forward in our overall organization.
"Our new structure will enable us to not only keep pace with the current and future demands of the IRL, but will place us as a pacesetter at the leading edge of motor sports technology.
"We now have 12 full time designers and engineers working on this new car and have doubled the amount of time we are spending in the wind tunnel."
Part of the Elan Motor Sports Technologies Group (EMT), Panoz G Force has opened a new design centre in the United Kingdom and will complete the final manufacturing of the cars at its U.S. base in Braselton, Georgia.
The EMT facilities feature full in-house design, fabrication, machining and composite construction capabilities.
EMT's global motor sport group also includes Formula Ford expert Van Diemen, leading American Le Mans Series team Panoz Motor Sports and specialist services companies Elan Power Products, Elan Precision and Elan Composites.
The new 2003 Panoz G Force is currently undergoing extensive wind tunnel development in the United Kingdom. The first car is expected to be ready for delivery in early December.
"We are certainly very excited about the results we are getting out of the wind tunnel and believe we will have an extremely strong package for 2003," Designer, Simon Marshall said.
"This year's car was incredibly strong at the Indianapolis 500 and we are working towards replicating that performance at every track in the IRL championship.
"Our design team has worked extensively on a package that will be very strong on the short ovals, the 1.5 mile ovals and the the super speedways.
"The numbers we are getting from the wind tunnel in regards to reducing drag but maintaining or increasing downforce are very promising."
One of the original chassis suppliers for the Indy Racing League, G Force has been a winner in the championship in every year of competition.
In 2002, the chassis took victories at Texas Motor Speedway (Jeff Ward) and Kentucky (Felipe Giaffone) and dominated qualifying at the Indianapolis 500, taking four of the top five grid spots.
-g force-
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