ASPHALTopics | Spring 2014 | VOL 27 | NO 1

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New Indy road course a winning formula by Lisa Fattori IMS photo(s) by Chris Owens. Racing enthusiasts can look forward to a newly paved and modified road course at the world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) this season. The upgraded 2.439 mile infield circuit will host the inaugural IndyCar Indianapolis Grand Prix May 8th to 10th, as well as MotoGP’s Red Bull Indianapolis GP in August. The improvements not only ensure the safety of the course, they make the race more thrilling for drivers and spectators alike. “The original course was constructed in 1999, and some severe cracking had taken place,” says Kevin Forbes, IMS Director of Engineering. “Unlike highways that have a constant kneading action, raceways don’t have the steady traffic and will crack as a result. The geometry of the course also needed to be changed. Some of the corners were changed to make the race more competitive for drivers and therefore more entertaining for spectators.” Construction of the road course began in September 2013 and was completed in just two months. The scope of work included milling the existing pavement, with the removal of five inches of asphalt, and the installation of five inches of new pavement. Corners one and two of the road course were completely changed to offer a slight elevation of approximately three feet. The corners were excavated down 14 inches and received a seven inch base of crushed stone, followed by seven inches of new asphalt. The sections were then married to the existing portions of the road course that remained in place. “At first we were going to remove the pavement all at once, but the base would be damaged from trucks and machinery,” Forbes says. “Instead, we re-paved the course in sections, leaving just enough asphalt to work from.” The elevation changes make for a more varied course and, although three feet may not seem significant, the change will enhance competition. “The speedway was built on Indiana farmland, which is completely flat,” Forbes says. “The interior road course is already surrounded by a lot of infrastructure, so it is difficult to find opportunities where we can create a hump or hill. Three feet is pretty significant and will make the road course more interesting and fun for race car drivers.” Turn 12 of the road course intersects with the warm-up area of the oval track, which is also the fourth turn of the MotoGP circuit. To make the geometry of the road course even more interesting, it is designed to accommodate IndyCar Series races moving in a clockwise direction, as well as MotoGP races that run counter clockwise. The 100 square feet shared space is an engineering feat, successfully accommodating four paths that cross in the same location. All pathways have different geometry, both horizontal and vertical, with certain banking required for each. The design had 900 data points and demanded unconventional paving practices to get the desired finish. “Screed operators tend to think just of drainage, but this section required the screed to go in four different ›› 12 OHMPA | ASPHALTOPICS
ONTARIO’S JAMES HINCHCLIFFE SET TO RACE ON NEW INDY ROAD COURSE INDY TRACK FAST FACTS · In 1909, the original oval track was paved using 3.2 million ten-pound bricks and mortar over a two-inch layer of sand. The track was nicknamed “The Brickyard” and, today, three feet of the original bricks remain at the start/finish line. · The Indy road course is the only track in North America that offers both clockwise and counter-clockwise options in racing. Clockwise races have five left turns and nine right turns. · The total paving area of the Indy road course is 16.2 acres, which is equivalent to nearly 16 football fields. The repaving project required 20,000 tons of asphalt. Oakville native, James Hinchcliffe, will be driving for the Andretti Autosport team in the IndyCar Indianapolis Grand Prix in May. The three-time winner for the 2013 IndyCar Series racing season got the racing bug when he was just nine years old, spending his weekends go-karting at Goodwood Kartways, just north of Toronto. At 17, he made the transition from karting to race car driving when he was selected to compete in the North American Formula BMW scholarship program in Spain—an important stepping stone that won him recognition and new opportunities. As racing’s rising star, Hinchcliffe is a fan favourite who signed on with IndyCar almost three years ago. “In 2011, I got the opportunity to make my IndyCar debut after many years of trying to get there,” Hinchcliffe says. “Then, in 2012, I started in the front row for the Indy 500. These were real career highlights.” In 2012, Hinchcliffe replaced Andretti team member, Danica Patrick, driving the brilliant green GoDaddy car. The car was renumbered #27, which is the same number that was used by Canadian drivers Gilles Villeneuve and Jacques Villeneuve. For the 2014 season, United Fiber & Data has replaced GoDaddy as Hinchcliffe’s sponsor and fans can look forward to another exciting racing season with Hinchcliffe sporting the blue and white colours of the high-tech company. While Hinchcliffe has driven both the oval and the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he looks forward to trying out the new road course in the upcoming Grand Prix. “The oval is challenging, but a road course brings its own set of challenges,” he says. “When you have different corners and brake zones, it really makes the driver think and makes us work harder. The new changes to the road course will make the race more interesting. As drivers, we don’t want a lead-follow race, and neither do the fans.” SPRING 2014 13
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ASPHALTopics | Spring 2014 | VOL 27 | NO 1

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