3901 x 2439 px | 33 x 20,7 cm | 13 x 8,1 inches | 300dpi
Aufnahmedatum:
30. Mai 2011
Ort:
Crystal Palace Park, Crystal Palace, London
Weitere Informationen:
Ian Wright driving a 1962 Chaparral Mk1 in the sprint event at motorsport at the palace 2011. Chaparral Cars was a pioneering American automobile racing team and race car developer that engineered, built, and raced cars from 1963 through 1970. Founded in 1962 by American Formula One racers Hap Sharp and Jim Hall, it was named after the roadrunner, a fast-running ground cuckoo also known as a chaparral bird. Dick Troutman and Tom Barnes were builders of the original Chaparral race cars (later referred to as Chaparral 1).[1] Jim Hall purchased two Chaparral 1s to race. When Hall and Sharp began building their own cars, they asked Troutman and Barnes if they could continue to use the Chaparral name. That is why the Hall/Sharp cars are all named Chaparral 2s (models 2A through 2J for sports cars/CanAm cars, and the 2K which was the 1979–1982 Indycar). Despite winning the Indianapolis 500 in 1980, they left motor racing in 1982. Chaparral cars also featured in the SCCA/CASC Can-Am series and Endurance racing.[citation needed] Jim Hall was a leader in the innovation and design of spoilers, wings, and ground effects. A high point was the 1966 2E Can-Am car. The 2J Can-Am "sucker car" was the first "ground-effects" car.[citation needed] The development of the Chaparral chronicles the key changes in race cars in the 1960s and 1970s in both aerodynamics and tires. Hall's training as an engineer taught him to approach problems in a methodical manner, and his access to the engineering teams at Chevrolet and at Firestone was instrumental in changing race car aerodynamics and handling from an art to an empirical science. The embryonic data acquisition systems created by the GM research and development group aided these efforts. An interview with Hall by Paul Haney illustrates many of these developments.
