Firestone Indy Lights is a developmental motor racing series sanctioned by the Indy Racing League (IRL). Previously, another series named Indy Lights filled the same role for CART and ran from 1986 to 1990 as the American Racing Series and Dayton Indy Lights from 1991 to 2001. The IRL-sanctioned current series was founded in 2002 as the Infiniti Pro Series as a way to introduce new talent to the IRL and coincided with Infiniti’s departure from the IRL’s premier Indycar Series.
The Firstone Indy Lights series cars use a modified, 3.5 liter V8 from the Infiniti Q45 street production car in a Dallara chassis, with Firestone “racing slicks” tyres - the sole tyre supplier to the series.
It is an open-wheel, single-seat, open-cockpit car with outboard wings on the front and rear. The monocoque contains the cockpit, fuel cell and front suspension, with the engine a stressed member of chassis. The rear assembly contains a six-speed gearbox with sequential shift, plus the rear suspension.
Safety is an important aspect in the Indy Lights series, and all cars are equipped with a device that measures and communicates the impact of a crash to rescue and safety workers on the scene. Controlled by Delphi’s Accident Data Recorder, a light illuminates when a crash reaches or exceeds a pre-set threshold, informing safety workers that an injury is more likely.
Safety has also made another step forwards, with the new car designed to comply with F1 standard safety legislation.
