The Panoz DP01 is an
open-wheel car
An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...
that was produced by
Élan Motorsport Technologies
Élan Motorsport Technologies is an American enterprise that serves as an umbrella company containing the race car engineering, development and manufacturing companies owned by American racing and automotive company conglomerate Panoz Motor Sport ...
at
Braselton, Georgia
Braselton ( ) is a town in Barrow, Gwinnett, Hall, and Jackson counties in the U.S. state of Georgia, approximately northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 7,511, and in 2018 the estimated population was 11,652. ...
, United States. It was developed for use in the
2007 Champ Car World Series season, replacing the aging de facto-spec Lola chassis. The DP01 was introduced to the world at the
2006 Grand Prix of San Jose on July 28, 2006. Due to the February 2008 sale of Champ Car to the
Indy Racing League
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
, which uses its own spec equipment, the car is not currently used in a professional racing series in the United States. The final race for the car was the
2008 Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Development concepts
The
Panoz
Panoz is an American manufacturer of sports automobiles founded in 1989 as Panoz Auto Development by Dan Panoz, son of Don Panoz. Panoz products have included the Panoz Roadster and AIV Roadster, the Panoz Esperante, and the Panoz Avezzano.
Pan ...
DP01 was developed to be safer, and less aero-dependent while racing closely with other cars than previously existing Champ Cars. The Panoz had numerous changes from the previous
Lola
Lola may refer to:
Places
* Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama
* Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States
* Lola Prefecture, Guinea
* Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture
* Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands
People
* Lola (fo ...
car, including more
downforce
Downforce is a downwards lift force created by the aerodynamic features of a vehicle. If the vehicle is a car, the purpose of downforce is to allow the car to travel faster by increasing the vertical force on the tires, thus creating more grip. ...
from the underbody. Approximately 60% of the car's of downforce at came from the bottom of the car. It weighed about 1,550 lbs., and featured a 950-
horsepower
Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...
''
Cosworth XFE'' 2.65-liter turbocharged V8. The DP01 could go from 0-60 mph in 2.2 seconds, 0-100 mph in 4.2 seconds, and had an approximate top speed of 240 mph. This was done by directing the air in a way so as to create additional downforce on the car, thereby effectively sucking it to the racetrack. This put less dependency on the front and rear wings in the event of a failure at high speed.
Another major change from the previous car was the raised nose, which was moved farther above the front wing and directing more air to the
underbody aerodynamics. The raised nose also created a safer environment for the driver in the event of a head-on collision with a wall or another car.
The driver sat more upright than in the Lola chassis, to reduce the chances of back injuries, and to better accommodate the use of the
HANS device
A HANS device (head and neck support device) is a type of head restraint, a safety device in motorsports. Head restraints are mandatory when competing with most major motorsports sanctioning bodies. They reduce the likelihood of head or neck inj ...
.
Champ Car
Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ( ...
used the 2.65L 90° 8-cylinder turbocharged ''
Cosworth
Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industrie ...
XFE'' as the exclusive engine during the 2007 season.
Unveiling
The DP01 was officially unveiled to the public at the
Champ Car Grand Prix of Road America
The Grand Prix of Road America, also known as the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America for sponsorship reasons, is an IndyCar Series race held at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. For twenty-five years, the event was part of the Champ Car, CA ...
on September 24, 2006. Brazilian
Roberto Moreno
Roberto Pupo Moreno (born 11 February 1959), usually known as Roberto Moreno and also as Pupo Moreno, is a Brazilian former auto racing, racing driver. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 15 c ...
piloted the DP01 at the unveiling, putting down a few demonstration laps shortly before the feature Champ Car race that day.
File:Panoz DP01, original livery-02.jpg, Panoz DP01, original livery
File:Panoz DP01, Cosworth engine.jpg, Panoz DP01 with Cosworth XFE engine
File:Roberto Moreno, Road America, 2006.jpg, Roberto Moreno, driver of the unveiling laps
Debut
The first Champ Car open test of the DP01 took place January 23 to January 25, 2007, at
Sebring International Raceway
Sebring International Raceway is a road course auto racing facility in the southeastern United States, located near Sebring, Florida.
Sebring Raceway is one of the oldest continuously operating race tracks in the U.S., its first race being run i ...
. The second open test occurred on February 12 and 13 at
MSR Houston. The third and last open test before the season took place March 9 and 10 at
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and M ...
. The Panoz DP01's race debut was at the
Vegas Grand Prix
The IZOD IndyCar World Championship Presented by Honda was an IndyCar Series race on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, held from 1996 to 2000, and again in 2011. It was first known as the Las Vegas 500k. The Champ Car World Series held a race at ...
on April 8, 2007.
Team Australia
Team Australia was an auto racing team competing in the V8 Supercars and Champ Car World Series. It was created in early 2005 when two Australian businessmen Craig Gore and John Fish bought into Derrick Walker's Walker Racing operation. After ...
's
Will Power
William "Will" Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian motorsports driver who currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske. He is the 2014 and 2022 IndyCar Series champion and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion. ...
won the inaugural pole and the first race with the DP01.
Final Champ Car DP01 race
In February 2008, the sale of Champ Car to the Indy Racing League (IRL) was consummated. Since the IRL used its own spec formula based around a chassis made by Italian manufacturer
Dallara
Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created "D ...
, the DP01 was retired from championship racing after approximately one year of racing service. The
2008 Grand Prix of Long Beach held in April 2008 served as a "Champ Car finale", and the DP01s were used by all participants.
Current status
The Panoz DP01 is no longer being manufactured. However, Elan Motorsports Technologies did use the car as somewhat of a model for the
Panoz DP09
The Panoz DP09 (commonly known as the Superleague DP09) was the sole spec open-wheel race car used in the Superleague Formula series. It was produced by Élan Motorsport Technologies at Braselton, Georgia, in the United States. The DP09 was bas ...
chassis for the
Superleague Formula
Superleague Formula was an open wheel single seater motor racing formula, which started in 2008, at Donington Park in the United Kingdom. The league introduced team sponsorship by association football clubs. It used the slogan 'The Beautiful ...
series that houses a
naturally aspirated
Naturally may refer to:
;Albums
* ''Naturally!'', an album by Nat Adderley
* ''Naturally'' (Houston Person album)
* ''Naturally'' (J. J. Cale album)
* ''Naturally'' (John Pizzarelli album)
* ''Naturally'' (Sharon Jones album)
* ''Naturally'' ...
Menard 4.2 V12 engine.
DP01s owned by most Champ Car teams were sold to privateers in the United States and elsewhere. Two examples of the cars in use during 2010 were in the
BOSS GP Series
The BOSS GP Series is a motor racing series in Europe. The category originated in 1995 as the BOSS Formula series and evolved into the EuroBOSS Series.
BOSS is an acronym that stands for ''Big Open Single Seaters''.
History
The BOSS series w ...
, where the chassis was campaigned by Henk de Boer and by Peter Milavec.
Atlantic Championship
The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It has been called Champ Car Atlantics (after its former name), Toyota Atlantics (due to the series' previous history of using Toyota-powered engines) ...
former president Ben Johnston also owned multiple DP01s, which he intended to be raced in a new multi-class open-wheel racing series called GreenPrixUSA. However, the series was delayed due to track and possible engine issues.
As of 2016, Johnston was forced to liquidate his racing assets due to divorce.
Complete IndyCar Series results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
)
Non-points-paying, exhibition race.
References
Information for this article was found in the October 2006 issue of Race Tech Magazine.
External links
2007 Panoz DP01 Champ Car
{{Panoz
DP01
American Championship racing cars