There was one curve on one track that was similar. The cars, the drivers and the courses weren't. Interesting to note that for a long time it was the AAA that sanctioned most racing in the US.
One curve? They had a full blown oval from what I understand that, in conjunction with the road course, made up the "long circuit" Also: "The Automobile Club of Italy held 500-mile (805 km) Race of Two Worlds exhibition competitions, intended to pit United States Auto Club IndyCars against European Formula One and sports cars. The races were held on the oval at the end of June in 1957 and 1958, with three 63 lap 267.67 kilometres (166.32 mi) heat races each year, races which colloquially became known as the Monzanapolis series." Autodromo Nazionale Monza - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Was the oval used for GPs? Not exclusively if memory serves. Remember that back then Indy cars ran exclusively on ovals. If anything the Race of Two Worlds should how dissimilar the formulas were.
If they were so different, it would be completely pointless. They were similar enough to warrant seeing how they stacked up to each other.
Not all experiments are successes. It ran twice with Indy cars dominating and a number of F1 cars withdrawing for safety reasons since they were so unsuited.
Tell that to Jim Clark: http://www.scotcars.co.uk/getattachment/c768cb0f-2595-420c-abae-97f951309583/Jim-Clark-s-Indy500--The-Ford-story.aspx
Don't see how that applies. His Lotus was a car designed for Indy not F1. It incorporated designs from F1 but had to be adapted greatly to win at Indy.
Indy car. The Race of Two Worlds turned out to be a contest between different types of cars more than anything else.
Yep and after Clark's win a front engined car never won the race again. He and Lotus showed the way forward and changed Indy forever. Pete
I have to agree. Indy500 races were only F1 races until 61 IIRC. Anything thereafter had nothing to do with F1
Was Lotus the first to bring mid engine machinery? As I remember it by he time Lotus won Indy some of the domestics were running them too.
When Ferrari brought cars to Indy in the fifties they were underwhelming. As they say, horses for courses.
Indeed. Except for the Ferrari powered Indycar. What I love most about the Indy series is that all those exceptions throw lots of monkey wrenches in all kind of otherwise clean F1 statistics. These races are often overlooked and can bring down absolute statements by those who forgot them
The Race of Two Worlds was held at Monza in the late 50s, pitting Indy roadsters against F1 cars, as well as Jaguar D-Types. Not to be confused with the Indy 500. Race of Two Worlds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cooper Climax methinks. There were two mid-engined cars entered before WWII. Both were American designs. Neither left a mark.
Exactly. Many weird and wonderful cars had tried but in 1965 the Lotus simply destroyed the opposition and from that day on the rear engined car was the future of the Indy 500. Pete
