Indy: As a Diesel Engine Drove On Pole

Several of the 1000 World Championship races were not F1 races. The Indy 500 has been crowned eleven times to the World Cup - with quirky engines and bizarre drivers. 

The Indy 500 is the oldest car race in the world. Apart from the fact that Fernando Alonso wants to finally make the Triple Crown perfect here in 2019 (victory at the Monaco GP, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Indy 500), the race of the IndyCar series has not much with Formula One today to do. It used to be different. In the 60s, the 500 miles of Indianapolis were a popular destination for Formula 1 stars. In 1965, Jim Clark won the F1 World Cup, as well as the Indy 500. From 1950 to 1960, the Indy 500 were even part of the World Cup. Although completely different cars were used, completely different teams, and to a large extent completely different drivers. Few F1 drivers ventured to Indianapolis in the aftermath. In 1952 Alberto Ascari rode with a Ferrari, but retired after 41 laps with a wheel bearing failure. Giuseppe Farina could not qualify in 1956 with a Kurtis force Ferrari, as Juan-Manuel Fangio 1958.Two Indy 500 pilots also tried in the World Cup. At the 1958 France GP, Troy Ruttman, who won the Indy 500 at the age of 22 in 1952 and is now one of the 106 F1 winners, placed a Maserati 250F in tenth place. Rodger Ward tried in 1959 and 1963 in vain at the US GP. For his performance in 1959, Frank Kurtis specially constructed a roadster - but this was clearly inferior to the Formula 1-Flitzern.

FORMULA 1 WORLD CHAMPION IN THE INDY 500

One of them won the Indy 500 twice in the eleven years: Bill Vukovich. His recipe for success: "Press your right foot to the ground and steer the car to the left." Dangers is the Indy 500 namely in the oval, today tempi at 380 km / h can be achieved, but even then the Indy 500 was faster than any Grand Prix Vukovich is considered in America on the one hand as a "crazy Russian", on the other hand, as Michael Schumacher 50s. The Californian was extremely purposeful, almost dogged: he did not drink a can of beer, did not smoke a cigarette and missed every party - unlike his competitors at the time. Instead, he fiddled with the racing car for hours, with a wrench in his hand and an oil-stained face.

A boat engine dominates

The doggedness has deep roots. His parents fled the war turmoil in the Serbian part of Yugoslavia to America, but had a hard life there in the 20s: As apple farmers, they got on rather badly. Feeding the eight children was extremely difficult. When father John Vukovich 1932 could not buy a gift to Bill Vukovichs 13th birthday, he took his own life. From then on, Klein-Bill was on his own, earning money with taxi rides - and soon with races as well. He needed the start, but especially the prize money for life. So he had to be good. THE 33 MOST SUCCESSFUL INDY 500 DRIVERS Bill Vukovich won two editions of the Indy 500The Indy 500 was his profession. He won the race in 1953, when he kept cool in the heat battle (Carl Scarborough even died of a heat stroke). He won from 19th on the grid in 1954 - but was relaxed before the start: "This is not about which position you drive off. I hope the others have already considered who finished second. "In 1952, he led before shortly before the end of the steering collapsed. In 1955 he crashed again - this time deadly. He could no longer avoid a mass crash before him. Vukovich always won in race cars from Frank Kurtis. In addition to Kurtis Kraft, the chassis of Watson, Epperly and Kuzma were successful in the eleven years. As an engine manufacturer Offenhauser dominated. A boat engine was rebuilt for racing purposes, with 4.4 liters of displacement and a four-cylinder in-line engine block, which in 1950 delivered 345 hp, 1960 even 370 hp output.

INDY 500 CRASHGALERIE

349 of the 363 starters drove at the Indy 500 from 1950 to 1960 with this engine of Offy. Again and again tried other manufacturers such as Novi, Ferrari, Dodge or Mercury - but in vain. The most promising was still the Cummins diesel, the 1952 Fred Agabashian has put on pole position. The 6.5-liter turbo is the only diesel to date that has ever appeared in a World Championship race. In the race he retired because of overheating.

*This article was first published in German at autobild.de