Reynard 94I

The Reynard 94I is an open-wheel racing car designed and built by Reynard Racing Cars that competed in the 1994 and 1995 IndyCar seasons, notable for winning the first CART race it entered. The car continued to be raced in the 1996 and 1996-97 Indy Racing League seasons, and holds the unofficial and official lap records at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.[1]

Reynard 94I
CategoryCART IndyCar
ConstructorReynard Racing Cars
Designer(s)Malcolm Oastler
Predecessornone
SuccessorReynard 95I
Technical specifications
EngineIlmor Indy V8/D
Ford/Cosworth XB
Mercedes-Benz IC108 2.65 L (2,650 cc; 162 cu in)
TransmissionManual
FuelMethanol
TyresGoodyear Eagle
Competition history
Debut1994 Australian FAI Indycar Grand Prix
Surfers Paradise, Australia
RacesWinsPoles
3242

Development

The 94I project began in November 1992 with designer Malcolm Oastler.[2] The car was intended to be "simple but soundly engineered, easy to tune and maintain, and with a highly developed aerodynamic package."[3] An unused design for the Galmer G93 had been sold to Reynard and used as a basis for the 94I.[4] Bruce Ashmore, a former designer at Lola Cars, arrived late in the design process as the technical director, and provided input based on his experience with Indy cars.[5]

The car featured elements from the company's F3000 cars, such dynamic suspension shocks, and a longitudinal gearbox (as opposed to the transverse gearbox seen on the rival Lola and Penske cars).[2] Reynard also differentiated themselves by opening a technical base in Indianapolis and making its office and service staff accessible to customers, whereas the other manufacturers were still predominately located in England.[2]

A total of 14 cars were built for the 1994 season at the company's location in Bicester, England.[3]

Racing history

During the 1994 season, the 94I was raced by Chip Ganassi Racing, Hayhoe Racing, Hall Racing, Galles Racing, and Forsythe-Green Racing, and powered by the Ford-Cosworth XB and Ilmor/D engines. An additional 94I was raced at the 1994 Indianapolis 500 by Hemelgarn Racing. The car proved immediately competitive as Ganassi driver Michael Andretti won at Surfers Paradise, having started from 2nd place on the grid. Andretti would win again at Toronto that year. Jacques Villeneuve, in his rookie season, also took his first win for Forsythe-Green at Road America. Despite these results, the teams noted that the 94I was too pitch-sensitive, which would be rectified in the 95I.[3]

The 94I continued to be used by smaller teams in 1995, one of its appeal being that the tub is the same as the 95I and the chassis could be updated to 1995 specifications.[6][7] During the 1995 season, the 94I were used by Project Indy, Arciero-Wells, Pagan Racing and occasionally by Ganassi Racing. The 94I was also used by Stefan Johansson to qualify for the 1995 Indianapolis 500 when it became evident that his primary Penske chassis had trouble getting up to speed.[8]

For 1996, the car saw competition in the first year of the Indy Racing League (comprising the 1996 season and the first portion of the 1996-97 season) as the league allowed all Indy cars that complied with the 1995 technical regulations.[9] Hence, the grid featured multiple examples of the 94I chassis, mostly from Hemelgarn, Pagan and Treadway Racing (which was formed in conjunction with Project Indy).[1] With engineer Tim Wardrop, Treadway Racing set up Arie Luyendyk's 94I[1] to great effect; Luyendyk went on to set an all-time unofficial lap record of 239.260 mph at Indianapolis, a 1-lap record of 237.498 mph, and a 4-lap record of 236.986 mph, all of which still stand as of the present day.[1] The 94I ended the year with a pole and win at Phoenix and pole position at Las Vegas, both achieved by Luyendyk.[10]

Complete Indy Car World Series results

(key) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Engine Tyres Driver No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Pts D.C.
1994 SUR PHX LBH INDY MIL DET POR CLE TOR MIC MDO LOU VAN ROA NAZ LAG
Chip Ganassi Racing Ford/Cosworth XB G Michael Andretti 8 1* 20 6 6 4 5 31 18 1* 22 5 5 3 17 9 28 118 4th
Maurício Gugelmin 88 6 15 7 11 15 8 30 8 20 15 25 14 5 19 10 22 39 16th
Forsythe/Green Racing Ford/Cosworth XB G Jacques Villeneuve 12 17 25 15 2 9 7 6 4 9 20 9 26 24 1 7 3 94 6th
Hall Racing Ilmor Indy/D G Teo Fabi 11 7 26 9 7 17 4 27 9 8 4 21 20 18 4 6 5 79 9th
Galles Racing Ilmor Indy/D G Adrián Fernández 7 13 10 8 28 16 23 10 7 13 23 6 8 22 5 21 7 46 13th
Hayhoe Racing Ford/Cosworth XB G Jimmy Vasser 18 4 5 24 4 11 20 32 31 25 25 14 7 15 28 13 26 42 15th
Hemelgarn Racing Ford/Cosworth XB G Stan Fox 91 13 0 37th
1995 MIA SUR PHX LBH NAZ INDY MIL DET POR ROA TOR CLE MIC MDO LOU VAN LAG
Arciero-Wells Racing Ford/Cosworth XB F Hiro Matsushita 25 26 11 22 19 DNQ 51 28th1
Pagan Racing Mercedes-Benz IC108 G Dennis Vitolo 21 18 0 41st
Roberto Guerrero 16 12 1 33rd
Bettenhausen Motorsports Ford/Cosworth XB G Stefan Johansson 16 16 602 13th2
Chip Ganassi Racing Ford/Cosworth XB G Bryan Herta 4 15 24 303 20th3
Project Indy Ford/Cosworth XB G Buddy Lazier 64 21 15 0 35th
Franck Fréon 15 0 36th
Johnny Parsons, Jr. DNQ 0 NC
Christian Danner 22 64 25th4
Jeff Wood Wth 0 NC
Hubert Stromberger 16 Wth DNQ 0 38th
Domenico Schiattarella 18 21 0 40th

1 2 points were scored with the Reynard 94I. The remaining points were scored with a Reynard 95I.
2 No points were scored with the Reynard 94I, which only ran at Indy. All points were scored with a Penske PC23
3 No points were scored with the Reynard 94I. All points were scored with a Reynard 95I.
4 No points were scored with the Reynard 94I. Danner scored 6 points with a Lola T93/00.

Complete Indy Racing League results

(key) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Engine Tyres Driver No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts D.C.
1996 WDW
 PHX
 INDY
Pagan Racing Ford/Cosworth XB G Roberto Guerrero 21 5 16 2371 4th1
Treadway Racing Ford/Cosworth XB F Arie Luyendyk 5 1* 16 2251 7th1
Hemelgarn Ford/Cosworth XB F Brad Murphey 10 23 12 34th
1996-97 NH1 LV1 WDW PHX INDY TXS PIK CMS NH2 LV2
Treadway Racing Ford/Cosworth XB F Arie Luyendyk 5 20 2231 6th1
Johnny O'Connell 35 12 23 40th
Hemelgarn Ford/Cosworth XB F Brad Murphey 9 18 27 25 38th

1 Points include results scored with another chassis.

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References
  1. "8W - When? - 1996 Indy 500". www.forix.com. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
  2. Carl., Hungness (1994). Indianapolis 500 Yearbook - 1994. Speedway, IN: Carl Hungness Pub. ISBN 0915088630. OCLC 948309998.
  3. Autocourse Indy car, 1994-95. Richmond, Surrey, Eng.: Hazleton Pub. 1994. ISBN 1874557853. OCLC 31910173.
  4. "Fifteen minutes of fame: Junior formula | Motor Sport Magazine Archive". Motor Sport Magazine. 2014-07-07. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
  5. 1940-, Bennett, Nigel (2013-10-15). Inspired to design : F1 cars, Indycars & racing tyres : the autobiography of Nigel Bennett. Mears, Rick,, Ashmore, Bruce,, Beresford, N. W. (Nigel W.),, Sprague, Chuck. Dorchester. ISBN 9781845845360. OCLC 873875317.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. Mandel, Leon (1995). "AutoWeek Official PPG Indy Car World Series Fan Guide". AutoWeek.
  7. Pagan, Allan (1999-09-03). "Seeking Mr. Pagan's thoughts on the '96 and '99 Indy 500s". groups.google.com. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  8. "8W - What? - Penske-Mercedes PC23 500i". forix.autosport.com. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  9. Jasbir., Jain (1996). 1996 indianapolis 500 yearbook. [Place of publication not identified]: Carl Hungness Pub. ISBN 0915088762. OCLC 795383707.
  10. "straight line speeds at indy - Page 4". www.trackforum.com. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
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