JULY 31, 2002

Indianapolis to use soft barriers

As we suggested would happen some months ago, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is going to leave the

As we suggested would happen some months ago, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is going to leave the "soft" barriers used on the oval in place for the United States Grand Prix in September. The section of barrier will be extended to cover wall which does not need protecting in oval events. The US Grand Prix, it should be remembered, uses part of the Indianapolis oval but with the cars running in the opposite direction to the Indy Racing League.

The energy-absorbing barrier features a welded series of steel tubes connected to the concrete wall by a series of steel splices and the gap between the metal and concrete barriers is filled with polystyrene sheets. The wall was designed to give way enough to save the drivers involved from major G-force injuries and proved to be remarkably successful during this year's Indianapolis 500.

Although the barriers are useful on speedways, there have limited use on F1 tracks as the angles of impact involved are very different.