The Indy 500 is nearly upon us. To celebrate, Slightly Mad Studios has announced the latest batch of content set for inclusion in this year’s Project CARS 2.
Naturally, this means Indianapolis Motor Speedway is confirmed for the game. The first track of its kind, the historic 2.5-mile circuit will play host to not only the Dallara DW12 that returns from the first game, but also three historic oval racers.
Up first is Parnelli Jones’ 1963 Indy 500 winner, affectionately known as “Ol’ Calhoun”. This is one of the last of the front-engined roadsters to win at the Brickyard, and the battle was a fierce one. While the venerable Offenhauser four-cylinder engine held the power advantage, Ol’ Calhoun required three pit stops to the one needed for the dainty rear-engined Lotus 29 of Jim Clark.
The Watson-based roadster had let Jones down before. With only a handful of laps remaining, the car gave up the previous year. But Jones persisted, and held the lead as he finished his last pit stop. With seven laps to go, Ol’ Calhoun began dumping oil on the track. Two laps before the finish, the black flag was thrown. Team owner J.C. Agajanian and Lotus head Colin Chapman had it out with the chief steward, who in the end sided with the American team, handing the win to Jones.
It was a controversial finish. Not one to back down from a challenge, Jim Clark returned in 1965 with another rear-engined car, the Lotus 38. It utterly dominated, leading 197 of the 200 laps, and helped kick off the popularity of a layout that persists to today.
Both the ’63 and ’65 Indy 500 winners will join the ranks of Project CARS 2. In addition, the game will include a third Brickyard contender, though it doesn’t boast the pedigree of the others. However, the Chapman-Granatelli STP Lotus 56 is certainly a unique proposition: a twin-turbine, four-wheel-drive orange wedge of speed.
Both Jones and Clark tested the 56 in the run up to the 1968 season. Sadly, Clark was killed in an accident at Hockenheim before the Indy 500 took place.
Sim racers can look forward to getting behind the digital wheels of each of these historic machines when Project CARS 2 lands late 2017.
See more articles on Indianapolis 500, Project CARS 2 Car List, and Project CARS 2 Track List.
