Bourdais tests experimental LED IndyCar wheels (Update)

UPDATE Reader Steve Heckard reminds us that, as usual, CART was 15 years ahead of the IRL and IndyCar.

Below Cristiano da Matta runs LED wheels on his Texaco Havoline Newman Haas CART IndyCar back in 2001.

08/28/15

Future IndyCar wheels. Imagine 33 cars taking the green flag at Indy displaying the American flag in their wheels

AR1.com got a preview of these wheels in Long Beach this year but we were under non-disclosure at that time. In addition to the LED car positioning system employed by all 25 entries in the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, the No. 11 Team Hydroxycut – KVSH Racing Chevrolet driven by Sebastien Bourdais tested LED pods attached to the front and rear wheels during today’s initial practice on the 2.385-mile, 12-turn road course.

The LEDs, manufactured and supplied by UK-based Speed of Light Media Limited, have the potential of displaying logos or words for commercial partners, race or car information or other information programmed. The system is under INDYCAR consideration to add for the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season.

A solid green was displayed on the rear wheel and the front wheel displayed a red and yellow pattern.

"The LEDs flash very quickly slices of an image," said Speed of Light Media owner Guy Margetson. "(In early development) we put it in a bicycle wheel and we only had one color of LEDs. We were able to show the word ‘wheel’ in a wheel and it gave birth to the whole wheel technology. We patented it, and with full color we can show logos in a wheel or whatever INDYCAR o the teams want.

"Today we’re testing three colors in the brightest light of the afternoon sunshine to see how it is displayed."