"Kudos to IndyCar and PPG," said four-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon following his outing at the wheel of the 2018 car equipped with a prototype of the Aeroscreen-type safety device the series is considering introducing.

"There's no game-stoppers," he continued after the test, "but there's definitely things that we can improve on and make better.

"I think it's definitely a milestone as far as moving forward and moving in the right direction for some more safety initiatives, and we all know the reasons why," he added.

"It's a little bit different looking through something that's so thick," he admitted, "but I thought it would be worse with distortion, but there was nothing like that. Your brain and eyes just need to catch up to it. The longer that I ran, I got more adept to it."

One bonus of the screen that the Kiwi admitted to was noise reduction in the cockpit.

"The weirdest thing is how quiet it is," he said. "You have no buffeting. The car feels very smooth. It feels like you're in a luxury well-damped car."

On the other hand Dixon admitted that due to the lack of airflow he felt the cockpit was warmer than usual.

"The cooling thing we kind of knew," he admitted, "but we just didn't want to deal with it right now."

Despite that, IndyCar's director of engineering and safety, Jeff Horton, was delighted with the test.

"When a guy like Scott gets out, a veteran of ours, and says there's no deal-breakers, a couple of small things to look at, what better could you ask for?" he said.

Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi was quick to take to social media to give his support to the screen which has been rejected by his series, and Formula 1, in favour of the Halo.

"The aeroscreen uses same technology as the fighter jets and it was approved by Dixon," tweeted the Brazilian.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Toado, 28/02/2018 12:53

"Both systems are unnecessary and create their own problems. Dump both ideas and go back to proper open cockpits. Trying to think where either system would have been key in an accident over the past 20 years. Other than Massa's bang on the head from a loose bit of Brawn, which only 1 of these systems might have helped with, I can't."

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2. Posted by ryanhellyer, 11/02/2018 13:45

"They may be able to partially solve the dirty windscreen effect by adding an oleophobic coating on it, and since it is significantly curved it should deflect rain off it better than a flat windscreen.

I still think a traditional windscreen is a better option though. It's tried and proven technology and just requires the drive canopy to be wider to accommodate it."

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3. Posted by Cherevee, 09/02/2018 21:17

"What will visibility be like at the END of the race? There are no tear-offs for the Aeroscreen."

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4. Posted by Chris Roper, 09/02/2018 14:31

"But what if it rains?
Do IndyCar do any wet races, it would certainly be an issue in an F1 Car.
That said I also prefer it to the Halo, someone had a vested interest there.
"

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5. Posted by alan.breen, 09/02/2018 14:23

"I rather F1 choose the Aeroscreen rather than the Halo as it is more pleasing to the eye. "

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Aeroscreen gets IndyCar thumbs-up from Dixon

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