The1993 PPG Indy Car World Series season was the 15th national championship season ofAmerican open wheel racing sanctioned byCART under the name "IndyCar". The season consisted of 16 races.Nigel Mansell was the national champion as well as the Rookie of the Year. The1993 Indianapolis 500 was sanctioned byUSAC, but counted towards the CART points championship.Emerson Fittipaldi won the Indy 500, his second career victory in that event.
The biggest story going into the season involvedNewman/Haas Racing.Nigel Mansell, thereigningFormula OneWorld Champion switched from Formula One to the CART IndyCar Series. Mansell joined Newman/Haas Racing as teammate toMario Andretti, taking the seat formerly held byMichael Andretti, who departed for one year toMcLaren. Mansell came to the American open wheel series with considerable fanfare and huge media attention. He won the season-opener atSurfers Paradise, the first CART "rookie" to win his first start. AtPhoenix, Mansell crashed during practice and was forced to sit out the race due to a back injury. AtIndianapolis, he was leading the race with 16 laps to go when he was passed on a restart byEmerson Fittipaldi andArie Luyendyk, and wound up third. He still won theIndy 500 Rookie of the Year award.
Despite having missed the race at Phoenix, Mansell won five races (four of which were on ovals) en route to the CART championship, becoming the first driver to win the CART Series in his rookie season. He also became the first driver in history to be theFormula Onechampion and theCART IndyCar champion at the same time.[N 1] His team Newman/Haas Racing would still manage to win the one oval race Mansell missed withMario Andretti scoring his 52nd and final victory of his IndyCar career at Phoenix, Andretti would finish 6th in the final championship standings.
After winning his third CART championship in 1992,Bobby Rahal entered the 1993 season driving the R/H chassis (formerly theTruesports chassis). He finished second at Long Beach, but struggled to get his car up to speed, and failed to qualify at Indianapolis. He would run the remainder of the season with a 1993 Lola chassis, but with no victories. He did however finish 4th in points.
The 1993 schedule originally included plans for theMeadowlands Grand Prix to move to a street circuit inManhattan on the roads surrounding theWorld Trade Center andWest Street. The race was planned to be held on July 13, 1993. However, the race was cancelled in September 1992 due to cost and conflicts between sponsor Marlboro and MayorDavid Dinkins' anti-tobacco advertising policies.[3][4]
On August 14, 1992,Scott Pruett confirmed he was out of a seat for 1993, after the demise ofTruesports and the decision byRahal-Hogan Racing, soon-to-be new owners of the team's facilities, to remain as a one-car operation.[8][11]
On October 17, 1992,Arciero Racing announced that rookieMark Smith had signed a 12-race deal to drive the No. 25 car. The program was focused on the road courses and theIndianapolis 500, though he eventually entered theNazareth race for his first Indy Car oval start after failing to qualify for the Indy 500. Smith had finished 7th in his thirdIndy Lights season, after being runner-up in 1991.[5]
On November 24, 1992,King Racing announced it would expand his program to contest a full season with a one-car team, fieldingRoberto Guerrero in the No. 40 car after his truncated pole-winning effort at theIndianapolis 500. The team also confirmed a three-car team for the Indy 500, with no other drivers assigned.[7]
On February 8, 1993,Rahal-Hogan Racing announced it would field a second car in five races for its new test driverMike Groff. His program was due to begin in June atMilwaukee, where Rahal-Hogan intended to introduce its new 1993 car.[9]
On September 29, 1992, theBuick Motor Division announced it would discontinue its Indy Car program after nine seasons, stopping further development on its stock-block engines, which had been largely confined to theIndianapolis 500 due to the more restrictive CART rules regardingturbocharger boost.[19]Chevrolet responded to this development in early October 1992 by making their V8/A engines available for Indy-only teams or partial programs.[17]
On October 17, 1992, Frank Arciero announced thatArciero Racing would return as an independent team, reverting the gradual ownership transfer over the 1992 season toMcCormack Motorsports, which would continue on its own. Arciero signed a deal withPenske Racing to use its 1992 package, consisting of aPenske PC-21 chassis andChevrolet V8/B engines, as part of a technical alliance that included joint testing.[5]
On November 24, 1992,King Racing announced it would compete with the newChevrolet V8/C engines for its first full-time season, ditching the discontinuedBuick powerplant.[20]
^Mansell's victory at the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix on September 19 clinched the Indy Car World Series title.[1] Seven days later,Alain Prost succeeded Mansell as Formula One World Champion following his second place finish in thePortuguese Grand Prix.[2] As a result, Mansell held both titles simultaneously for one week.
^Used at round 4 (Indianapolis 500).Robbie Buhl switched from a Chevrolet V8/A to the Buick after a crash, andRoss Bentley switched from the Buick to a Chevrolet V8/A after multiple engine failures.
Nigel Mansell
Chevrolet
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