Dallara

Did You Know?

• Dallara also produces handbikes under Z-Bike, and designed a handbike for Alex Zanardi that helped him win 4 gold and 2 silver medals at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics.
• In 2007, Dallara and KTM produced the KTM X-Bow, a two-seat sports car launched at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show.

Formula Three

Dallara's first Formula Three car appeared in 1981 and quickly found success in Italy, where its drivers won the Italian Formula Three Championship every year from 1985 except 1990. The company expanded into Germany and France, winning the German title in 1987 and the French title in 1987 and 1992. In 1993, the F393 introduced a monodamper front suspension layout and major aerodynamic changes, winning every race in the Italian, French, and German championships that year.

That same year, Dallara entered the British Formula Three Championship, and competitors such as champion Kelvin Burt switched from Reynard or Ralt chassis to Dallara to remain competitive. TOMS won the Japanese championship with its own cars in 1993 and 1994 before adopting Dallara chassis. Although Martini had some success in France and Germany in the late 1990s, including Sébastien Bourdais winning the French title in 1999, Dallara has since won every major Formula Three title. Dallaras have won the Macau Grand Prix since 1993.

Formula One

Dallara became a Formula One constructor when BMS Scuderia Italia hired the company to build its chassis. The partnership lasted until 1992, with best results of two third places: at the 1989 Canadian Grand Prix with Andrea de Cesaris and at the 1991 San Marino Grand Prix with JJ Lehto. The team's Constructors' Championship results were no classification in 1988, 8th in 1989 with 8 points, 15th with no points in 1990, 8th in 1991 with 5 points, and 10th in 1992 with 2 points by Pierluigi Martini.

Dallara returned briefly to F1 in 1999 by building the test chassis for Honda's planned but aborted return. In 2004, Dallara recruited ex-Jordan, Stewart, and Jaguar F1 designer Gary Anderson, and later that year the nascent Midland team announced Dallara would design and build its chassis for the 2006 season. Dallara built cars for Hispania's entry in the 2010 season, but financial problems and alleged low quality of the F110 chassis led to the partnership ending in May 2010.

The car was used in all 2010 races without development except graphics, with only one aerodynamic configuration. Geoff Willis criticized the F110's quality and engineering. On 15 April 2014, Gene Haas confirmed talks with Dallara for the build of his new team's first car, and the Haas VF-16 was unveiled on 21 February 2016.

IndyCar

Dallara first built Indy cars for the 1997 season, when the Indy Racing League introduced its own chassis rules. It was one of three original chassis makers. The first model, the IR-7, had an oval-shaped air intake, unlike the triangular intake on the rival G-Force car. The IR-8 and IR-9 were essentially the same chassis with yearly update kits.

Jim Guthrie gave Dallara its first Indy car win at Phoenix on March 23, 1997, and Eddie Cheever won the company's first Indianapolis 500 in 1998 driving an IR-7 with an Oldsmobile engine. Dallara also won the league championship in 1998 and 1999. A new model, the IR-00, arrived for 2000, with updates called the IR-01 and IR-02 in the following years. Dallara won the Indianapolis 500 in 2001 and 2002, and its cars were driven by the series champion each year from 2000 to 2002.

The IR-03 chassis debuted in 2003 and eventually became the series' only chassis. Aerodynamic update kits changed its name to IR-04 in 2004 and IR-05 in 2007. Paddle shifters were introduced in 2008. Both the IR-03 and IR-05 were used through the end of the 2011 season.

Dallara has been the sole chassis supplier since 2007. It has won seventeen of the twenty Indianapolis 500s it has entered, and in 2013 it earned its 200th Indy car victory at Barber. In 2012, Dallara opened an engineering center in Speedway, Indiana, near the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where it builds and assembles the IndyCar. The same building also includes an entertainment center where visitors can learn how a race car is made.

Endurance car racing

In the early 1980s, Dallara constructed the Lancia LC1 Group 6 prototype and the later LC2 Group C car with Lancia's partner Abarth. Dallara returned to endurance racing in 1993, building the Ferrari 333 SP for the new WSC regulations in the IMSA GT Championship; the car won many races in North America and Europe. Ferrari also hired Dallara to develop the racing version of the Ferrari F50, the F50 GT, but the project was aborted in 1998. Dallara then built chassis for Toyota (GT-One), Audi (various R8 incarnations), and Chrysler (the Oreca-run Chrysler LMP), which later became the customer Dallara SP1 and served as a test mule for Nissan's aborted Le Mans return.

The Audi R8 became the most dominant chassis in modern times at the 24 Hours and the American Le Mans Series. In 2002, Dallara built the GC21 for the Fuji Grand Champion Series, based on its F3 cars. In March 2008, the first Dallara Daytona Prototype appeared, built with Doran for Wayne Taylor's SunTrust Racing team. In 2015, Dallara was named one of four constructors for the LMP2 and DPi class regulations to debut in 2017, using its Dallara P217 chassis.

In 2021, Dallara was named one of four chassis suppliers for the LMDh class, currently supplying BMW with their M Hybrid V8 and Cadillac with their V-Series.R, and will produce the chassis for an unnamed McLaren car debuting in 2027. Dallara also produces the chassis for the Ferrari 499P.