Lotus To Badge IndyCar Engines in 2012.....?

[Matthew Little]

GM Racing Returns To IndyCar in 2012

On the heels of last week's news(as noted in the above thread) that GM Racing was returning to Indycar racing in 2012 is another major announcement..........sources close to car manufacturers Lotus are reporting that they will partner with Cosworth to build an IndyCar Series engine for 2012 to compete alongside Honda and Chevrolet(here is the Autoweek article discussing Lotus's plans).

Let that sink in for a second...........Honda, Chevrolet & Lotus. Three different engine manufacturers set to compete in the IndyCar Series starting in 2012. As a long-time open-wheel fan I am stoked and for good reason; it has been way too long since we had some good-ole' fashioned competition to NA open-wheel racing amongst engine manufacturers and I cannot wait for 2012 to arrive(even if that means I gotta' wait through one more year of a quasi-spec series to get there.......)



IndyCar: Lotus to badge engines in 2012, will compete against Honda and Chevy
Here's the Autoweek article if anyone's interested..........

 

[Brogan]

That is good news indeed.

It looks like the motorsport drought with regards to a lack of manufacturers is coming to an end.

Ford announced a few weeks ago that they are getting involved with global touring car racing from next season so that's a welcome boost to that particular genre.

The next few years could see some interesting developments.

 

[Matthew Little]

That is good news indeed.

It looks like the motorsport drought with regards to a lack of manufacturers is coming to an end.

Ford announced a few weeks ago that they are getting involved with global touring car racing from next season so that's a welcome boost to that particular genre.

The next few years could see some interesting developments.

Now if Ford would only follow GM back to Indy; now there would be an interesting side-story for the Brickyard masses in May. Like I said in the OP, I'm stoked for 2012, even though I'll have to suffer through one more year of those quasi-spec Dallara/Honda Indycars.............

That ain't the only bit of good news of note for us ole' Indycar fans. Rumor has it at least two current Formula 1 teams are considering building aero kits for 2012 when the new Dallara chassis' begin use(the teams that keep being mentioned are Lotus and McLaren). Now there would be an interesting thing to see....a McLaren/Chevy or McLaren/Cosworth or McLaren/Honda flying down the main-straight at the Brickyard......

 

[Matthew Little]

National Speed Sport News: Lotus To Supply IndyCar Engines
IndyCar Series: Announcement at 5pm Nov. 18th

NSSN is also reporting that Lotus will begin supplying engines to the IndyCar Series beginning in 2012; the official announcement is set for 5pm from Los Angeles.

 

[Matthew Little]

Speed Channel: Lotus Confirms 2012 Engine, Aero Kit

It's official.........there will be three different engines in the IndyCar Series beginning in 2012,:
---Honda w/Honda Performance Development
---GM Racing w/Chevrolet
---Lotus Cars w/Lotus-Cosworth


Now if it were just Nov. 2011 instead of Nov. 2010...............

 

[Brogan]

Now if it were just Nov. 2011 instead of Nov. 2010...............

Good things come to those who wait

 

[Matthew Little]

Now if it were just Nov. 2011 instead of Nov. 2010...............

Good things come to those who wait

I know, I know, Brogan.......but I am happy to see the sport rebounding after all those years in the wilderness. I mean, think---Honda vs. Chevy vs. Lotus on the engine side, Lotus & Dallara on the aero kit side.....now if we could get McLaren or any of the other F1 teams to come over to North America & try their hand at the Brickyard(maybe they could bring the drivers along as well......can't you just imagine Hamilton or Button or even Vettel tooling down the front-stretch at Indy during the 500........

 

[cider_and_toast]

From my point of view this is fantastic news and should go a long way to re-establishing the reputation of the Indycar series on a world stage.

It's great to see Lotus taking a more active roll in Motorsport again and I can only hope that the F1 thing ends in a sensible way. It's typical though, you wait 20 years for a Lotus and then 2 come along at once.

Wouldn't it be fantastic to see F1 drivers having a go at Indy but somehow I think commercial issues and contracts not to mention a packed F1 programme would not allow it to happen.