Highlights from IRL Engine/Car forum
06/25/08 Here is the full transcript from today's teleconference.
06/25/08 The IRL met with 15 engine manufacturer reps in Indianapolis Tuesday to drum up interest in supplying engines for the new Indy Car due in 2010 or 2011. Brian Barnhart and Terry Angstadt met with reporters today to discuss the outcome of those talks. Here are the highlights AutoRacing1.com made note of:
If the world goes according to the IRL's charted course, the IRL in 2011 will have lots of things that are very much like today's series. In an hour-long press conference, Brian Barnhart all-but-decreed that the IRL will remain a one-tire, one-chassis manufacturer. The tire will no doubt be Firestone – "I could never envision another tire" — and the chassis will probably be made by Dallara — "It's the only car in the world that does what it does, and it does it well."
What is open to discussion is the make of the engine. In a much publicized (but closed to the press) meeting yesterday, the IRL met with 15 parties interested in building engines for Indy. Far from contentious engine manufacturer meetings in the past, the event was deemed a "really good day" that "exceeded expectations." Six of the participants were motor shops (i.e., Cosworth) with the balance being auto manufacturers (Audi is widely believed to be one such attendee). The IRL would love to see 3 – 4 motor manufacturers, but believes it would be tough to justify 5 motors with 26 cars. Right now, there seems to be no immediate consensus of opinion as to the number of cylinders, configuration, or even the fuel used. The IRL did not discuss in the press conference even the broadest of parameters — i.e., horsepower, displacement, weight, engine life.
Very much under discussion is the issue of turbocharging. The IRL is intent on controlling speeds as well as costs, and turbo motors are very good in the former regard, but suspect when it comes to cost control. As a bonus, the turbo motors are generally quieter, which is important in urban settings, but the sound that they do make is (gasp!) loved even by the IRL staff. Should turbo motors be the spec, the IRL will try to find ways to prohibit development of the turbos in an effort to control costs.
Don't look for these changes anytime soon. There will be more such roundtable meetings, as well as one-on-one meetings between the IRL and the individual parties, with the hope that a rough specification will be completed by "Fall 2008." This will hopefully allow interested parties to develop engines that will be submitted to the IRL for approval in time for the 2011 season. In addition, the IRL is on record that the current Dallara chassis will be used through the next 2 seasons.
No doubt one of those who will, barring some unforeseen circumstance, continue in the IRL will be Honda. Honda has stated for the past two years that it would welcome competition — and why not, look what they did to the competition previously. However, Brian Barnhart was emphatic that the new motors will be much different than the current spec, so even Honda will be starting new in 2011. Tim Wohlford