Today, it was announced that Chevrolet would return to competition in the IZOD IndyCar Series starting in the 2012 season with a V6 turbocharged direct-injection engine. They will be partnering with Ilmor Engineering in Plymouth, MI, a racing engine supplier, to design their engine.
This is great news for IndyCar racing. Competition generally attracts more sponsors, which is something IndyCar is desperate for. It also attracts more fans, because, let's face is, most Americans are going to be more impressed to hear that Chevrolet won the Indianapolis 500 rather than Honda (or any other foreign manufacturer, for that matter).
It was also announced that Team Penske would be running Chevrolet engines beginning with the 2012 season. Penske and Chevrolet was already a great pairing, as the pair had won 31 races, including 4 Indy 500s before Chevrolet left the sport in the middle of the decade.
The one downside is that this will bring costs up slightly. If Honda were to remain the sole supplier, an engine lease was expected to come in at less than $600k for the season, but with competition, the series has an engine lease capped at $690k. However, costs will still be around half of what they presently are, and there will be far more benefits with the addition of engine competition.
There are also rumors floating around that GM may want to supply aero kits as well, and Lotus may also supply aero kits. I look forward to the 2012 season more and more each day when the new spec is debuted? Have a likely lackluster 2011 season to get through first, though.
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