TBK-Light.com

Well, then IndyCar needs to get their heads out of their asses and change the rules, because most of the time initial ventures will require a small effort (Honda in 1994 and Toyota in 1996 each fielding 2 (Honda) or 3 (Toyota) cars in their initial years).

Do you have a reference for that? I couldn't find anything that suggested this was an issue (didn't look hard though ). At any rate, I'm fairly certain if an engine manufacturer wanted to "dip", they could try and power a couple of cars at the Indy 500.

A full season of course is a commitment no matter how many cars you have. Indycar is kind of niche these days and if I had to guess, that would be the biggest stumbling block (along with maybe a little of the tech angle -- current tech in the automotive industry is focused on efficiency and AI, not speed). However, unlike many other forms of motorsport it at least is "holding steady" overall, and Indycar does make an effort to cost-control, so at least there's those positives.

I saw $30 million quoted somewhere as the cost to get an engine effort off the ground, and a yearly cost of under $10 million which is partially offset by the money made through engine leases.

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

RC Enerson in the Kimball\ex-O'Ward Carlin car this weekend.

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

After thinking about it for a couple of months, Brown has now seen sense.

https://racer.com/2019/07/26/full-time- ... ble-brown/

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

Rossi staying with Andretti

Here's the story on Rossi. Says multi-year but not how long exactly.
https://racer.com/2019/07/27/rossi-stay ... tti-honda/

Brown dumped enough money at Andretti's door to make him consider leaving Honda.

https://racer.com/2019/07/29/miller-the ... otiations/

_________________
Dan Wheldon ¦ 1978-2011
Marco Simoncelli ¦ 1987-2011
Jules Bianchi ¦ 1989-2015
Justin Wilson ¦ 1978-2015

Yeah, I know he's mad and I don't care. I do not care. I did not care then. I do not care now. I'm here to race him.

IndyCar has announced a change in the plans for the new engine formula. It's being delayed to 2022 because they are going hybrid. The plan to switch from 2.2 liter to 2.4 liter V6 engines doesn't change, they're just adding a KERS component.

Jay Frye was on Marshall Pruett's Podcast following today's announcement

Does this also track with them ramping up horsepower levels, which they said they were going to do?

_________________
RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley

Yes. They haven't nailed down details, but have said the bigger ICE will already get them extra horsepower, and KERS will offer more powerful P2P. It sounds like 800hp normally with up to 900hp using P2P is the plan.

Indycar: Just stop.

The reason your series is growing in popularity faster than NASCAR and F1 is loosing theirs is because you hadn't yet bowed down to this bullshit hybrid crap, the German GP was exciting because of the weather, not because of the hybrid engines and was an exception to the rule, not the norm, stop listening to the vocal minority and stick to doing what you do best, please.

If you really must insist in using hybrid technology, at least do it properly please and give them unlimited P2P with the P2P only being able to be charged from regenbraking and don't change anything else.

I agree 110% and I'm almost violently antihybrid or electric in cars, especially in racing. Unfortunately Energizer cars are here to stay and I think they know it's the only way to attract new manufacturers to the sport. I'd honestly give my left or right testicle to get FCA in the series or a Holy Grail like Ferrari.

As long as it doesn't screw with the sound! Don't even ask me about the new SF90 Stradale, that sounds like a fart can stuffed with cotton. Sigh.

Also, as someone pointed out on one of the places I read about this at, wait until a hybrid gets into the fence, how tough are those batteries then?

To paraphrase the late, great Charlton Heston, you can pry the ICE from my cold dead hands!

/rant

Sent from my Umidigi One Max using Tapatalk

The podcast with Jay Frye is pretty good. From what it sounds like, the hybrid component is just a token effort that will have a minimal effect. They just want something to show the OEMs "hey look, we have hybrid!" Essentially the marketing and R&D departments OEMs are not willing to even consider supporting IndyCar without hybrid technology of some kind, and even Honda and Chevy were very happy to add that component. This was recently seen in IMSA as well. The attitude of the car companies that have the money to sink into auto racing has really swung lately toward the hybrid and electrification side of things.

They haven't worked out details yet but the rough plan is to have a stock KERS style hybrid to save costs that will mostly add extra power to the P2P and give them the ability to self-start the car without having to get the safety team to use an external starter whenever someone stalls the car. He was adamant that the noise will NOT get worse, they hope to make the engines even louder and more aggressive sounding in fact.

Just to throw more into the rumor mill about a possible mclaren/SPM partnership, but I'm getting caught up on this weekends F1 race and I noticed during FP1 the Mclaren cars now have Arrow sponsorship both on the engine cover and on the inside of the halo, which is seen every time the on board camera is shown. They haven't talked about it yet during the F1 coverage but hopefully it means something for the 2 teams in the future.

Anti-hybrid/electric, and praising a former NRA president in the same post, all unironically. lol.

On topic though, what makes Indycar great is being a spec series and good aero/tyre regulations (in addition to the team/driver roster and circuits). I don't see why hybrid motorization would hurt that.

I'm fine with hybrids as long as they keep costs under control. Indycar needs to find ways to decrease the cost to compete, not increase it.

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I don't see how Indycar sticking its head in the sand with regard to the modern world will help it.
Sure, they may keep a minority of old school fans (who, lets face it, would still hate-watch even if they went fully electric/hydrogen or whatever else)

Meanwhile they're stuck with 2 engine manufacturers and no-one is beating down their door to be the third, even though they could easily just come in, rebadge a cosworth and call it their product (Are you listening, Ford?)
In that sense, the door doesn't even need to be beaten on, it's wide open, with a red carpet behind it and their favourite meal sitting on the table, and they still don't want to cross the threshold.

Romanticising the past isn't going to help. As another controversial guy once said, "33 is just a number" "This isn't your father's Indycar". The manufacturers are heading in a certain direction, do we really want it to turn its back on them in respect for some rose tinted view of the past?

Unlike most eras in Indycar history, I actually do have confidence in the current management to do this well and in a way that the fans will be pleased with, based on their track record in recent history. They did a great thing with the latest aero package, they're trying to bring in more ovals and fan favourite venues from the past (Road America, Laguna Seca etc)
If we come out of Hybridisation with more engine manufacturers and cars with overall more HP, where's the downside to that?
Personally I couldn't give less of a shit of the noise levels, however that is important to some people, and the management know that too...so lets just relax and let them do their job before predicting doom and gloom based on not being able to get on with the way the entire sport is heading.

_________________
RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley

It appears like this will be a standardized system made by one manufacturer.

Formula 1's sound problem from 2014 onward stems from multiple changes to the engine spec: a much larger KERS system, reduced RPM, smaller displacement, and turbos -- all in an effort to improve efficiency. Indycar may be adding a small hybrid component, but with increased RPM and displacement I'm not expecting the sound to change much. (It's not gonna be the sound of 1990s high RPM CART turbos, but I doubt we'll ever get that back...)