Autoblog

IndyCar teams and fans have grown accustomed to the proliferation of Italian racing car chassis as Dallara has been supplying them for the past eleven seasons, now all but exclusively. But with Honda's engine supply contract coming to a close, series organizers have been discussing new powertrain options with a number of manufacturers. Among them is Alfa Romeo, the Italian automaker widely anticipated to make a return to the North American market in the near future.

This wouldn't be the first time Alfa Romeo has provided motivation for the largely American racing series, having participated in the late 80's and early 90's with a project adopted from Ferrari. However, despite the company's deep racing heritage, Alfa Romeo does not currently compete in any major form of motorsport since the N.Technology team stopped campaigning race-prepped 156 Super Turismos in the World Touring Car Championship. The responsibility for developing the IndyCar engines – 3.5-liter V8s under the current regulations, tipped to be replaced by turbocharged fours – would presumably fall to Fiat Powertrain Technologies, headed by Paolo Martinelli, formerly head of Scuderia Ferrari's engine program. Nothing's certain, however, since IRL organizers are also rumored to be discussing a renewal with Honda as well as with Audi, Porsche and an undisclosed fifth automaker.

[Source: Italiaspeed]

Click on Helio Castroneves for a high res gallery

As the first season of the reunited IndyCar series winds down, the open wheel racers took to the Belle Isle track to close out the Detroit Grand Prix weekend. Scott Dixon sat on the pole holding a slim lead over Helio Castroneves in the season standings with three races to go including this one. If the race is still sitting on your DVR and you don't want to spoil the surprise, just enjoy the gallery for now, it won't spoil your appetite. Otherwise follow the jump for the results.


Photos Copyright ©2008 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.

Officials have confirmed that the newly reunified IndyCar series is contemplating a move to turbocharged engines by 2011. The move could entice more automakers – aside from Honda, which is the only engine manufacturer currently participating in the series – to join on as well. In a meeting held this past June, IRL officials spoke with a dozen automakers about joining the series, and several sounded enthusiastic at the prospect of switching from the current naturally-aspirated V8s to smaller turbocharged engines. The new formula would call for either four or six cylinders and either one or two spools, producing as much as 750 horsepower instead of the current 650. Officials expect three or four manufacturers to sign on to the new formula, which could be announced as early as December to give the manufacturers enough time to develop the new engines.

Turbochargers had been common in American open-wheel racing, but after the IRL and Champ Cars split, the former switched to non-boosted V8s while the latter continued with turbos. The bulk of the formula for the reunited series, however, was based on the IRL regulations. Many of the drivers competing in the series have been pushing for the switch, and responded enthusiastically to the news.

[Sources: Autosport and The Indianapolis Star, Photo by Jon Ferrey/Allsport/Getty]

Danica Patrick, who races for the Honda-powered Andretti-Green IRL team, has spoken of wanting to make the jump to the world's premier form of motorsport, Formula 1. Later this year, according to Honda F1 CEO Nick Fry, the team is going to give her that chance. Danica will be put into Honda's Earth Dreams F1 car in November, probably at the Barcelona or Jerez tracks in Spain, for a full-scale test. Said Fry, "We will put her into our car after the season at the latest and see how quick she is."

The recent record of IndyCar drivers succeeding on the other side of the pond is mixed. It's still too early to tell with Sebastian Bourdais at Toro Rosso, though he appears to be handling things well enough. Jacques Villeneuve did well, but Michael Andretti did not. Scott Dixon, the 2003 IRL champ and 2008 Indy 500 winner tested with Williams-BMW in 2004, but didn't get a seat. Danica's already won a place in U.S. racing history. We'll find out in November if she's fast enough to do it in Europe, as well.

[Source: Eurosport, Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty]

Honda is now in its third season as the sole supplier of engines for the IndyCar series, and it has decided to re-up for another five years. Honda originally jumped into IndyCar from the now-departed Champ Cars in 2003, and at that time, the H was still competing with Toyota and General Motors. The other two manufacturers eventually dropped out, leaving Honda to supply the whole field. Honda's new committment isn't an exclusive deal. The Indy Racing League is holding a roundtable summit in Indianapolis next month to discuss new technical rules for the chassis and engines. Other manufacturers will be welcome to join the series in the future as well, but at least Indy officials know that Honda will be around for a while. IndyCars are currently running 3.5L 3.0L (I forgot they went back to 3.5L last year after several years at 3.0L) normally-aspirated, ethanol-fueled V8s. The biggest event of the IndyCar season is kicking off right about now with the running of the 92nd Indianapolis 500.



[Source: Honda]

Scott Dixon, racing for the Target Chip Ganassi IRL team, is your pole sitter for the upcoming Indy 500. Scott took the front spot with a 4-lap average of 226.366 MPH, about 0.5 MPH faster than last year's pole sitter. Slotting in behind Dixon is his teammate, Dan Wheldon, just a fraction slower at 226.110 MPH.

The first 22 slots in the 32-car field have been decided. Dixon and Wheldon will be followed by Ryan Briscoe, Helio Castroneves, Danica Patrick, Tony Kanann and Marco Andretti as the top six. The final 11 slots will be decided this Saturday and Sunday. The 92nd Indy 500 takes place on Sunday, May 25.

[Source: AP]

Click above for huge high-res gallery of Champ Car action from Long Beach

We already told you about the final Champ Car race, how it marks the end of the series while signaling the start of a new era in American open-wheel racing. Although we think that we might have been among only a handful of fans to have noticed the series' demise (with most eyes glued to the Danica Patrick champagne bath over in Japan), we understand that with the reunification about to commence there should be happier times ahead for open top racing aficionados in the States. We didn't want it to pass, however, without a whole bunch of photos to commemorate the occasion. Besides this year's contenders the gallery includes some atmosphere shots of the spectacle surrounding Long Beach: The Queen Mary, C-17 and FA/18 flyovers, historic CART cars and plain old scenery shots. We hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed taking them.

All photos Copyright ©2008 Frank Filipponio / Weblogs, Inc.

Click above for more high-res pics from the Gainsco 300

If you've got the Gainsco Auto Insurance Indy 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway TiVo'd and are waiting to watch it, read no further. Chances are that you haven't or aren't going to, though. Because while a spirit of camaraderie prevailed at Homestead, there wasn't a large live or television audience to witness it. Bear in mind, of course, that we're talking about American oval-track racing, whose stock-car counterpart ranks as the largest spectator sport in the country... only by those standards does a headcount of some 20,000 people in the stands count as small. By any other measure, though, the inaugural race of the reunited open-wheel series was a big success, its 26-car field ranking as the largest starting grid of any race (other than the Indy 500) either of the erstwhile separated series has had since 2003.

[Source: AutoWeek]

Newman-Haas' Sebastien Bourdais at the 89th Indy 500

At several points in the last thirteen years since American open-wheel racing split, the two parties have tried to come to an agreement that would allow them to reunite, but none have yielded fruit. Carl Haas is tired of waiting, and has announced that deal or no deal, he's taking his team to the IndyCar Series by 2009.

Haas is co-owner of Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, the most dominant team in Champ Cars. With Sebastien Bourdais driving, the team took the title the past four years running, for a total of eight championships – second only to Penske Racing, which also defected to the IRL in 2005. The next most successful team, Chip Ganassi Racing, moved to IndyCars in 2002.

The news is a further blow to the dying Champ Cars series, which was recently snubbed by rising star Rafa Matos who refused a $2 million grant from Champ Cars in favor of IndyCars. The major obstacle keeping the two series from rejoining has reportedly been Indy boss Tony George's insistence on controlling the combined series, but with the Champ Car World Series barely limping towards the finish line, George is rumored to have made another offer to Champ Car executives to "merge". Once Haas is gone, there may be nothing left for George to take over.

[Source: Autosport, Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty]

Every year the driver who wins the Atlantic Series gets a $2 million grant earmarked towards moving up to the Champ Car World Series. Critics say it's not enough to secure a ride in the competitive racing class, but who's going to turn down a multi-million-dollar purse? Raphael Matos, that's who. The cash-strapped Brazilian driver needs the green to continue racing, but rather than take the money and run, as Steve Miller would advise, Matos is instead moving over next season to the Indy Pro Series, Atlantic's equivalent in the competing IRL framework. Andretti Green Racing is giving him a ride as a stepping-stone to the full-fat IndyCar Series for 2009. Matos may continue to drive for Team Brazil in A1GP, as well.

While the snubbed officials at Champ Car try to figure out what to do with Matos' prize money – it could go to runner-up Franck Perera – they've also got to find a replacement for Executive VP and race director Tony Cotman who is leaving his job. Cotman's departure follows that of Beaux Barfield (seriously, that's his name) who was replaced by Johnny Unser as director of the Atlantic series. That on top of four-time series champion Sebastien Bourdais' departure to race in Formula One means Champ Car racing could be running on its last set of tires before the wheels come off altogether.

[Source: AutoWeek]