IndyCar will get bodykits in 2014

Aero kits – a key original component of the 2012 car plan for IndyCar as a means of providing some differentiation between cars and manufacturers – are still under consideration for the IZOD IndyCar Series, according to newly appointed CEO Jeff Belskus. However, he says a final decision on the subject remains some way off.

"That's an on-going conversation," Belskus told this week's AUTOSPORT magazine. "I don't know that I can set a timeline for when it will be resolved."

Ex-CEO Randy Bernard had been an outspoken advocate of the aero kit concept despite the ongoing reluctance of IndyCar's team owners, who opposed them on the grounds of cost. Although he agreed to delay their introduction – and subsequently indicated in an interview with RACER that an additional delay until the 2014 season was likely – Bernard continued to hold that aero kits were a key way of enhancing value to the sport's manufacturers.

"We need to make a far bigger deal of the competition between manufacturers. That not only keeps the current OEMs happy, it attracts others," Bernard said ahead of the season finale at Fontana. "And for the same reason, we absolutely must go to bodykits in 2014; it differentiates the manufacturers, gives them another marketing tool, gives us another marketing tool." Racer.com