3 new engine suppliers may sign up with IRL
12/04/08 In an XM Radio Powershift interview yesterday Terry Angstadt said he and other IRL officials are going to Germany (which goes along with rumor that Porsche and Audi are coming) on Dec 18th for more discussions on the new IndyCar engine formula, and that some people would be flying up from Italy as well, which supports the rumor that Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo also was coming in. He also said the new formula would definitely be turbocharged, but that whether it was a V6 or straight 4 engine was still up in the air.
10/12/08 Porsche and Alfa Romeo didn't have much success the last time they tried Indy cars but apparently both are seriously considering coming back to the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar series. SPEEDTV.com has learned that Porsche, Alfa and Audi were the three engine manufacturers at last month's meeting here and all have shown interest in joining Honda in the series starting in 2011.
There has been very little information available about which manufacturers attended the second engine forum at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway but reliable sources indicate these three motorsports mainstays like the idea of designing a turbocharged, inline, 4-cylinder engine. More at SPEEDTV.com
09/29/08 A report on the German motorsport-total.com website says that representatives of the motorsport department of Porsche have attended the recent meetings in the USA to discuss the future engine rules for the IRL Indy car series.
The reports quotes Porsche’s Wolfgang Dürheimer as saying, “We see the engine question in the IndyCar series as an enormous opportunity."
Although no precise details of the future regulation have been revealed one proposal is thought to be a 1.5 liter turbocharged engine with a 1.5 bar boost limit. This says motorsport-total.com fits with Dürheimer and Porsche’s view as to how motorsport should evolve in the future in the engine, "Fewer cylinders, less capacity and a turbocharger."