IndyCar battery issues resolved

The era of full disclosure when it comes to mechanical failures in the Izod IndyCar Series is over now that Honda has engine competition from Chevrolet and Lotus.

But in the wake of several battery issues in the season-opening race last weekend in St. Petersburg, Will Phillips, IndyCar’s vice president of technology, said some of the issues have been diagnosed.

“We’re looking at it, but it’s something that the teams obviously have to manage very carefully on their telemetry," he said. “I don’t have all the facts in hand yet as to (Tony Kanaan’s) data, for example, but they obviously had an issue running around in sixth gear saving fuel running low RPMs etc. By the time they realized they had an issue they didn’t have the power left to charge the air compressor for the shifting. If they didn’t have enough air, or ran out, then it wasn’t charging. Eventually, they would not be able to shift, which is what happened."

The KV Racing Technology driver retired from the race after just 21 laps.

KV general manager Mark Johnson said the battery issues have been identified and addressed. He did not give details. AutoWeek