Lotus to Offer Engines for IndyCar in 2012

Racing icon Lotus will join Honda and Chevrolet in supplying engines for IndyCar starting in 2012.
Lotus to Offer Engines for IndyCar in 2012
Lotus CEO Dany Behar announces that Lotus will supply engines and aerokits for IndyCar in 2012. (Chris Jones/Indycar.com)
11/18/2010
Updated:
11/18/2010
<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Behar_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Behar_medium.jpg" alt="Lotus CEO Dany Behar announces that Lotus will supply engines and aerokits for IndyCar in 2012. (Chris Jones/Indycar.com)" title="Lotus CEO Dany Behar announces that Lotus will supply engines and aerokits for IndyCar in 2012. (Chris Jones/Indycar.com)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-115897"/></a>
Lotus CEO Dany Behar announces that Lotus will supply engines and aerokits for IndyCar in 2012. (Chris Jones/Indycar.com)
Racing icon Lotus will join Honda and Chevrolet in supplying engines for IndyCar starting in 2012.

In an announcement broadcast live online from the Los Angeles Auto Show, Lotus Group CEO Dany Behar revealed that Lotus will offer both engines and aerokits for the new IndyCar chassis which will begin competition in 2012.

“What we are trying to do with the Lotus brand is to pay justice to our heritage and our past,” Behar said, “and our heritage is all about motor racing. our road cars should have a significant connection with motor sports. the main supporting activity for Lotus sports cars will be, as it was always, motor racing.”

Lotus Group, which builds several small sports cars for road use, is part of IndyCar history. 1965 Lotus won the Indy 500 with the Lotus 25, the first mid-engined car to win the race, effectively ending the front-engined roadster era. The Lotus 25 finished second in 1966 and 1967.

Lotus returned with its 4-wheel-drive turbine-powered Type 56 in 1968, but the car’s engine failed while leading the race.

Lotus is part of IndyCar history. 1965 Lotus won the Indy 500 with the Lotus 25, the first mid-engined car to win the race, effectively ending the front-engined roadster era. The Lotus 25 finished second in 1966 and 1967.

Lotus returned with its 4-wheel-drive turbine-powered Type 56 in 1968, but the car’s engine failed while leading the race. 

No More ‘Spec’ Series


The return of Lotus, a name revered by racing fans around the world, is a huge boost to IndyCar, which had been struggling to rebuild after uniting with a competing series in 2008. In order to survive financially, IndyCar was forced to mandate a single chassis and engine for the whole field—what is known as “spec” racing—and the decision, though it saved the series, was not popular.

As IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard explained, “Last March we learned really quick what the fans wanted: they wanted to see the spec series go away. That was the Number One thing the fans said.

“We were very excited to announce last week that it would no longer be a spec series with two engines and we are even more proud to announce to say that there will be three engines in 2012.”

Chevrolet announced their plans to build an engine and aerokit for the 2012 season last week. This means the series will now have three chassis- and engine suppliers vying for the championship—exactly the kind of technical competition the fans had asked for.

Lotus Seriously Committing to IndyCar


<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Sato103511076_medium.jpg"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Sato103511076_medium.jpg" alt="Takuma Sato drives of the #5 Lotus-KV Racing Technology Dallara Honda. By 2012 there may be three or four Lotus/KV cars on the grid, powered by Lotus engines. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)" title="Takuma Sato drives of the #5 Lotus-KV Racing Technology Dallara Honda. By 2012 there may be three or four Lotus/KV cars on the grid, powered by Lotus engines. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-115898"/></a>
Takuma Sato drives of the #5 Lotus-KV Racing Technology Dallara Honda. By 2012 there may be three or four Lotus/KV cars on the grid, powered by Lotus engines. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Lotus re-entered IndyCar in 2010 by sponsoring a car for driver Takuma Sato of the KV Technologies racing team. Sato, a former Formula One driver, was fast but crashed a lot—8 wrecks out of 17 races. Still the reaction to Sato’s car in its historic Lotus Green with Yellow, elicited such a strong reaction Lotus decided to get fully involved in IndyCar again.

“We started this year with a very small activity with Takuma Sato and the KV Technology team,” Behar explained, “to understand IndyCar racing and to see whether there was an opportunity for us to become a real contender.

“We made the brave decision: Yes this is where we want to be.    

“We believe in the series, and we believe the series is developing very well; it fits perfectly our activities and our strategies in the U.S., which is our biggest market.

“We will be expanding our presence in IndyCar with our partner KV Technologies. You will d see three or even maybe more cars, in our livery on the grid.”

According to Autoweek, Jimmy vasser, the “V” in KVTechnologies, said the team might be renamed “Lotus/KV.”

Behar emphasized that Lotus wanted its involvement in IndyCar to be more than just a sticker on a car. Lotus wanted to build and power the car, to compete with the giants, Honda and Chevrolet.

“By building our own engine we are going to be the underdog; we are going to fight Chevy and Honda. But that’s fine. That’s all about competition,” Behar said.

It is not certain at this time if lotus will design and build its own engines, or if it will partner with another company. It seems logical that Lotus might work with Cosworth, the legendary engine manufacturer that has built winning racing motors for IndyCar, Formula One, and sports cars.

Cosworth is co-owned by Kevin Kalkhoven, the “K” in KV technologies.

Chevrolet is partnering with Ilmor Racing Engines to build powerplants for the 2012 IndyCar series. Honda partnered with Ilmor to design and build the current generation of IndyCar engines. Honda’s 2012 engine is designed and will be built completely in-house