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Écrit par Sylvie Rainville
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19 décembre 2001 |
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How interesting is IRL (Indy Racing League) becoming. I remember when I started talking about IRL on www.guideauto.com, I was almost treated as a lunatic by other journalists caring only for F-One and CART. But I thought IRL would have a certain future. And now it seems more and more certain! For example many big CART names are turning toward IRL including Roger Penske. And even one of Quebec’s favorite driver, Patrick Carpentier, has told press he thought of going IRL just to do the Indy 500. That is if he would ever lose his ride in CART!
But do you know what will help IRL even more? The fact that Chevrolet is about to be the reigning engine in the series. That’s true! Now that Oldsmobile is disappearing, GM has opted for Chevrolet to take over. And it’s a natural. Remember when Chevy dominated CART when the series was still healthy? And you must know how Chevy is successful in NASCAR and in many other racing series.
The new Chevy engine will be a totally redesigned unit, smaller, lighter and lower in terms of gravity than the Olds Aurora V8 it replaces. It is also more powerful and more…reliable. It is the latest of the Premium V engine family. This new V8 was developed using tools such as computational fluid dynamics, computer simulation and finite element analysis (FEA) to make sure of its performance and robustness.
We should know more about this engine’s capabilities when the IRL season begins on March 2, 2002. Even though we know it will make a great impression, it still has to prove it can be better than the now legendary Aurora V8 that has won 49 of the 51 previous IRL races including five Indy 500’s. The same engine also won the Daytona 24-hour and Sebring 12-hour endurance races. A tough act to follow but still…
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