Champ Car power cut

The Champ Car series is to have power outputs reduced by up to 200bhp over the next two years, but an effective method to slash the power is yet to be firmly established

Aug 16, 2000, 4:30 PM

The engine manufacturers involved in the series - Ford, Mercedes, Toyota and Honda - have proposed that the turbocharger boost be reduced from 40 inches of mercury to 38 next season and 34 in 2002.

The proposal has yet to be accepted by CART's franchise board, although the board has agreed to the reduction in power.

CART acting CEO Bobby Rahal has put forward a plan for the introduction of air restrictors and claims an agreement between the teams and the engine builders will be announced shortly.

The changes are part of a move towards the new set of engine regulations which will be introduced in 2003 and will see the end of the stalwart 2.65-litre turbocharged V8 engine format. The favourite to take over is a 1.8-litre turbo V8 unit with 55 inches of boost.

A similar attempt at changing the engine regulations was made two years ago, but fell through due to hopes of finding common ground with the IRL series, which uses 3.5-litre normally aspirated engines.