Chevrolet: Winning IndyCar's engine war

When Will Power crossed the line behind winner Scott Dixon at last weekend's IndyCar race at Mid-Ohio, he effectively sealed the manufacturers' championship for Chevrolet in its first year back in the series.

In theory, it could still lose. But to do so would require Lotus-powered Simona de Silvestro to win all three of the remaining races, with the best Chevrolet finishing behind the best-placed Honda on each occasion.

In the strictest definition of the word, it's not impossible. But apply the rule of probability and it comes in somewhere around 77-year-old AJ Foyt announcing that he's getting back behind the wheel at Baltimore.

It would be incorrect to assume that rival Honda came into the war with an advantage based on its status as sole engine supplier since 2006, as this year's 2.2-litre V6 turbos have so little in common with the previous 3.5-litre naturally-aspirated V8s that comparisons are meaningless.

Chevy virtually sealed the manufacturers' prize at Mid-Ohio, despite a Honda powering Dixon to victory © LAT

Nevertheless, Chevrolet wasted little time in making its presence felt, hogging the first four victories of the season before Dario Franchitti finally got Honda off the mark at Indianapolis.

"If you look at the statistics it's hard not to be happy, but it hasn't been easy," says Chris Berube, Chevrolet's IndyCar manager. "There have been some down moments, and some really high moments.

"But the spirit of racing is, if it were too easy, it wouldn't be fun. We come to every race knowing that Honda is bringing it, and we've got to bring it."

The new engine formula is part of a broader change that has blown through the series since last year, with the venerable Dallara IR-03 being replaced by the new DW12 after nine years of service, and a string of tweaks to the sporting and technical regulations.

One of the more significant is the stipulation that each car be allocated just five engines for the season. Some drivers have already reached their allocation, which puts them in a tight situation with three races still remaining and grid penalties awaiting those who make unauthorised engine changes.

Berube says that trying to keep pace on the development front without pushing the envelope too far and having a string of engines blow up in the race is one of the more delicate aspects of the battle with Honda.

"Everyone is learning as we go through the season how to work with it, all the while trying to eke out more and more from the engine," he says. "It's been exciting.

"Are we confident? Yes. We've got a great team. We're not short on experience with our technical partners, and that makes it great to see some real professionals react to situations and how quickly we can come up with a counter-measure and implement it. And obviously our friends at HPD do the same thing.

Chevrolet has returned to IndyCar racing with a bang © LAT

"It has been exciting, and from the fans' standpoint you are watching two very talented organisations do battle."

The 'techncial partner' in question is Ilmor, which has a long history with Chevrolet - Ilmor-developed GM engines won more than 100 IndyCar races between 1986 and 1993, and again in 2002. By a quirk of fate, the British-founded engine tuner spent the intervening years working with Honda on the previous IndyCar engine.

"Given the fact that our technical partner was working with [Honda] over the past number of years, I'd say that there'd be more similarities than differences in the way we work," Berube says.

"But the settling-in process with Ilmor has been pretty seamless. Their experience is so deep, and Chevrolet returning to IndyCar... we're not rookies here either. The personalities mesh well, and the goals that we have are similar."

The fight between the two manufacturers has been intense on the track, and it took just three races for it to develop a sharp edge off it. The engine specs are largely homologated; however, Honda was granted permission to make a change to its single-turbo unit (Chevrolet used a twin-turbo) following a verbal pledge from the series to allow certain parity-based updates.

Chevrolet protested the change, forcing Honda to remove the new parts at Long Beach, on the grounds that the series had failed to enshrine the ability to introduce such updates in the regulations. The process went through an independent hearing and a protest before the matter was finally settled in Honda's favour.

"It's racing," Berube says. "Everyone is going to be looking for an advantage, and IndyCar has the hardest job of policing everything. That's just the nature of it: whether it's this series or any other series, it's all about trying to find the competitive edge.

Honda's new V6 didn't win until Franchitti brought it Indy 500 glory © LAT

"Look at the time spread - there's a tenth of a second covering the top 10 cars, and the slightest mistake with anything can change the results. And that's exciting. It's not about everybody getting a trophy."

There could be a case for arguing that such politicking comes with the territory when a series opens itself up to a manufacturer war, although Berube is not so sure.

"I don't think we had that mentality going into the season," he says. "It was quite a surprise. Our reaction backs that up; how much of a surprise it was that we had to stand up for what we thought was an inconsistent treatment. The results speak for themselves, but you've just got to move on. We stated our piece and we didn't win out on that, but we'll take the results and move on."

Amid the Honda/Chevrolet battle, there should be an elephant in the room with a green and yellow badge on the side of it. But IndyCar's third manufacturer Lotus is conspicuous in its absence as a threat.

Its first season - as tumultuous as Chevrolet's has been successful - is a story in itself, but if Chevrolet has its hands full trying to beat Honda, Berube believes that the battle would be richer for a strong third manufacturer.

"No offense to Lotus, but it is pretty much a Honda/Chevy battle every weekend for manufacturers' points," he says. " If you threw in another manufacturer that was really competitive, it would really mix the points race up quite a bit.

Lotus engines have not provided frontrunning power. Dragon Racing is among those to have switched units © LAT

"It would add a new dynamic. We always welcome competition. It would not be fun to win every race, as much as that is the goal. We're engineers, and we want to compete. I'd say a third competitive manufacturer would be a good thing."

Lotus's plans beyond the current season are under review, while other manufacturers - reportedly including Ford and Audi - have at least considered proposals, although with a mandated 12-month lead time for new engine suppliers, it will be at least 2014 before Berube gets that particular wish granted.

In the meantime, winning the manufacturers' title first time out isn't a bad way to herald IndyCar's new era.