Chevrolet will compete in the 2012 IZOD IndyCar series with a new twin-turbocharged, direct-injected V6 racing engine powered by E85 ethanol fuel.
Next Wednesday Detroit Mayor Dave Bing , Mark Reuss, President, GM North America, Roger Penske, Chairman, Penske Corporation and Randy Bernard, the CEO, of IndyCar will hold a news conference where they will announce that Indy car racing will return to the Motor City.
Indy cars last visited Detroit in 2008 as the Great Recession was taking hold with automakers already in bad financial shape. The race return is the latest sign of the gradual recovery of the Detroit Three automakers as traditional and expensive marketing techniques are redeployed.
A new 2012 Chevrolet powered Indy Car will also be publicly shown for the first time. Team Penske and Andretti Autosport will use the Chevrolet engines, as Chevy returns Indy Car racing for the first time since 2005, when the open wheel racing series went exclusively with Honda supplied engines. Both auto racing teams have run at the top of the standings for decades. The 2012 Indy Cars used next season will be lighter, faster and because of turbocharging, quieter, which might not be seen as am improvement by fans. (See also Honda Reveals IndyCar Refueling Interlock System)
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
