We’ve talked about the fact that the American IndyCar series will switch to hybrid power plants in 2024, and now that moment has arrived. This weekend, the ninth round of the season takes place at the Ohio road course, marking the debut of the new generation of engines.
IndyCar has long been a rivalry between two engine manufacturers: Honda and Chevrolet, but to develop high-performance hybrid power plants, the two companies’ engine builders joined forces in what became the first example of such cooperation.
New engines are heavier than conventional turbocharged engines, which inevitably affects fuel consumption, refueling distances and tyre wear. But to what extent and how all this will manifest itself in racing conditions remains to be seen. In this case, the estimated power increase should be around 60bhp.
The general sentiment ahead of the weekend was expressed by Mark Stielow, technical director of General Motors’ racing division.
“I think we’ll be watching what happens on track on Sunday afternoon and thinking, ‘Wow, we didn’t expect this!’ – he said.
If you’ve ever been in Formula 1, i.e. Hybrid power plants were developed from scratch over a decade ago, but IndyCar took a different path. The existing 2.2-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engines remain, but are now integrated with an energy recovery system consisting of a Motor Generator Unit (MGU) and an Energy Storage System (ESS).
The hybrid part is housed in a separate housing between the combustion engine and the gearbox. The recovery process can be automatic or manual, controlled by the driver. It is believed that one of the indirect benefits of the new system will be the ability to restart an engine that has stalled while the car is running.
If hitting barriers and other problems can be avoided, the driver can restart the car and at least reach the pits, or even return to the fight, which could theoretically reduce the number of yellow flag periods and safety car appearances.
The best time in the first practice of the debut “hybrid” weekend was set by Alex Palou, the current IndyCar champion and leader of the individual standings. He talked about his impressions as follows: “We didn’t work that much on the track – I think I only did 9 laps. I think everyone wanted to travel more because we couldn’t get the full information.
I think everyone wants to understand all aspects of how this hybrid system works, and configure the car the way we want, because the appearance literally affects everything significantly. In short, we have a very interesting weekend ahead of us.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
