INDYCAR’s President of competition and operations Jay Frye is hopeful of adding a third manufacturer to the IndyCar Series by 2019 as part of the championship’s five-year growth plan.
IndyCar currently works with two manufacturers, Chevrolet and Honda, who supply engines and aerokits for the teams to use with the spec Dallara DW-12 chassis.
A third OEM [Original Equipment Manufacturer] has not been present in the series since Lotus departed at the end of the 2012 season, but Frye is hopeful of bringing another major brand on board in the near future as part of IndyCar’s five-year plan.
“When we talk about this five-year plan, one of our targeted goals is to recruit another OEM to come into INDYCAR,” Frye said at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit last week.
“Our five-year plan, part of that was predicated on the wishes of OEMs or prospective OEMs, so what we think we've done by coming up with this five-year plan with the universal kit is we've eliminated some huddles for other OEMs to come in.
"Our two current partners are great, Chevrolet and Honda, and they have completely signed off on this program. They're participating in it. They're going to be part of the testing program.
"But simultaneously we also ran these ideas by other OEMs that aren't currently in the IndyCar Series because it would have not been very smart on our behalf to come up with this great five-year plan and then take it out to different OEMs and them be like, we don't want to do that, either.”
When asked for a timescale for a new manufacturer to join the series, Frye pointed to 2019 as being the most likely season for a third entry.
“'18 would be a stretch. '19 would be possible," he commented. "But again, if somebody wanted to come in then we would do everything we could to accelerate it as quickly as we could."
"Again, we have two great partners now with Chevrolet and Honda. There's a lot of things that would have to happen. There would have to be a lot of collaboration as part of that. They understand, and Chevy and Honda have been great.
"They understand it's important to the series and the league to have a third or fourth partner, and they're very actively participating in it with us.”
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