Citing supply chain slowdowns and its impact on hybrid system components, the NTT IndyCar Series has delayed the debut of its new engine until the 2024 season.
The 2.4-liter, twin-turbocharged V6 originally was expected to make its debut in 2022, but the series announced in October 2020 (along with long-term extensions with manufacturers Chevrolet and Honda) that it was being sidetracked until 2023.
IndyCar announced Thursday morning the delay has been extended, keeping its current 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V6 engine for 2023.
“We are pleased with the pace of the technical development of the 2.4-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 hybrid as we prepare it for competition,” IndyCar president Jay Frye said in a release. “We are very encouraged by the progress our team and our partners have made, but an immediate decision needed to be made to ensure we are prepared for the 2023 season utilizing our current 2.2-liter engine package.
“Thanks to our great partners at Honda and Chevrolet for working through this challenging supply chain situation. We are going full speed ahead with the 2.4-liter hybrid engine and cannot wait to have it on track in 2024.”
The new engine will offer 800 horsepower as a baseline with a boost of 100 horsepower through its hybrid technology.
“We are proud of the hard work and level of commitment by our engine group, along with our teams and partners, in the development of the Chevrolet 2.4-liter engine for our IndyCar program,” Mark Stielow, director of GM Motorsports Competition Engineering, said in a release. “We were certainly excited to have it on track next season. Chevrolet remains fully committed to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, and we look forward to debuting our future engine package in 2024.”
“We are very excited to get the electrified era of IndyCar Series racing under way,” David Salters, president and technical director of Honda Performance Development said in a release. “We have finished development and dyno testing of our new internal combustion engine, and once the hybrid system component supply chain issues are sorted, we’ll begin track testing of the new hybrid power unit.”
The first test of the new hybrid engine for IndyCar will occur March 28-29 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
The announcement of the hybrid engine being delayed to 2024 had been expected by teams, who were told of the new timeline during last weekend’s season-opening race weekend in St. Petersburg, Florida.