Chevrolet unveils new V8, names TWR as builder.

With the start of the 2003 Indy Racing League season still more than five months away, Chevrolet took the wraps off its all-new, third-generation, IRL engine at Texas Motor Speedway's 2002 campaign finale.

Designed and developed by GM Racing, the 2003 Chevy Indy V8 is smaller, lighter and more powerful than the championship-winning 2002 version, and is expected to make its competition debut in March next year as the 2003 IRL season opens at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"Chevy races to win in every form of motorsports in which we compete," said Steve Shannon, GM executive director of marketing services, "We recognise that the bar will be raised next year with new manufacturers entering the IRL series, and this new Chevrolet racing engine, designed and developed in-house at GM, is a symbol of our commitment to continue Chevy's winning tradition against international competition."

The 2003 Chevy Indy V8 is three inches narrower, three inches shorter and 35 pounds lighter than the 2002 version. The 3.5-litre [214ci] engine has an aluminium cylinder case, aluminium cylinder heads with four valves per cylinder, dual overhead camshafts and sequential electronic fuel injection. It produces more than 675 horsepower and weighs 280 pounds.

The 2003 Chevy Indy V8 is the second new Indy Racing engine produced by GM Racing in two years. It is the successor to the Chevrolet engines that have won 13 IRL events in 2002 and captured the manufacturer, driver and team championships.

"The testing and development program for the 2003 Chevy Indy V8 is proceeding according to plan," said GM Racing group manager Joe Negri, "We began dynamometer testing in July, and we will commence track testing in October. We have an aggressive timetable that ensures that our affiliated engine builders and teams will have Chevy engines ready to test when the new 2003 chassis become available in late December.

"The Chevy Indy V8 engine programme reflects the values that have made Chevrolet America's brand. We will be responsive to the needs of our customers and flexible in our dealings with teams. Our goal is to create an engine program that is straightforward, fair and user-friendly.

"We will sell Chevy Indy V8 engines to IRL teams below the IRL-specified price of $120,000, and we will institute a leasing programme if requested by our customers. Most importantly, we are committed to the principle of accessible and affordable technology. Updates to the Chevrolet engine package will be released to all bona fide Chevy teams when the equipment is validated and manufactured in sufficient quantities."

Chevrolet also unveiled Britain's TWR concern as the fifth official constructor its engines at the Texas event. The Tom Walkinshaw-run company formerly tuned the rival Infiniti powerplant.

"Today we are announcing that TWR will be one of five affiliated GM engine builders," Negri continued, "Our agreement with TWR will be through at least 2005. Like our other OEM engine builders - Speedway Engine Development, Menard Engine Group, Roush Industries and VDS Engines - TWR will supply engines to teams to be announced at a later date and will participate in the development of the 2003 Chevy Indy V8.

"Five teams will assist in the development of the 2003 Chevy Indy V8 - Panther Racing, Hemelgarn Racing, Blair Racing, AJ Foyt Racing and Team Menard - and we anticipate that these teams will field six to eight cars next season when driver and sponsor agreements are finalised. We are also in discussion with other teams that have expressed interest in running Chevy engines. We are prepared to supply up to 18 cars in 2003."

GM Racing engineers used powerful design tools to create the new engine, which went from concept to the dyno cell in just nine months.

"The 2003 Chevy Indy V8 builds on the experience GM Racing has gained with two previous IRL engines," said Roger Allen, lead engine designer, "It also takes full advantage of changes in the technical regulations as the IRL series has moved from production-based engines to purpose-built racing engines. For example, the new Chevy Indy V8 has a precision gear camshaft drive instead of chains, two fuel injectors per cylinder instead of one and removable light-alloy wet cylinder liners instead of the cast-iron dry liners that were used previously.

"In addition to this new hardware, GM Racing is also developing a new engine management system with sophisticated software features. Prototype units have already been tested extensively under racing conditions, and GM Racing's electronics specialists are tailoring the system to the requirements of the new engine."

Chevrolet has won more championships in stock-car racing, road racing, drag racing and off-road racing than any other manufacturer. The new Chevy Indy V8 is the heir to this rich racing heritage.