For the past couple days, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course has hosted an unannounced test to help validate components that are planned to be added to NTT IndyCar Series cars next season.
One Honda powered car and one Chevrolet powered car were on track, with veterans Scott Dixon and Will Power behind the wheel of the two machines respectively.
Not much information was made available about the test runs, and there were no statements made about how successful the tests were.
That being said, it’s understood that the test runs were intended to vet individual components of the new hybrid system rather than testing an overall hybrid package.
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IndyCar’s two engine manufacturers recently took over development of the new hybrid components from MAHLE, which developed the initial design and prototypes.
The unique solution will feature a supercapacitor-based hybrid system, with many of the new components tucked inside the bell housing near the gearbox at the rear of the engine.
Confirmation that the test was taking place came due to the fact that parts of IMS are viewable from publicly-accessible areas.
The IMS museum sits inside the facility, as does the associated parking lot, and the test cars could be seen motoring around the track from the parking area despite the wet weather.
More tests will take place throughout the season as designs for the system are finalized by Honda and Chevy and put through their paces.
The new hybrid system is due to race in the series starting next season, and will be mated to the existing 2.2-liter engines that the series has run since 2012.
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