INDYCAR: Lotus Confirms Five Leases To Start The Season

IndyCar

INDYCAR: Lotus Confirms Five Leases To Start The Season

“As of today, we have five teams,” Group Lotus Motorsport Director Claudio Berro confirmed to SPEED.com. “It’s a good number for us to start."

Marshall Pruett | Posted February 21, 2012

It was thought that Lotus could have between 6-7 of its engines on the grid at St. Pete, but it appears it will start with five and grow that number by Indy. (Photo: LAT)

As the final few IZOD IndyCar Series teams work to find engine leases to make the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Group Lotus Motorsport Director Claudio Berro confirmed to SPEED.com that the British marque will begin the year with five engine leases in place.

“As of today, we have five teams,” said Berro. “It’s a good number for us to start. When we get to Indy, I suppose [we’ll] have maybe two or three more cars for the 500, probably. Some teams may also start [their] season around Indy.”

With one lease apiece for factory partners Bryan Herta Autosport, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and HVM Racing, and two for its most recent partners at Dragon Racing, Berro expects to see only those teams using its twin-turbo V6 at St. Pete.

The likely addition of Michael Shank Racing, which could make its debut at one of the following rounds, would bump the supply figure to six and Conquest Racing, which is targeting its season debut at Indy, could raise the count to seven.

Factor in a few Indy-only supply contracts to be revealed at a later date and Lotus might reach the magic, contractually obligated number of 10 leases (albeit for a limited time) during the month of May. At present, rival engine supplier Chevrolet has 11 confirmed leases in place and Honda has 10.

The topic of engine supply shortages and teams in need of leases has been a hot button topic for months now, which Berro acknowledged. For now, and with an increased demand to supply, he says Lotus will do its best to assume its share of the grid when it has enough engines to offer.

“The grid is maybe between 24 and 28 [cars] to start, which is fantastic, but for me 28 is a big number," he said. "It’s a great number for all the news things--all the investments for the new teams, but 24 would be easier for everyone, I believe. No matter, IndyCar has done an amazing job with creating an interesting mix to start the season. I hope we will soon have more Lotus [engines] for the [IndyCar] fans to see.”

Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com's Auto Racing Editor, covering IndyCar and sports cars. He also contributes to Road & Track and Racecar Engineering. Follow him @MarshallPruett on Twitter.