Chevrolet Sets Table For 2021 And Gives Hints On Future Hybrid Engine Evolution Development

A pre-season NTT INDYCAR SERIES ZOOM Call was held in advance of the first race of the 2021 championship season. The call, held with members of the world press, was fairly open-ended and highlighted current developments on the 10 year old turbo-charged 2.2 liter specification racing engine, and gave additional information on the developments of the 2023 Hybrid 2.4 liter specification racing engine.

It was stressed that nothing will be left on the table for 2021 or 2022 in terms of continued evolution of improving performance power bands and reliability on the current 2.2 liter power plants as the all new 2.4 liter specification comes forward for 2023.

CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES – INDY GP OF ALABAMA – APRIL 17-18 – BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK – LEEDS. ALABAMA

CHEVROLET ZOOM CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT – APRIL 15, 2021

MARK STIELOW, DIRECTOR OF MOTORSPORT COMPETITION FOR INDYCAR, IMSA,NHRA (CHEVROLET AND CADILLAC)

ROB BUCKNER, CHEVROLET RACING ENGINEERING PROGRAM MANAGER FOR INDYCAR

CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT – MEDIA VIA ZOOM AND DISCUSSED OUTLOOK FOR NEW INDYCAR SEASON STARTING WITH THIS WEEKEND AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK, THE INDY 500 AND OTHER FUTURE ENGINE DEVELOPMENT TOPICS.

THE MODERATOR:

First of all, some introductions of two people who you probably have heard of but may not have met yet, we’re going to make that right today.

The first is Mark Stielow, the General Motors Director of Motorsport Competition Engineering for the INDYCAR Series, IMSA, and NHRA for Chevrolet and Cadillac.

We also have Rob Buckner, the Chevrolet Engineering Program Manager for the INDYCAR Series, as well.

Mark, let’s start with you. Please talk to us about what your overall expectations and goals are for the Chevrolet INDYCAR program ahead of the opening weekend at Barber.

MARK STIELOW:

“I joined the team back in September and am getting up to speed. We kind of got INDYCAR racing going after the COVID-19 hibernation we did; so, I got to the last couple of races in the season and then went into the off-season. There was a lot of work done by our engine partners and our teams to get us ready for this season. And I think we’re going to have some strong teams and I think things are going to look pretty good for us this year.”

Rob, it’s been a long time since we’ve been in action, but you were in Indianapolis recently for the open test. Talk with us about some of the highlights of that session and what you think we can look forward to in the opening couple of rounds.

ROB BUCKNER:

“Thank you everyone for taking the time to talk with us today. I know a lot of familiar faces, and miss seeing you on pit lane. We’ve been so limited. We used to do these types of things in person and now everything is a video call. Thank you for everything you have done to try to cover motorsports during COVID-19 and people not being at the track. Going into this year, it’s always great for us when we can run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Track time testing there is very limited. We had a great two days there. We’ve already run over 8500 miles on our 2021 race engines and 4900 of those came from Indianapolis. So, we really ran a lot of miles over those two days in preparation. I think we learned a lot. We’re always working with our teams. Our engine program is always looking for any opportunity to improve and we’re excited to get going.”

Q&A’s:

Q.) A RECENT GENERAL COMMENT BY PENSKE DRIVERS WAS THAT THERE SEEMS TO BE A LITTLE BIT MORE TORQUE OUT OF THE HONDA ENGINE OVER THE CHEVY ENGINE. WHAT IS YOUR VIEW ON THAT EVEN THOUGH WE ALL KNOW THE ENGINE PERFORMANCES ARE EXTREMELY TIGHT AND EXTREMELY CLOSE?

ROB BUCKNER:

“Yeah, it’s interesting. The 2.2 liters have been in competition for 10 years. And I think over that time, both us and our competitors have recognized and addressed some weaknesses that we’ve had, individually. Or, sometimes we’ve got a slight advantage somewhere and they always catch up. The general thought is we’ve always had a very strong top end and they’ve always had a very strong mid-range. I think we’ve kind of converged to a very similar torque delivery but all we can control is our own power profile going into this weekend, and I think we’ve got a very robust package for Barber.

To Will’s comments, the surface has a lot of grip. A lot of times at road courses we’re struggling to put power down and Barber is kind of unique in that I think this weekend, the car and the tire is going to be able to take all that the engine can give it. And that’s what we’ve been preparing to do. I think we’ll be in a pretty good place come this weekend.”

Q.) YOU COVER ALL THE OTHER MAJOR RACING CIRCUITS HERE IN AMERICA, WHETHER IT BE IMSA OR NHRA OR NASCAR OR WHATEVER; WHAT DO YOU SEE AS YOURBIGGEST CHALLENGES OVERALL?

MARK STIELOW:

“The biggest challenges that we’re working on right now is you know, folks spend a lot of time on Sports Car racing. So, the GTLM class is going to converge into GT Daytona Pro. So, we’ve been working a lot on a conversion package for that. And there has been a lot of investigation, a lot of work has been done, on our end studying the LMDh proposal.

LMDh is very interesting to us and there’s going to be a lot of manufacturers in that space, so we’ve been heavily looking at that. So, there’s a lot of activity going on in that space. My counterpart, Eric Warren, has got all the NASCAR stuff and with all the work going into NG7 car, and with that getting ready to launch next year, there’s a lot of activity in that space also. So, there’s going to be some exciting stuff going on in motorsports in the next few years.”

Q.) ON THE CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX WEEKEND, IT’S BEEN A BIG INCONVENIENCE WITH THE RE-SCHEDULING OF EVENTS THIS PAST YEAR. RECENTLY WE’VE LEARNED DETROIT WILL BE THE TRADITIONAL IMSA/INDYCAR DOUBLEHEADER AND A HOMETOWN DEBUT ON THE CORVETTE C8.R. WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT WEEKEND TO SHOWCASE GM RACING’S TECHNOLOGY WITH CADILLAC, CORVETTE, AND CHEVROLET?

MARK STIELOW:

“It’s always good to play on a home field. We’ll be racing in the shadow of the Ren Cen. In my previous jobs at GM, I’ve actually driven some of the parade cars down there. So, it’s nice to run that event and for us to do well. Unfortunately, our competitors won’t be showing up to race against the Corvettes, so we’ll be running exhibition only. There are some prior commitments that Porsche has that they can’t get out of, so we’ll be running the Corvette exhibition. And the Cadillacs will be there strong and INDYCAR also. It’s always a fun event. I’m hoping that COVID-19 turns around and we can have it be a well-attended event, but that’s still kind of up in the air right now.”

Q.) ONE OF THE BIG QUESTIONS WE’VE GOTTEN SINCE LAST YEAR’S INDY 500 IS WILL WE HAVE CHEVY BACK, HOPEFULLY ON EQUAL TERMS; MAKING IT A TRUE QUESTION MARK AS TO HOW THE 2021 EVEN WILL PLAY OUT. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WERE ABLE TO TAKE FROM THE OPEN TEST HERE THAT MIGHT LEAD BOWTIE FANS TO HOPE AND BELIEVE THAT THERE COULD BE A REALLY HARD AND COMPETITIVE RUN HERE IN MAY THAT MIGHT LEAD INTO A REVERSAL OF FORTUNE FROM LAST YEAR’S EVENT?

ROB BUCKNER:

“I think so. I always joke with our group that hope is a very bad plan. So, we’ve had to really dig deep and try to look at where we missed it last year. Collectively, our groups have never worked better together when you look across the Chevrolet performance team with Ilmor and Pratt & Miller and everyone at Chevy, and then our race teams. I can’t thank them enough for all that they’ve contributed in the off-season. And we didn’t play a blame game. We just left there frustrated with our overall performance and have done everything we could since late August there to address it for this year. I think that the cars have changed enough that it’s kind of a re-set from 2020 when you look at the new aero parts that INDYCAR is introducing there. It seemed like at the test that guys could follow closer is maybe a little easier to pass with the barge boards and some of the different floor configurations that INDYCAR has come up with. But that was a pretty favorable day. It was cool and cloudy. I’m sure if we have a 95-degree sunny race day it’s still going to be really difficult. So, we’ve put a lot of emphasis on how we are going to qualify better, how are we going to get the most out of our engine package; like I said, we’ve visited every area of performance and tried to polish on everything. Our group is very detail-oriented, so I think we’re going to have a strong package.”

Q.) THE END OF 2022 IS THE END OF THE CURRENT INDYCAR ENGINE REGULATIONS. YOU ARE PROBABLY WORKING RIGHT NOW ON THE NEW ENGINE CONFIGURATION. BUT FOR THIS CURRENT ENGINE, IS THERE STILL DEVELOPMENT GOING ON?

ROB BUCKNER:

“Yeah, we’re very fortunate to have a lot of depth and talent and motivated people. So, there’s still things we can work on in the 2.2 liter. There are some areas that are always open. And we’re running 2.4 liters now. We have our first engines on the dyno. We’re very happy with where that program is at and we’re multi-tasking. It’s very busy times for the engine program. We still have to go to the track. We’ve got to race the 2.2 liter approximately 32 to 34 more times. We’re not looking to give up anything there. And then we’ve got to have a prom debut in 2023 as well. So, the engine-side of things is flat out at the moment.”

Q.) JOSEF NEWGARDEN WAS TALKING LAST MONTH ABOUT HOW THE COVID RESTRICTIONS HAVE REQUIRED THEM TO WORK SMARTER AND MORE EFFICIENT AND THAT THEY STRUGGLED WITH THAT LAST YEAR AND WEREN’T ABLE TO USE OPTIMIZATION ACROSS ALL THE CARS. FROM A CHEVROLET PERSPECTIVE, HOW ARE YOU APPROACHING THESE CHALLENGES?

ROB BUCKNER:

“COVID-19 has affected motorsports and everyone in the paddock kind of the same. We don’t look at it as an excuse that we have less track time because it’s the same for all the competitors. There has been a trend in the last five years that track time is reduced and you have to roll off the trailer very, very strong. If you’re completely lost Friday morning or Saturday morning, it doesn’t make that much difference. But overall, we’re all recognizing come P1, you really need to be in the window, you need to be close; and then just polish on it. Ideally, you don’t make many changes. So, the pre-event preparation, I think, circuit by circuit, how we use our DIL simulator working with teams and drivers before we ever get to the race track; all those things were already trending in this direction, and then with the COVID-19 reductions in track time, it’s really just amplified it. I don’t think anyone would have ever thought two years ago that NASCAR would only have really four practice sessions in an entire year. So, even within NASCAR, that’s the extreme; and then specific to INDYCAR, we have a reduction but not an elimination of practice. So, we still have an opportunity to learn and improve; especially at street courses where you cannot test. But Jay Frye and his group have done a great job of putting together a pretty logical plan of street courses. They’re mostly three-day events. Road courses are two days. If you really struggle at a road course you can test there in the off-season. So, I think we’re really pleased with how INDYCAR has handled this and the direction that it’s going. For us, it just amplifies the work you do before getting to the race track really matters and needs to be correct.”

Q.) WHAT’S THE BREAKDOWN BETWEEN ILMOR ENGINEERING AND GM IN TERMS OF WHAT DO THEY DO AND WHAT DO YOU DO ON THE ENGINE? AND WHEN IT COMES TO THE HYBRID THAT’S COMING IN, WHO IS GOING TO DO THE HYBRID PIECE? WHO IS GOING TO INTEGRATE IT?

ROB BUCKNER:

“Our technical group tries really hard to not operate in silos or individual company-type thinking. So, we all work for the Chevrolet program. We’re all pulling in the same direction all the time. So, we really blur those lines. A lot of times the collaboration amongst the group has been spectacular. And even breaking down, just beyond the engine program, of bringing in the race teams to these conversations and where we want things to progress over time. So, I would like to think, internally, that Ilmor and GM are all just one engine program working together to try to have the best package we can. There are certainly strengths Ilmor has that we don’t have and vide-versa. We have some analysis and tools that as General Motors and Chevrolet is very useful. And Ilmor is a very competent, excellent engine supplier in motorsports. So, I think we try to put all that together and that makes us have an overall really good engine package.”

Q.) HOW POSSIBLE IS IT TO TEST THE 2.4 LITER ENGINE WITHOUT THE HYBRID SYSTEM HOOKED UP? ARE YOU ABLE TO PUT A FIGURE ON HOW MUCH THE INCREASED DISPLACEMENT OF THE ENGINE AND HOW MUCH WOULD COME FROM THE HYBRID?

MARK STIELOW:

“On the hybrid-side we could emulate that. Before we get the hybrid unit, we can run some simulations on our dyno to simulate that. On the power-side of the equation, I’ll let Rob answer that. I haven’t really been in all the details of that yet.”

ROB BUCKNER:

“I think somewhat lost in the 2.4 liter transition is the fact that we’re going up in base boost as well. So, the easy thing is to think we’re going up roughly 10 percent in displacement. We’re going to go up 10 percent in power; but also, we’re going to start operating at 1.6 bars, the standard for street courses instead of 1.5 bar. And you put all that together with the hybrid unit, I think fans will be pleased with the power projections and where the engine programs are headed overall. To answer your question, we can’t run a 2.4 liter with a hybrid. Once you delete an alternator it is gone for good. So, I think all of us, INDYCAR, Honda, Chevrolet are all in for the hybrid unit to run the 2.4 liter is going to be required, not optional.”

Q.) THE 900 HP TARGET AT INDYCAR, WHEN DO YOU THINK WE’LL SEE THE ENGINES HITTING THAT MAGIC MARK?

ROB BUCKNER:

“I’m not sure. I think a lot of that depends on the finalized specs of the hybrid unit, which is really INDYCAR’s area of development during this. On the engine-side, we’re just going to focus on getting all we can out of the 2.4 liter at all the various race levels of boost.”

Q.) IN THE PAST YOU HAVE USED THE INDYCAR ENGINE PROGRAM TO HELP DEVELOP THINGS LIKE DIRECT INJECTION TECHNOLOGY AND TO RUN ENGINEERS THROUGH. WITH THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE IN POWERING CARS, IS THAT STILL THE MAIN PURPOSE FOR BEING PART OF A SERIES LIKE INDYCAR?

MARK STEILOW:

“Yeah, my counterpart, Russ O’Blenes, has the propulsion-side of motorsports, and there are a lot of young engineers in that space that learned about racing and there’s also joint development work being done both at Ilmor like Rob talked about Ilmor and GM up at Pontiac for motorsports powertrain development. So, there is still a lot of technology transferred between the two. It’s still a viable training ground for us to learn more things and for us to develop people, processes, and tools to become better. General Motors and Chevrolet are still going to keep on making internal combustion engines for a while; so, we’re going to keep on pushing it as far as we can.”

Q.) I WON’T ASK ALL THE NAMES OF THE TEAMS AND ENTRIES YOU’LL BE ENGAGED WITH FOR THE INDY 500, BUT CAN YOU TELL US THE ANTICIPATED FINAL NUMBER OF CHEVY-POWERED ENTRIES? AND IF YOU ARE UN-SIGNING TEAMS OR IF THERE ARE STILL POSSIBILITIES FOR MORE TO BE HAD FOR THE MONTH OF MAY?

ROB BUCKNER:

“That’s a very good question given the time of year. I think that’s the most cars last week we’ve ever run at Indy during an open test which, for our group…. It’s a difficult expansion when you go from running 10 to 11 full-time cars and then I think last week we had15 and then that’s kind of an incremental step. We expect we may add another one. We’re not completely sure. But it’s getting close to crunch time, so we’re close to finalizing. For us it’s really do we have the parts and the people to do it. And if race teams put something together, we try to be good partners with our teams; and we’ll figure out a way to make it happen.”

Q.) ЧТО КАСАЕТСЯ ГИБРИДИЗАЦИИ В 2023 ГОДУ И INDYCAR, GENERAL MOTORS НИЧЕГО НЕ ПОДТВЕРДИЛА В ОТНОШЕНИИ IMSA И LMDH, НО ПО СЛУЧАЙНОСТИ ОБА КЛАССА ДЕЙСТВИТЕЛЬНО СТАНУТ ГИБРИДНЫМИ В ОДНО И ТО ЖЕ ВРЕМЯ. ПО КРАЙНЕЙ МЕРЕ, ЕСЛИ ВЫ ПЛАНИРУЕТЕ УЧАСТВОВАТЬ В INDYCAR И РАССМАТРИВАЕТЕ ВОЗМОЖНОСТЬ УЧАСТИЯ В IMSA, МОЖЕТЕ ЛИ ВЫ ЧТО-ТО СДЕЛАТЬ КАК ПРОИЗВОДИТЕЛЬ, ЗНАЯ, ЧТО NASCAR ТАКЖЕ РАССМАТРИВАЕТ ВОЗМОЖНОСТЬ ГИБРИДИЗАЦИИ? ЧТО ВЫ ДЕЛАЕТЕ И КАК ВЫ ОТНОСИТЕСЬ КО ВСЕМ ЭТИМ ВОЗМОЖНОСТЯМ ДЛЯ МЕСТ, ГДЕ ВЫ УЧАСТВУЕТЕ В ГОНКАХ, МОГЛИ БЫ УЧАСТВОВАТЬ В ГОНКАХ, ПЕРЕХОДИТЬ НА ЭТУ НОВУЮ ТЕХНОЛОГИЮ, ВОЗМОЖНО, КАЖДАЯ ИЗ НИХ НЕМНОГО ОТЛИЧАЕТСЯ ОТ ДРУГОЙ? РАБОТАЕТЕ ЛИ ВЫ С ЭТИМИ САНКЦИОННЫМИ ОРГАНИЗАЦИЯМИ И ГОВОРИТЕ: "ЭЙ, НЕ ПРОСИТЕ НАС ПОКУПАТЬ ТРИ РАЗНЫХ ВАРИАНТА ОДНОГО И ТОГО ЖЕ УСТРОЙСТВА"? КАК ВЫ ОТНОСИТЕСЬ К ТОМУ, ЧТО МОЖЕТ БЫТЬ ТРЕМЯ ОЧЕНЬ РАЗНЫМИ ВЕЩАМИ?

MARK STIELOW:

"Сейчас все разговоры, в которых я принимал участие, и все, что мы видели, говорят о том, что у санкционных организаций очень мало общего. Так что да, в утопическом мире было бы здорово, если бы все эти парни работали вместе, и мы могли бы прийти к общему решению. Но по многим причинам каждый хочет иметь свою особую мышеловку. Так что пока я вижу, что каждый идет по своему пути. Но все это, похоже, постоянно меняется. Эти встречи постоянно развиваются".

Q.) ХОДИЛИ РАЗГОВОРЫ ИЛИ СЛУХИ О ТОМ, ЧТО ДЕЛАЕТ Ф-1. ОНИ ИСПОЛЬЗУЮТ MGU-H ДЛЯ ОТВОДА ТЕПЛА ОТ ДВИГАТЕЛЯ И ПРЕОБРАЗОВАНИЯ ЕГО В ЭНЕРГИЮ БАТАРЕИ. ХОДЯТ ЛИ РАЗГОВОРЫ О ТОМ, ЧТОБЫ СДЕЛАТЬ ЭТО В INDYCAR, ИЛИ ЭТО ИСКЛЮЧИТЕЛЬНО СИСТЕМА КИНЕТИЧЕСКОЙ ЭНЕРГИИ?

ROB BUCKNER:

"Да, это был интересный разговор с INDYCAR, потому что мы стали бы первой серией, которая провела бы гибридную гонку на овале. Так что многое здесь очень концептуально. По вашему мнению, рабочий цикл двигателя в квалификациях INDY в идеале составляет 100 процентов, если вы никогда не поднимаетесь. Так как же вы получаете кинетическую энергию? В других случаях во время гонки рабочий цикл двигателя не равен 100 процентам, когда вы находитесь в трафике. Это открывает возможность для того, чтобы машина тратила энергию впустую. В конце концов, это уравнение энергетического баланса, и INDYCAR должна будет сказать нам, как это сделать. Это также добавит сложности и затрат, которые, я не уверен, подойдут INDYCARS. Поэтому я думаю, что мы больше склоняемся к тому, что это будет в первую очередь кинетическая система рекуперации".

Q.) ТОЛКАТЕЛЬ, КОТОРЫЙ МЫ ИМЕЕМ СЕГОДНЯ, ПОЛНОСТЬЮ ИСЧЕЗНЕТ С ПОЯВЛЕНИЕМ ГИБРИДНОЙ СИСТЕМЫ? ИЛИ ЖЕ ТУРБОНАДДУВ ПО-ПРЕЖНЕМУ БУДЕТ РАБОТАТЬ В СОЧЕТАНИИ С ГИБРИДНОЙ СИСТЕМОЙ?

ROB BUCKNER:

"Самое приятное в наших форсированных двигателях то, что если во время разработки и первых испытаний гибридной установки нам понадобится больше или меньше мощности, то программы двигателя будут работать на электрических выпускных клапанах. Так что, если INDYCAR этого захочет, можно будет относительно легко изменить ограничения по наддуву. Я так думаю. Если им понадобится, чтобы мы помогли немного увеличить наддув, я уверен, что мы легко сможем это сделать".

Q.) РАНЕЕ ВЫ УПОМИНАЛИ, ЧТО В ПОСЛЕДНЕЕ ВРЕМЯ УДЕЛЯЕТЕ МНОГО ВРЕМЕНИ IMSA, LMDH И GTD-PRO. МОЖЕТЕ ЛИ ВЫ СКАЗАТЬ, КОГДА GM МОЖЕТ ПРИНЯТЬ РЕШЕНИЕ ИЛИ СДЕЛАТЬ ОБЪЯВЛЕНИЕ О БУДУЩЕМ УЧАСТИИ В НИХ?

MARK STIELOW:

"Я бы сказал, что это произойдет в ближайшие 45 дней".

Q.) ЧТО КАСАЕТСЯ НОВОГО ГИБРИДНОГО ДВИГАТЕЛЯ ОБЪЕМОМ 2,4 ЛИТРА, МОЖЕТЕ ЛИ ВЫ СКАЗАТЬ ЧТО-НИБУДЬ О ЕГО РАЗМЕРАХ?

ROB BUCKNER:

"INDYCAR и мы работаем над тем, чтобы предположить, что физически двигатель будет примерно того же размера. Мы увеличиваем размер отверстия, но 2,4 - это не огромное изменение архитектуры. Наш двигатель будет полностью новым. Я не знаю ни одного компонента, который мы бы перенесли с 2,2-литрового. Так что, с этой точки зрения, это чистый дизайн, но вписывающийся в ту же оболочку, если хотите".

Q.) ЧТО КАСАЕТСЯ СТОИМОСТИ, ЕСЛИ БЫ ВЫ МОГЛИ ПРЕДПОЛОЖИТЬ, НАСКОЛЬКО УВЕЛИЧИТСЯ СТОИМОСТЬ СЕЗОНА ДЛЯ КОМАНД ПОСЛЕ ВНЕДРЕНИЯ ГИБРИДНОЙ СИСТЕМЫ?

ROB BUCKNER:

"Это довольно неопределенный вопрос, и на данный момент он еще не определен, поскольку INDYCAR все еще работает над тем, как будет выглядеть эта система. Это не будет частью наших отношений с командами, так что я не очень хорошо знаю. Я знаю, что Джей Фрай и Даррен Самсум возглавляют эту программу для INDYCAR, и они очень заботятся о расходах; они привлекают команды к этим обсуждениям. Так что мы думаем, что в целом паддок сможет это сделать. Но я не могу сказать, что знаю какие-то точные цифры или детали на сегодняшний день".

[ht: Inside Track Communications For Chevrolet]

... заметки из EDJE