Q: Just wondering about the Engine allotment for next year, it appears that as most people figured Chevy and Honda will make up the majority of the grid and Lotus will have a few cars. Are there any other manufacturers looking to get in for next year? I could easily see the possibility of attracting BMW, for starters Rahal has a great relationship with them and they have Nick Heidfeld who will most likely not have an F1 seat next year and it appears he doesn’t want to drive DTM cars as many predict he will. And this also may be attractive to BMW who is looking to move towards V6 engines in their production vehicles. Do you think this is something that could be realistic for 2013 and something the series should pursue?

Max

RM: Randy Bernard has met with Fiat and Audi a couple times so I assume they are somewhat interested and Ford might be back in a couple years if they like the landscape but haven’t heard anything about BMW.

Q: Is there any word as to how the Lotus/Judd engine is progressing? Both Honda and Chevy are in track trials and Judd apparently hasn’t made it off the dyno yet. Are any teams firmly contracted with Judd or are they just going to get the left-overs? Given Judd’s history in Indy Cars (the original Indy Honda in the hands of Geoff Brabham) and in sports cars I expect good things from the engine but only if they have a team with the resources and talent to maximize its potential. Also I wonder why some of the other specialty builders aren’t involved. With Kalkoven’s ownership of Cosworth I am dumbfounded by their absence. Are they working on a future program either on their own or with another manufacturer? Or are they sitting this one out entirely? I also wonder about AER. Given their ties to Mazda through the ALMS program and Mazda’s ties to Indy Car’s ladder system, it would seem to be a natural fit. At one time there was some apparently serious back and forth between Fiat/Maserati/Ferrari and Indy Car but nothing has come of it, at least not yet. I would love to see Maserati return to the Brickyard and I suspect I’m not alone. Is this program dead or just on hold? Ditto for Ford. They were allegedly interested in joining the series in 2013/2014 but there’s been no recent news. Are they still going forward? Possibly re-uniting with Cosworth? Is there any interest from any of the German manufacturers?

Mike Grove, Copley, OH

RM: Marshall Pruett had a story out yesterday with Judd on the Lotus engine. Mike Shank was the first team to sign up with Lotus/Judd and I understand the engine is on the dyno. Not sure why KK and Cosworth aren’t involved yet but maybe they’re waiting on Ford. I addressed Fiat/Audi in the answer above yours.