Chevrolet Clinches 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Manufacturers’ Championship
SONOMA, Calif. – August 26, 2012 – With Ryan Briscoe’s No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet win today in the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway, Chevrolet has clinched the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Manufacturers’ Championship.
“Chevrolet is proud to race in the IZOD IndyCar Series in 2012, and honored to win the Manufacturers championship with the Chevrolet direct-injected, twin turbo IndyCar V6,” said Jim Campbell, US Vice President Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “The key to developing the best combination of power, durability, fuel economy and driveability in the Chevrolet Indy V6 has been teamwork with the drivers, crew chiefs, team owners and our engineering partners. There is still more racing to go this season, and the team remains 100% focused on finishing strong.”
On the way to clinching the coveted crown in the first season of the Bowtie Brand’s return to IndyCar competition, Chevrolet IndyCar V6-powered drivers won nine of the 13 races to-date in the 15-race 2012 season starting with the season’s opening race at St. Petersburg.
“This IZOD IndyCar Series Manufacturers’ championship for the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 engine is the culmination of a great team effort,” said Mark Kent. Director, Chevrolet Racing. “From concept to race track, Chevrolet Racing engineers, Ilmor, Hitachi, Borg Warner, our Chevy teams and others put a race and championship-winning product in place in just over a year. To reap the rewards of this dedicated effort in our first season back in IndyCar is gratifying. We are very proud of this achievement and thank everyone involved for their contributions.”
The Chevrolet IndyCar V6 team and driver roster that contributed to Chevrolet capturing the Series’ manufacturers’ title are: Team Penske – Ryan Briscoe, Helio Castroneves and Will Power; Andretti Autosport – Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay; KV Racing Technology – Rubens Barrichello, Tony Kanaan and EJ Viso; Panther Racing – JR Hildebrand; Ed Carpenter Racing – Ed Carpenter; Dragon Racing – Sebastien Bourdais and Katherine Legge, and Panther Dreyer & Reinbold Racing – Oriol Servia.
“Congratulations to our Chevrolet teams and all of our technical partners on winning the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Manufacturers’ Championship,” said Chris Berube, Chevrolet Racing Program Manager, IZOD IndyCar Series. “The “one-team” approach we implemented in the Chevrolet IndyCar V6 program has clearly demonstrated the value of integrating the input of all the talented engineers on each of our teams with Chevrolet engineers and the expertise of our technical partners. I am very proud of the contributions made by everyone involved in this program, and celebrate this achievement as Team Chevy.”
Chevrolet competed previously in Indy-style competition as an engine manufacturer in 1986-93 and 2002-05 with V8 engines that powered Chevrolet to 105 race wins which included seven Indianapolis 500 victories, and six driver championships.
