Most Chevrolet personnel skipped lunch in the IZOD IndyCar Series paddock April 12 as they were busy trading out all 11 V-6 engines in cars entered in the 38th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
The decision was made following the tear down and inspection of the engine in the No. 27 GoDaddy.com car of Andretti Autosport that experienced an issue during a team April 9 at Infineon Raceway.
Per the IZOD IndyCar Series rulebook, each of the 11 entries will be levied a 10-grid position penalty to start the 85-lap race April 15 on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit because of an unapproved engine change. Rules 15.5.1 and 15.6.1 outline the penalty for a change-out if the engine that has not reached its minimum threshold.
Through the first two races, Chevrolet's 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 engine has recorded two victories and two poles (one of each by Team Penske's Helio Castroneves and Will Power). Castroneves is the series championship points leader by two over Scott Dixon of Honda-powered Target Chip Ganassi Racing.
Others affected by the decision: Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe and Marco Andretti of Andretti Autosport; Rubens Barrichello, Tony Kanaan and E.J. Viso of KV Racing Technology; JR Hildebrand of Panther Racing and Ryan Briscoe of Team Penske.
On April 11, the IZOD IndyCar Series announced that the No. 7 Lotus Dragon Racing car driven by three-time Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach winner would incur the same penalty for changing the Lotus engine following the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. He finished a season-high ninth.
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edited text: © 2012 indycar.com
