OCTOBER 21, 2002

CART moving to V10s in 2005

The CART championship is looking to switch to normally-aspirated V10 engines in 2005. This would open the way for the American series to use versions of the current engines used in Formula 1 racing and provide a route for a number of car manufacturers to maximum the value of their investment in V10 technology by using the engines in both Formula 1 and in CART.

Given the importance of the North American market to the automobile manufacturers it is unlikely that the engines will be very different from the F1 units but the idea that CART could be built up to be a rival to F1 is rather fanciful given that the manufacturers are currently the major force in F1 and it makes no sense to create a rod for their own backs.

It seems more likely that there is some longterm plan to create a situation in which CART would feed new talent into F1, while remaining the major open-wheeler road-racing series in the United States.