Reigning IZOD IndyCar series champion Dario Franchitti has had a rough start to the 2012 season, finishing outrside the top five in the opening three races while archrival Will Power has won the last two. But the Chip Ganassi Racing driving is hopeful Thursday's ruling in favor of Honda's new turbocharger will help him change his fortunes. In Sao Paulo, Franchitti said he is "interested in seeing what change that will make."
"Hopefully this will get us a little bit closer [to Chevrolet] in the engine department," Franchitti told IndyCar.com. The early results were encouraging, as Franchitti was second astest in the opening practice in Brazil, just 0.0078sec off Power's leading pace.
IndyCar had allowed Honda teams to change to the new 0.74 A/R compressor cover for their engine's single turbocharger before practice at Long Beach, but the directive was stayed when Chevrolet teams protested. The decision by a three-man panel in Indianapolis on Thursday to reject Chevrolet's protest of the new turbo may be appealed by April 30, but Chevrolet inducated on Thursday that it did not plan to appeal.
• Don't miss the 20th Anniversary issue of RACER, introducing the magazine's all-new look with an In Focus photo shoot and technical analysis of the Nissan DeltaWing among its content-packed 120 pages! CLICK HERE to subscribe now at a special discount rate!