Two dominos appear ready to fall in the IndyCar engine puzzle, with an Indianapolis Star report Monday that Lotus is expected to release two of its teams from engine contracts.
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Bryan Herta Autosport, also known this year as Lotus DRR and Team Barracuda-BHA, are expected to sign with Chevrolet and Honda in advance of the Indianapolis 500. A formal announcement by Lotus is expected later this week.
The move frees up drivers Oriol Servia and Alex Tagliani to have improved rides going forward. Tagliani's BHA team had already announced it would skip Brazil due to it falling out of the top 22 in entrant points and a lack of substantial testing time.
For the rest of 2012, that would leave Lotus HVM Racing and Dragon Racing as the only full-season Lotus entrants, with Newman/Haas Racing's one-off entry for Jean Alesi now just the fourth car for the manufacturer at Indianapolis, if it materializes.