A New Contestant Enters The Fray

Just when we'd thought that we had seen it all - in terms of the proposals for the next generation of IndyCar, that is - along come a new player. BAT Engineering, an outfit comprised headed by long time & well respected race car designers Bruce Ashmore, Alan Mertens and Tim Wardrop (take their first initials and you have BAT) have put forth their ideas how the 2012 spec car should look.

Ashmore, Mertens and Wardrop not only strove to meet the IRL's criteria in regard s to price, they talked directly to the league's safety and technical directors, as well as Indianapolis surgeon Dr. Terry Trammell, who has helped many drivers from various series recover (at least as much as possible in some cases) from racing injuries over the past three decades, to insure that their design would be the latest word in driver protection.

As with the others (Dallara, Lola, Swift and Delta Wing), BAT will now await word from IRL president of competition Brain Barnhardt as to whether or not their submission was successfully recieved. A decision is expected sometime this summer.