Lotus set to join IndyCar enginemakers: report

LOS ANGELES: British sports car manufacturer Group Lotus will become an IndyCar engine supplier in 2012 as well as designing and building its own IndyCar aerodynamic package, Speed TV reported Thursday.

The online report said Lotus, which sponsored Japanese driver Takuma Sato for KV Racing last season, will most likely have the engines built by Cosworth, which builds Formula One engines for teams that include Williams and Lotus.

Group Lotus, owned by the Malaysian state-run automaker Proton, and the Lotus F1 team would not be linked in any way.

The engine move comes a week after General Motors revealed it would return to IndyCar with a Chevrolet engine in 2012 once new rules and engine plans are finalized.

Japan-based Honda had been the only enginemaker for IndyCar in recent seasons, other brands pulling out over economic issues, including the past split of the series into two rival groups.