AJ Foyt Racing makes switch to Chevrolet
The iconic Foyt IndyCar racing team has announced a separation from Honda as its official engine supplier, joining reigning constructors' and series champion Chevrolet for the 2017 season. However, the team are still in negotiations with engineers and drivers.
The news comes after a month riddled with speculation as to what the future of the team's power unit supplier would be. If completed, Foyt's team would be the only to ditch the Honda power units for Chevy.
“Nothing’s signed yet, but we’re headed in that direction," said team president Larry Foyt. Once complete, it will mark the first occasion the team have partnered with Chevrolet since the 2005 season.
However, Foyt are also likely to have a complete driver clean out, meaning that some key technical staff will also likely have to be replaced. The total change in landscape can only spell a season of upheaval for Foyt in 2017. Drivers Takuma Sato and Jack Hacksworth finished 17th and 20th respectively in the 2016 campaign, a campaign which saw the team run two cars full-time for just the second time.
Tom German, who served as Alexander Rossi's engineer during his rookie season, has reportedly begun talks with the Foyt team in the last two weeks. However, Kyle Brannan, another highly-touted racing engineer who ran the No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing entry for Luca Filippi, Gabby Chaves and most impressively RC Enerson last season, is no longer an option, having joined the Extreme Speed Motorsport sportscar squad.
Regarding possible driver replacements, Andretti Autosport's Carlos Munoz is believed to be high atop the list of potential candidates for 2017. However, situated above Munoz on the list of possible replacements is that of Team Penske's Juan Pablo Montoya. It remains to be seen whether Montoya would agree to make a switch to a still-developing team at this stage of his career, despite the tempting allure of the Chevrolet power unit/aero package combination.
