The Formula One grid might not be lacking in teams or eager ones that want to be on the grid for the next season but what the pinnacle of motorsport is lacking though is engine manufacturers. Currently, all of the 12 teams on the grid are powered by one of four engines from Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Renault and Cosworth.
Once 2013 rolls in, a new engine design will be put into place, that of a turbocharged inline-four. Part of the goals in implementing the new engine design is to attract more manufacturers into the sport.
The first new engine supplier has already jumped on board. While it may not be a manufacturer or established engine race engineering company, it does possess valuable experience in the sport and already has some experience from Formula One and Le Mans.
PURE, which stands for Propulsion Universelle et Recuperation d'Energie orUniversal Propulsion and Recuperation of Energy in the Queen’s language, will be headed by Craig Pollock. If the name rings a few bells, that’s because the man used to run the BAR-Honda team for a number of years and also managed former Formula One driver Jacques Villeneuve.
The company aims to have an entirely new design of turbocharged inline-four engines well before the regulations kick in, giving it a head start in the game. The design team that will be laying out the specifications for the new engine has worked on Peugeot and Renault engines for Formula One and Le Mans.
Furthermore, once designed, the engines will be manufactured by a subsidiary of Mecachrome, the very same outfit responsible for building the current Renault Formula One engines, including the ones that powered Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull to victory last year.
Source: Autosport
