By Dave Lewandowski

Summer repaving of Main Street in Speedway, Ind., heralds the initial phase of redevelopment, which will include site preparation for a state-of-the-art motorsports project.

Andrea Pontremoli, CEO and general manager of Dallara Automobili, announced that the Italy-based company will facility in the heart of Speedway to develop, test and produce the next generation of IZOD IndyCar Series car.

“We feel very honored and proud to be part of the future,” Pontremoli said. “We are making this commitment to build the facility in Indianapolis. It’s important for us to not only have a factory where you build a car, but to have a center of technology that is open to our third party partners, universities, race engineers, the teams and drivers. We will put here our best knowledge with engineers and also in terms of tools.

“We’ll have a state-of-the-art simulator that drivers will drive the car before it is built so they can give us their impressions on what we can improve before we put the car into production. I think this is a new way to do motorsports in the future.”

Dallara Automobili, founded in 1972 near Parma, Italy, has built racing cars for Formula One, GP2, Firestone Indy Lights, the World Series by Renault and, since 1997, the IZOD IndyCar Series.

The facility will be within a few hundred yards of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy Racing League headquarters. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Scott Harris, executive director of the Speedway Redevelopment Commission, lauded Dallara’s commitment and it economic impact locally and throughout the state.

“Five years ago the Town of Speedway and its Redevelopment Commission made a commitment to the revitalization of our community through redevelopment to establish a model for new investors,” Harris said. “Our plan was a reflection of our heritage, building on the strength of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Allison Transmission and Praxair Surface Technologies. Dallara is an excellent addition to our community and we share a mutual dedication to the racing industry and advanced technology.

“As the home of ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,’ we are proud to be part of the continued success of the motorsports industry in Indiana and the world. Dallara will move into a state-of-the-art technology center on our new Main Street, bring jobs to Speedway, stimulate our overall economy and continue to contribute to the vibrant growth of a vibrant racing-centered community.”

Daniels announced that the first 28 rolling chassis ordered by Indiana-based teams will come with a $150,000 discount.

“For all us who grew up racing fans, this is a fantastic announcement about the sport we love,” Daniels said. “I’m here and happy to tell you that it’s also a great business and jobs and economic story for the state of Indiana.

“Today is the biggest day by far in our motorsports restoration in Indiana, and it goes beyond Dallara. I want to say how grateful we are to the company, how proud we are as a state. We’ll be investing through tax credits and grant money and the Town of Speedway and Dallara to help make that happen. This industry is coming home to the state where it was born.”

IZOD IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard welcomed Dallara to the neighborhood.

“I look forward to Dallara’s physical plant taking shape and its rollout of the safety cell within the next 18 months, and I also look forward to the growth of the motorsports industry in Indiana that this announcement will spur and how it will benefit all Hoosiers,” he said.

source http://www.indycar.com