As the action begins for the Honda Indy Edmonton, let’s take a closer look at the IZOD IndyCar series, the Dallara spec car and the Honda spec engine.
Interestingly, all the cars in Sunday’s race will be powered by identical Honda V8 engines capable of 650 horsepower. The respective race teams cannot alter the naturally aspirated powerplants, which are supplied by Honda. They can bolt on exhaust manifolds of their choosing but nothing internal to the engine may be changed.
Honda isn’t pleased to be the sole supplier of Indy engines; there’s not much glory in winning a race against yourself. Engine builders such as Toyota, Chevrolet, Mercedes and others pulled-out of racing over the years for financial and other reasons.
So why has Honda maintained its presence in racing? To answer that question, one needs to consider Honda’s extensive racing heritage, which ignited in 1965 when Richie Ginther won the Mexican Grand Prix. Since then, whether its two wheel or four wheel racing, Honda has been a major player.
No doubt Honda’s racing philosophy is rooted in a 1958 quote from the founder of Honda Motors, Mr. Soichiro Honda. He proudly announced to the world, “my childhood dream was to be a motorsport World Champion with a machine built by myself.”
Hopefully, 2012 will see machines built by other competitors thanks to Indy rule changes that will enable the use of turbocharged V6 and inline 4 engines in place of the larger V8s in use today. Until then and beyond, Honda will use motorsport as a means of performance research and development - the fruits of which often trickle down to their passenger car industry as race-bred technology.
So how are races won when engines are identical? There are in fact many variables that serve to either speed or slow a racecar. Knowing these variables and understanding how to maximize their potential is just as integral to racing as the skill of the driver fronting the team.
The adjustment of suspension components, wings and spoilers along with tire selection and fuel strategies can make or break a race day - literally. Slamming into the wall because tire adhesion was miscalculated due to unanticipated track conditions will normally end a race day, hopefully without human consequences.
The KV Racing Team ran four cars in last weekend’s Toronto Honda Indy. To service and adjust these units, upwards of 65 mechanics, engineers and other experts were madly at work in the KV paddock on race day. The entire entourage consisted of approximately 85 individuals and $6m worth of rolling stock.
Each Indy race car is worth in the range of $700K, so losing one of these assets due to a preventable miscalculation is demoralizing to say the least.
Interestingly, all the cars in Sunday’s race will be powered by identical Honda V8 engines capable of 650 horsepower. The respective race teams cannot alter the naturally aspirated powerplants, which are supplied by Honda. They can bolt on exhaust manifolds of their choosing but nothing internal to the engine may be changed.
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| Justin Wilson (Photo: Philippe Champoux Auto123.com) |
Honda isn’t pleased to be the sole supplier of Indy engines; there’s not much glory in winning a race against yourself. Engine builders such as Toyota, Chevrolet, Mercedes and others pulled-out of racing over the years for financial and other reasons.
So why has Honda maintained its presence in racing? To answer that question, one needs to consider Honda’s extensive racing heritage, which ignited in 1965 when Richie Ginther won the Mexican Grand Prix. Since then, whether its two wheel or four wheel racing, Honda has been a major player.
No doubt Honda’s racing philosophy is rooted in a 1958 quote from the founder of Honda Motors, Mr. Soichiro Honda. He proudly announced to the world, “my childhood dream was to be a motorsport World Champion with a machine built by myself.”
Hopefully, 2012 will see machines built by other competitors thanks to Indy rule changes that will enable the use of turbocharged V6 and inline 4 engines in place of the larger V8s in use today. Until then and beyond, Honda will use motorsport as a means of performance research and development - the fruits of which often trickle down to their passenger car industry as race-bred technology.
So how are races won when engines are identical? There are in fact many variables that serve to either speed or slow a racecar. Knowing these variables and understanding how to maximize their potential is just as integral to racing as the skill of the driver fronting the team.
The adjustment of suspension components, wings and spoilers along with tire selection and fuel strategies can make or break a race day - literally. Slamming into the wall because tire adhesion was miscalculated due to unanticipated track conditions will normally end a race day, hopefully without human consequences.
The KV Racing Team ran four cars in last weekend’s Toronto Honda Indy. To service and adjust these units, upwards of 65 mechanics, engineers and other experts were madly at work in the KV paddock on race day. The entire entourage consisted of approximately 85 individuals and $6m worth of rolling stock.
Each Indy race car is worth in the range of $700K, so losing one of these assets due to a preventable miscalculation is demoralizing to say the least.