Honda has joined fellow IndyCar manufacturer, Chevrolet, in unveiling its base road/street course and short oval aero kit ahead of the 2015 season.
“It’s been an interesting journey to get here and we’re really pleased with the results we’ve been able to achieve,” Steve Eriksen, president and COO of Honda Performance Development said. “The Verizon IndyCar Series has such an amazing array of tracks and you really want to fine tune to each of those tracks, and (the aero kits) allow you to do that. Time will tell if we have the best kit out there and we did everything we could have done, and I mean everything.”
The aero kit program was initiated to improve on-track performance, including advancements in speed, innovation and safety, in addition to visually differentiating the cars on the racetrack. Indycar announced the regulations in July 2013, whilst manufacturer on-track testing commenced in October 2014.
“It’s getting back to the roots of IndyCar where you have development,” Eriksen
continued. “Now you’ll have the visual differences across the cars. It’s a huge uphill battle because of several factors; one is you know there is so much performance potential. If you look at the rate of gain of an aero kit versus an engine, it’s drastic for the aero kit. That’s part of the pressure you feel.”
Chevrolet introduced its road course/street course and short oval design Feb. 17. The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, on March 29, marks the inaugural competition between the manufacturers’ body kits. The speedway aero kit components are scheduled to be delivered to teams by April 1.
