“We’ve been encouraged by the performance of the new Honda aero kits in testing, but of course the end goal is to win races, the Indy 500 and the championship.” Honda has lost the championship to Chevy for three straight years.
Honda today debuted, as Chevrolet previously, packages of aerodynamic components its teams will use on the spec Dallara chassis in the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series, one that Chevrolet dominated last season.
The most radical looking package comes from Honda with the seeming aesthetics of Transformer toys. If so, these are serious adult toys. About 200 individual pieces can be fitted to the existing Honda-powered Dallara DW12.
All, of course, are intended to give Honda’s six IndyCar Series teams the ability to win at the 15 circuits that make up the 2015 schedule.
The goal is for Chevrolet team drivers to enter and exit corners faster, while maintaining high speeds on the straightaways.
Chevrolet introduced its modifications to the road course/short oval Dallara in February at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is different from the 2014 racecar with new front wings, sculpted side pods and a new rear wing. (A speedway configuration for the aero kit, designed for high-speed ovals, will be introduced ahead of its competitive debut at Indianapolis in May. Honda has not set a date for its version.)
The aero packages are designed to optimize downforce, drag and engine performance. However, with differences in engine power, cultures and organizations, two strikingly different looking short track packages have emerged. How they perform on the track under really racing conditions in traffic remains to be seen.The Chevy road course configuration’s changes over the 2014 DW12 aero package are identified by major components, including:
- Front wing that features new pedestal-mounted “front uppers” toward the outer edges
- New sculpted “wheel wedges” in front of the rear tires
- An engine cover and side pods that have more compact shapes, achieved through a revised turbocharger and exhaust system layout.
- New larger rear bumper pods
- A multi-element upper rear wing, along with louvered end plates.
The all-new Chevrolet racecars will compete for the first time on March 29 at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, FL.
Honda says its components were tested in a full-scale wind tunnel after computer design to confirm actual aerodynamic performance characteristics, and create aero maps to be used during on-track testing. Final proof-of-concept correlation then took place in a series of on-track tests, totaling six days at various circuits, conducted by HPD (Honda Performance Division) with the assistance of the Honda-powered Andretti Autosport team.
HPD claims the complete kit provides Honda drivers and teams with a significant range of available configurations to tune the cars to their desired characteristics and provide additional visual variety to engage fans at all IndyCar Series circuits. Honda’s Indy car aero kits will make their public debut next week at an “Open Test”, March 16-17 at Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Alabama.
On the real racetracks of IndyCar last season, Will Power drove his Team Penske Chevrolet to the Verizon IndyCar Championship in 2014, while teammates Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya finished second and fourth in points, respectively. Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan, from Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, finished third and seventh in points, respectively, giving Chevrolet five of the top seven places. Chevrolet claimed its third straight manufacturer title 2014. Chevy has won it each year since re-entering IndyCar racing in 2012.
