Photo Credit: IndyCar
It happened on April Fools’ Day 2016, but after Friday’s festivities at the Phoenix Grand Prix, the current joke on the street is far from funny for the Honda runners in the Verizon IndyCar Series and is definitely not being taken in a laughing matter. After their engine and aero kit manufacturer rivals from Chevrolet swept the top ten positions in both two sessions of practice and then in the all important Verizon P1 Award session in advance of tonight’s 250 lap race at Phoenix International Raceway, the scenario of de-ja-vu is emanating from the HPD camp with the 100th edition of the Indianapolis 500, presented by PennGrade Motor Oil just nuder two months away.
It is not just one area where it appears Chevrolet has the advantage on Honda in terms of the oval track package, engine maximum output is as equal the culprit as the aero kit they provide is. Despite the fact the win count at the Indy 500 with the current IndyCar design is even at two wins for Chevrolet and two for Honda, both of Chevrolet wins were in dominant fashion where the GM-backed cars had a clear edge. In Honda’s victories the battle was much closer with Chevrolet maybe having a slight edge over a single lap. While the race win count is even, the aforementioned qualifying battle has tilted greatly in Chevrolet’s favor. All four Indy 500 poles since 2012 have gone to Chevrolet-powered cars with Penske and Ed Carpenter’s teams splitting the Verizon P1 Awards equally between them.
So how do the drivers in the Honda camp see the issue? Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ James Hinchcliffe, who will start at the back of the grid due to a pre-qualifying accident Friday morning, says a lack of top end pace is a handicap in the discussion at hand.
“(Chevrolet) deserves a ton of credit on (power), not just the kits, but the engine has been developed a lot as well,” Hinchcliffe admitted earlier this year. ““That’s what a lot of people forgot last year – there’s actually two engines as well. The body kits dominated the discussion, but I think as (Honda) moves closer to (Chevrolet) on the body kit level, the engine is going to come back in the discussion a lot more. I think we made some good gains there.”
Although a horsepower deficiency was a common concern, grip was an equal complaint from Andretti Autosport’s Ryan-Hunter-Reay on Friday.
“That was a hairy (qualifying) run.” Hunter-Reay said on Friday. “When you see your teammate go in and he’s running the same setup, to go out and try to keep your foot on the floor is an exercise. I got loose and we slid around. That was not exactly the ideal qualifying run.”
Hunter-Reay’s teammate Marco Andretti was equally frustrated by Friday’s results.
“The disappointing part is that was a good run, and we’re 11th.” explained Andretti. “Obviously, when we have the car wrung out we want to be running for pole and not 11th… so disappointed.”
Although the Chevrolet drivers were the chief benefactors of the Honda deficiencies, even former Andretti and Honda driver Tony Kanaan, who now drives a Chevy-powered entry for Chip Ganassi Racing understands what his ex-compatriots are now facing.
“(We’re) not hammering on Honda at all. I think they are very capable.” said Kanaan after qualifying second for tonight’s Phoenix Grand Prix. “But this is racing. We knew at some point that somebody was going to be better, and that’s just the way it is, and we’re not bragging about it because I can tell you that situation can change from one race to the other.”
Also in Chevrolet’s favor is the current track record being enjoyed by their aero kit designer Pratt & Miller Racing, not just in IndyCar, but racing in general. Gary Pratt and Jim Miller’s operation has also shown dominance in IMSA sports car racing with Corvette Racing, who have won five out of their last seven major endurance races since the start of the 2015 racing season. By contrast, former Honda partner Wirth Research has a less than stellar resume. In addition to their issues on ovals last year, Honda’s sports car program, also run by Wirth floundered to the point that Extreme Speed Motorsports abandoned Honda’s brand new ARX-04b coupe prototype, after just one race. Despite shopping the car to other teams, no one has stepped up in the 14 months since the debut run at Daytona International Speedway to utilize it.
One thing though that could save Honda however, is the lineup of the Verizon IndyCar Series schedule which currently greatly tilts toward road and street circuit events, as opposed to ovals. Although the oval track events, including the Indianapolis 500 itself, normally receives the greatest interest from fans, these races only account for one-third of the season. So while the oval edge is not in their favor, a Honda team could still win the championship in 2016, but it will take a near flawless effort to get them there on the tighter left and right handed layouts.
Stay tuned to OnPitRoad.com for further analysis from IndyCar and sports car racing writer Matt Embury.
Disclaimer: Views and opinions of the following article are from the author and may not reflect the views of other staff at OnPitRoad.com
