THE NEWSLETTER OF Honda INDYCAR RACING VOL.13 NO.2 Honda Powers Entire Indianapolis 500 Field Without Single Engine Failure There hadn't been a single engine manufacturer covering the entire field at Indianapolis since 1960, when the Offenhauser ruled. But Honda went one better in May. Not only did it power all 33 starters in the 90th Indianapolis 500, none of them suffered any engine problems or failures. "That was our objective, but I wasn't overly optimistic because that's such a huge challenge," said Robert Clarke, president of Honda Performance Development. "We had performed well in previous races so we went into Indy with a high degree of confidence but it's still very demanding. "I mean, 33 cars and 500 miles and completely different weather conditions. Our people and Ilmor did a great job. We pulled it off." After scoring back-to-back Indy wins with Buddy Rice and Dan Wheldon, along with two consecutive Indy Racing League titles (Tony Kanaan and Wheldon), Honda was poised to score a threepeat over its archrival before Toyota shockingly pulled the plug on 2006. With General Motors already down the road, the IRL had to rely on Honda to save the day and supply engines to everyone. Longtime partner Ilmor Engineering jumped in and agreed to help build them, and there were some new parameters as well. The IRL mandated that teams had to run two races with the same engine to save money and, more importantly, give Honda and Ilmor some breathing and re-building room. "We wanted a maximum of 1,200 miles on the practice and qualifying engines at Indianapolis. Then we gave the teams a new one to use for Carb Day, Race Day and [the following race at] Watkins Glen," explained Clarke. "Of course, it rained so much during the month that we weren t able to accumulate the mileage and data we wanted, so I lost a little optimism about Race Day. Then, after it being cool all month, we have one of the hottest race days in history. "And usually, that just makes things worse for engines." But HPD and Ilmor delivered amazing performance and reliability. Not only was Sam Hornish's last-lap pass of Marco Andretti one of the most exciting victories in IMS history, not one lap was lost to a caution period for a blown engine. Hornish Jr. and Team Penske had labored for two years without a Honda and the two-time IRL champion praised his power. "I knew in our first test last winter what I'd been missing because it was clearly superior to what we'd been driving," said Hornish, whose late charge from fourth to first had the 200,000-plus fans standing and screaming. "I was running full-rich [fuel mixture] those last few laps and that Honda was s-o-o-o strong." Not to mention potent. The engine Sam used at Indy and Watkins Glen later powered him to the pole position at Texas. That didn't seem too bad, since there are only 19 full-timers in the IRL this season. But Indy would be a much larger task. 1
Month Of May Engine Deals Help IRL Fill Indianapolis 500 Grid The Indy Racing League frowned on engine leases when it started in 1996 but, a decade later, it was thanks to Honda's bargain-basement lease prices that the traditional 33 cars made it to the starting grid for the 90th Indianapolis 500. Because of today's tough economics, owners and sponsors have become scarce in open-wheel racing and, for the first time in its existence, the size of the average IndyCar field is under 20 cars in 2006. primary car in a practice accident but came back to make his first Indy start. "I wasn't a big fan of engine leases when the IRL started but, obviously, times have changed and I know a lot of us little teams couldn't have competed this May without Honda's help." Jeff Bucknum, whose father drove Honda's initial Formula One car, returned for his second Indy 500 as part of Ron Hemelgarn's team, thanks to the affordability of the Honda. "I couldn't have put a deal together to run Indy without Honda's great lease price," he said. "There aren't many racing series where you can go out and get the same engine as the biggest teams. "It was a sweetheart deal." Honda Performance Development President Robert Clarke says HPD understands today's economics and is working with the IRL to make things more appealing for 2007. "Our engine lease went from $1.8 million in 2005 to $1.3 this season and it's going to be down to $990,000 next year," said Clarke. "As for our Indy prices, we got very favorable responses and we'll continue it next year. "It allowed teams that otherwise didn't have the budget a chance to compete and we were happy to help." It had been a struggle to fill the field at Indy the past two years and required some last-minute deals just to get to 33 cars. Yet, because of Honda's helping hand, a full field was guaranteed midway through the month. In May of 2005, it cost $500,000 to lease the formidable Honda for three weeks. This year, the price was reduced to $250,000. Better still, a team waiting until the second week of practice/qualifying only had to spend $115,000 to have the same motor as the Ganassi, Penske or Andretti Green teams. "Honda made it so reasonable you couldn't afford not to run a second car," said 1998 Indy winner Eddie Cheever, who ran veteran Max Papis as his teammate. "It was a great gesture by Honda and they deserve a large pat on the back. "They helped preserve one of Indy's great traditions." In the case of teams like PDM, Luyendyk Racing or Curb Motorsports, it was a godsend. "Plain and simple, we would not have been able to run this year without Honda's deal," said Arie Luyendyk Jr., whose two-time Indy-winning father put a team together for the IPS graduate. "I mean, my dad couldn't have afforded a half-million dollar lease, but $100,000 was manageable." Paul Diatlovich, an original IRL team owner whose participation had been limited the past few years because of the escalating costs to field a car, echoed Luyendyk. "No generous deal from Honda, no PDM," said Diatlovich, whose rookie driver Thiago Medeiros wrote off the team s 2
Acura To Debut American Le Mans Series Sports Car Racing Program In 2007 Acura found several enticements about the American Le Mans Series, but one major attraction drew them into the sports car series for 2007. We love competition, said Robert Clarke, president of Honda Performance Development. In particular, HPD loves competing against the big dogs, and the Acura will be going head-to-head with Porsche in the LMP2 class. We were already looking at ALMS and obviously Porsche added to the attraction, said Clarke. But, to be honest, right now we're in a series that doesn't enable us to take advantage of all our expertise as a company. We've always had a singular purpose, first in CART and now in the IRL, and that can be a bit dangerous, as we learned from our experience in CART. We thought for a while we might have to shut down HPD after leaving CART. So, it makes sense to protect ourselves by participating in another series and it also gives us some equity. Just supporting a spec engine program isn't enough. Acura will be joining a very prestigious group of automakers already competing in the American Le Mans Series, including Audi, BMW, Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Lexus. Besides the top-flight competition, the other thing ALMS offers HPD is a chance to be creative -- in many ways. More and more series are becoming restricted -- even Formula One -- and the ALMS is one of the few that allows open engine development, continued Clarke. They allow alternative fuels; Audi won at Sebring this year on diesel fuel, and their attitude is that you build it and we'll find a place for it. There's not a lot of contemporary technology in racing today, just a lot of old technology. But not with the ALMS. They encourage creativity. And that includes cars, as well as engines. We have interest in developing the car, and in this program we're going to get very aggressive with chassis development, said Clarke. We're going to have a Lola and a Courage and we're using two chassis to accelerate our learning. We'll be more focused on engine development with the Lola, so we can quickly understand if we're competitive or not. Our focus with the Courage will be chassis stuff and we'll take some risks. That car may not look like a Courage when we get done. It will also be Acura/Honda's first venture into this particular discipline. As Acura marks its 20-year anniversary, I can t think of a better racing series to showcase our technology and performance than the American Le Mans Series, said Senior Vice President of Auto Operations John Mendel. Our entry as a full-factory team in the American Le Mans Series will accurately reflect Acura s position as a leader in automotive performance and technology, and provide us with an arena in which to compete against other manufacturers in endurance sports car racing. This will be a new kind of racing for [the company]. Clarke noted. We've never really been involved with sports cars or endurance racing. But, come next March, the Acura will be unveiled at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Our teams have been selected and we're working with them on the timing of those announcements," said Clarke. 3
HPD, ILMOR Share Herb Porter Award There is absolutely no resemblance of any kind between Herb Porter and Robert Clarke. The former was a foul-mouthed, hard-drinking, stubborn, brilliant engine man and car owner, who raised hell at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for 50 years until his death in 2002. The latter, of course, is the mild-mannered, soft-spoken Honda corporate-type who has led Honda Performance Development to the top of American open-wheel racing. But, because of their individual talents for creating horsepower and performance in Indy cars, they were brought together in May. Clarke received the Herb Porter Award at the annual Hall of Fame dinner at the Speedway. He, Honda and Ilmor are very deserving of this award. Clarke, who would much rather talk privately with owners and drivers in the garage area than speak at public gatherings, admitted he was less than enthused when he first heard about the honor. I was dreading going to that function, but when I got there I was pleasantly surprised and taken aback by the whole thing, he said. All the old timers and the stories they were telling about Herb Porter, it was quite awe inspiring. I was very pleased and very honored at the end of the evening. Named for Herbie Horsepower, the award honors individuals who through motivation, technical advancement or other accomplishments, have enhanced the philosophies and goals of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Since joining the Indy Racing League in 2003 and under Clarke's watch, Honda has captured three consecutive Indianapolis 500s, back-to-back drivers titles and amassed 28 wins before becoming the sole engine supplier this season. This past May, Honda powered all 33 starters in the 90th Indy 500, after the IRL was left in the lurch by the departure of Toyota and General Motors. Robert and his people really stepped up and performed like the true professionals they are, said IRL president Brian Barnhart, whose series has a deal with Honda through 2009. Tim Cindric (left), Penske Racing President, poses with HPD President Robert Clarke (center) and Ilmor's Paul Ray following presentation of the Herb Porter Award. IMS Photo by Harlen Hunter Real Time Racing s Kleinubing Shares Speed World Challenge Points Lead After three of 11 races in the 2006 SPEED World Challenge for Touring Cars, Acura driver Pierre Kleinubing is tied for the points lead and the Acura entry is in a torrid battle with Mazda for the manufacturers title. Kleinubing, tied with Randy Pobst, has amassed 90 points on the strength of his consistency, finishing third at Sebring, third at St. Petersburg and second at Mid-Ohio. The Brazilian is one of five RealTime Racing drivers in 2006. Team founder Peter Cunningham stood third in Touring Car points, as the series headed for Sonoma, Calif. in late June. Cunningham, a two-time SPEED champion, has finished fifth, second and sixth in his TSX. Teammate Brandon Davis ranks fifth, Nick Esayian sixth and Eric Curran is 12th. 4
2006 Racing Schedule IRL Formula 1 March 26 Homestead Miami Speedway April 2 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg ESPN 3:30 pm April 22 Twin Ring Motegi ESPN 12:00 pm May 28 Indianapolis 500 ABC 1:00 pm June 4 Watkins Glen International June 10 Texas Motor Speedway ESPN 9:00 pm* June 24 Richmond International Raceway ESPN2 8:00 pm* July 2 Kansas Speedway ABC 1:00 pm July 15 Nashville Superspeedway ESPN 9:00 pm* July 23 The Milwaukee Mile ESPN 1:30 pm July 30 Michigan International Speedway ABC 3:00 pm August 13 Kentucky Speedway August 27 Infineon Raceway ESPN 3:30 pm September 10 Chicagoland Speedway ABC 1:30 pm *Saturday Race - All Times Eastern April 2 Melbourne, Australia April 23 Imola, San Marino May 7 Nurburgring, Germany May 14 Barcelona, Spain May 28 Monte Carlo, Monaco June 11 Silverstone, Great Britian June 25 Montreal, Quebec, Canada July 2 Indianapolis, USA July 16 Magny-Cours, France July 30 Hockenheim, Germany August 6 Budapest, Hungary August 27 Istanbul, Turkey September 10 Monza, Italy September 17 Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium October 1 Shanghai, China October 8 Suzuka, Japan October 22 Sao Paulo, Brazil SCCA Speed World Challenge March 31-April 2 St. Petersburg, FL April 7-9 Long Beach, CA May 19-21 Lexington, OH June 23-25 Sonoma, CA July 14-16 Tooele, UT August 11-13 Denver, CO August 18-20 Elkhart Lake, WI September 1-3 Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada September 27-29 Braselton, GA October 20-22 Monterey, CA Racing Line We welcome your comments, questions and suggestions. Send them to: Editor, Honda Racing Line American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Mail Stop 100-3C-2A Torrance, CA 90501 IRL Drivers' Championship Standings (Through June 10) 1. Helio Castroneves 232 2. Scott Dixon 210 3. Dan Wheldon 195 4. Sam Hornish Jr. 194 5. Tony Kanaan 164 6. Vitor Meira 152 7. Scott Sharp 134 8. Kosuke Matsuura 131 9. Bryan Herta 125 9. Danica Patrick 125 5 IRL Rookie of the Year Standings 1. Marco Andretti 118 2. P.J. Chesson 54 3. Jeff Simmons 51