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Honda Performance Development Enjoys Outstanding Season as Single IndyCar Engine Supplier
Jan 18, 2007
Honda Performance Development's first season of powering the entire Indy Racing League field turned out to be a winner on so many fronts. - The championship came down to the final race between four drivers and wound up in a tie-breaker – the closest competition in the IRL's 11-year history.
- There was very little complaining about equal treatment, because the dyno doesn't lie.
- In 14 starts and 2,510 laps of racing, teams suffered only three engine failures.
"I think before we agreed to supply the entire field we had to satisfy two requirements," said Robert Clarke, president of HPD. "We had to make sure the engines were reliable and we were committed to supply an equal product to all the drivers and teams. I would say we very much met those objectives."
With archrival Toyota pulling out of competition a year earlier than scheduled and General Motors gone, Honda was faced with being the IRL's savior in 2006. Given that both HPD and American Honda consider competition a key component of the corporate racing philosophy, the situation wasn't optimal.
After six straight CART driving titles and back-to-back IRL drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships in 2004 and 2005, Honda was asked to go against its very foundation. But it was a matter of doing what was best for everyone.
"There was a lot of hesitation because we couldn't meet all of Honda's objectives as the sole supplier," continued Clarke. "It was a totally different challenge than we'd ever faced. But we learned a lot of lessons and skills and I think we're a better company than we were a year ago."
Even though Team Penske and Target/Ganassi Racing dominated the year -- winning 12 of the 14 races, leading 2,134 laps and finishing 1-2-3-4 in the points -- it wasn't because of favoritism.
"We had a few complaints about being down on power but I think it was just a way for those teams to get fresh engines," said Clarke, whose company built engines to conform to IRL rules that mandate motors be used in back-to-back races before being changed.
"Of course, we took them out and tested them on the dyno and the engines actually improved as they got more miles. We knew from our dyno tests that all our engines delivered a level of performance within plus or minus one percent. With a couple races to go, we even offered the six drivers still in contention for the title a fresh engine for every race but they all declined. And that was kind of flattering."
The fact that Sam Hornish Jr. earned his third IRL crown (and Roger Penske earned his first) in a tiebreaker over '05 titlist Dan Wheldon was no more surprising than also finding two-time Indy winner Helio Castroneves and '03 IRL champ Scott Dixon up front all season.
"I had never driven for Honda like Helio and Dan, but I knew after our very first test last winter why they were always smiling," said Hornish, whose dramatic last-lap victory over Marco Andretti at Indianapolis – where not one of the 33 Honda-powered entries sustained an engine failure – was the season's highlight.
"The engine was the piece of the puzzle we'd be missing the past couple years and it turned out to be everything I imagined," said Hornish. He and Castroneves earned four wins apiece, while Wheldon and Dixon each added a pair of wins as those two proud teams resurfaced on top of the IndyCar Series standings.
"I think we could all see that coming," said Clarke. "We knew Toyota was down 25-30 horsepower to us in 2005 and Penske had performed really well. It was obvious if they had an engine with equal power they were going to move to the front."
The season finale at Chicago pretty much summed up Honda's season, as all 19 starters were still running at the finish. Clarke couldn't have asked for better results.
"Everyone at HPD did a great job in 2006 and I was proud of what we accomplished."
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