Honda has officially launched the new-for-2015 aero kit that all of the teams on the Verizon IndyCar Series grid using their engine will run this season.
Honda announced their new kit just weeks after Chevrolet revealed their stab at the new regulations which aims to make the previously spec body work quite substantially different and usher in a new era of IndyCar Racing.
Steve Eriksen, vice president and COO of Honda Performance Development, said: “It’s been an interesting journey to get here and we’re really pleased with the results we’ve been able to achieve. 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.”
For Honda, their work on getting the Dallara built machines faster and producing more downforce involved the testing experience of 2012 IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay. At the moment the speedway aero kit is yet to be revealed, but with the kits scheduled to be used at Indianapolis it shouldn’t be long before they are revealed.
“It’s getting back to the roots of IndyCar where you have development,” Eriksen said. “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.”
The first time the new body work from both Honda and Chevrolet will be on track together is at the official pre season test at Barber Motorsport Park on March 16 & 17.
