Honda Performance Development president Art St Cyr would welcome a third engine manufacturer in the Verizon IndyCar Series alongside themselves and Chevrolet.
Honda were the sole engine supplier for IndyCar before Chevrolet returned in 2012, and the two manufacturers are reasonably evenly matched. Lotus attempted to join them in the same year, but an underpowered and unreliable programme ceased after just one season.
After signing a new contract for a further two seasons with an option for three more to take it to 2020, Honda insist they would ideally like to see three engine and aero kit suppliers in IndyCar, and hopes the new flexible rules package make it a desirable destination for manufacturers.
“We’ve said that from the start,” said St Cyr. “We actually said that before even Chevy came into the series. We were always looking for competition, and that we would help new manufacturers come into the series.
“We did the same thing when Chevy wanted to come in; we showed them, ‘this is what we’re doing’. ‘Here’s what the engine rule kit and the rule package looks like’, and we would make alterations to that rule package to accommodate other manufacturers.
“Part of the issue with this new contract is that we wanted to make sure that it was flexible enough that it did encourage other manufacturers to come into the series as well.”
