IndyCar » Honda to continue US programme

Just goes to show how F1 will never be good value for money for manufacturers because they can''t attract an American audience

F1 without Honda is just a shock, Indycar without Honda would be a real nightmare!

The big difference between F1 and Indycar for Honda is:

F1 costs an obscene amount of money to compete, and the return on investment is questionable.

Honda leases all the engines to the teams in Indycar and is a profit maker. This will change in 2011 when multiple engine manufactures will be back (rumored to be Porsche, Alpha Romeo and possibly more). Honda will have the competition it has wished for since the CART & early Champ Car days.

At Mid-Ohio I had a discussion with Michael Cannon the lead engineer fo HVM Racing, and he told me that the Honda engine is the perfect engine for the IRL. I think this is backed up by the fact that when Honda entered the Cart series, they dominated, and drove Toyota out. The technologies they develop and the data the gather with the IRL have a much better correlation to their domestivc market than the formula one engines. I think even if they have competition, they will still manage to dominate the American racing scene.

Paul Why will Honda dominate in America over Porsche, Alfa, etc.? Toyota left Indycar to take on Nascar, not because of Honda.

Guppy,

My choice of words was probably ill advised. I am sure that Toyota pulled out for many reasons. I do however remember that they were never able to gain much ground on Honda. If I remember correctly at one time there was Mercedes, Toyota, and Honda. Honda (at least in my memory)always dominated.I truly hope more engine makers get back into it, and for one would love to see Porsche get involved.