Honda could get a little competition

A couple of months back, when the Indy Racing League decided to hold an engine manufacturers summit, expectations were that - perhaps - three or four companies would turn out. The usual suspects - Honda, Cosworth and Ilmor - to be sure.

But no one, not even the IRL, could have anticipated that over a dozen manufacturers and engine builders would attend the summit, held Tuesday. For sure, by 2011, Honda is going to have a little competition in Indycar racing. And competition is always a good thing. The trick is to balance competition with competitiveness, so you don't get parades or walkovers. It's something Indycar is concerned about.

"It was actually a really good day and probably exceeded our expectations from what we thought we might get into," Brian Barnhardt, the president of the competition and operations division said in a teleconference held yesterday. "The process began a little over a year ago in thinking about how to approach our future specifications. And yesterday's meeting was kind of the first of its kind in a very unique presentation format. We were very happy to begin with the quantity and quality of the people that attended the meeting.

"We were very well represented with 14 or 15 engine manufacturers and race shop engine builders in the room. And it was a very positive meeting from all aspects of it. And as I said earlier, probably exceeded our expectations."

What I would like to see is a return to the turbo that lead CART/Indycar/Champ Car so well for so many years. That engine is certainly better on the ears than the V8 Indycar currently runs, and Cosworth proved you can build a reliable - and low cost - turbocharged engine.

The IRL isn't looking to put a cap on the number of engine manufacturers coming into the series - a good thing! What I think they can do is cap the costs by locking certain aspects of the engine design while allowing for flexibility in other areas (ala CART in the last 90s). This will push innovation.

To keep costs down have the big car manufacturers outsource construction to shops like Cosworth and restrict engine redesigns to once a year, as well as building in a requirement that engines have a minimum service life. Also, a cap on the engine lease fee would help set the standards the manufacturers would have to live within.

Barnhart stated the turbo did mean additional expenses because you have to add in a turbo charger and waste gates, but, he also mentioned some pros, such as the noise and the power control.

"The best positives associated with it are two‑fold," he said. "One being with the diversity of the schedule that we run, it is a great power control and helps us adjust power levels. If we need a little more power on the street and road courses, we can certainly adjust the boost up. And if we need less power, we can turn it down and control the boost level down from that standpoint.

"And also you can't underestimate the second positive that is also just playing the sound. It's the natural muffler. With more road and street courses, city streets, that type of deal, it's nice to turn our adjustables down a little bit, and it's got a great sound to it."