ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Honda came up with the more visually stunning interpretation of the new aerodynamic rules for the Verizon IndyCar Series. This weekend, we'll learn whether it is more effective on the track than the competition from Chevrolet.
IndyCar's engine manufacturers are not full-fledged chassis makers. That responsibility still lies with Dallara, the Italian firm that supplies most single-seat Formula racing series in the world.
But this year, Honda and Chevrolet have been given freedom to clothe the basic Dallara IR-12 chassis with bodywork of their own design -- front and rear wings, sidepods and engine cover. To the delight of fans and IndyCar officials, the Chevy and Honda Dallaras ended up looking as different as two cars sharing a common central section can be.
"It's a completely new look for Indy cars, and a look that's quite different between our cars and our competitor's cars," said Steve Eriksen, president and chief operating officer of California-based Honda Performance Development.
"The key thing is that we have given our teams options, and it will be interesting to see how the look of the car changes as we go to different circuits. There are nearly 200 pieces in the aero kit, so you will see not only differentiation between our cars and the Chevrolet cars, but also between our own teams," Eriksen said. "It's going to be quite an interesting season to watch how the team utilize the options that are given to them."
The aero kits weren't released to teams until early March, setting up a frenzied two-week period of testing at warm-weather tracks across America. Early reports suggested that the Chevrolet cars are slightly faster; at the only open test where all entries were on track at the same time, Chevrolet took eight of the 10 fastest times at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.
For the past three years, it would be easy to say that any team's advantage came from the engine, because the only difference in the cars from 2012 to 2014 was the engine.
Now the assessment must include the effect of each manufacturer's aero kit. But there is an additional factor at work: the sheer quality of Chevrolet's driver and team lineup.
Chevrolet drivers have won a total of 157 Indy car races, compared to a total of 22 by Honda drivers. And 14 of those Honda wins were achieved by Ryan Hunter-Reay, who is arguably Honda's only A-list driver. Marco Andretti and Graham Rahal may have higher profiles, but they also have three career wins between them.
Hunter-Reay and Andretti Autosport are pitted against an impressive Chevrolet armada that includes Team Penske and Target Ganassi Racing and a driver lineup that includes six prior IndyCar Series champions.
"Chevy has got just about everybody who has won races on their side," observed defending IndyCar Series champion Will Power -- who is among those Chevy drivers.
"It's going to be interesting. You've got Penske and Ganassi and KV and Ed Carpenter, and all those teams are solid teams. But you can never underestimate Honda. Those guys can definitely turn it up."
The IndyCar project is another step in the evolution of HPD, which started in 1993 as a rebuild facility for engines built in Japan for the CART-sanctioned Indy car series. HPD gradually took on a greater role in engine development until becoming a full-fledged manufacturer in its own right.
HPD has been building prototype sports cars for the American Le Mans Series since 2006, working in association with former Formula 1 designer Nick Wirth and his Wirth Research firm.
Wirth was the lead designer for the new HPD IndyCar package.
"We've learned a lot through those years and we applied that knowledge to this car," Eriksen said. "If you look at the Indy car of today, you notice that the front end is open-wheel and the back end is not quite so open. We had a lot of experience with our sports car program in dealing with enclosed wheels, and that really helped us with deciding the aero direction on the car.
"Time will tell if we have the best kit out there," he added. "But we did everything we could have done -- and I mean everything."
Of course, the possibility exists that once the cars hit a bumpy street course such as St. Petersburg -- the site of the season-opening Firestone GP of St. Petersburg, set for Sunday -- the tables could turn completely.
The Chevrolet aerodynamics could be destabilized by the bumps, or the Honda engine could have better drivability.
The manufacturers also will utilize new aerodynamic designs for the three superspeedway races on the schedule -- Indianapolis, Auto Club Speedway and Pocono. That could be a game-changer for Honda.
"I think a few places we'll go will be pretty close," Hunter-Reay said. "At some places the Hondas will have an advantage and some places it will be the Chevys, but the Chevys had the upper hand at NOLA [Motorsports Park in New Orleans] and also at Barber. Getting to a street circuit may be a completely different story. We're learning as quickly as you guys.
"It's going to be interesting trying to sort this out and find the strengths of the Honda aero kit."
No matter how good the Honda engine and aero kit may be, Honda's biggest drawback may be its lack of top-line drivers. Just over this offseason, Honda lost its lead test driver Simon Pagenaud and rising star Josef Newgarden to Chevrolet teams.
If there was ever a time for stars-in-waiting Rahal and Andretti to step up, this is it. And they know it.
"Obviously I get hit on this a lot," Rahal admitted. "It's one of those things. I've had my opportunities that I've kind of let go. I finished second it seems like 10 or 12 times. Any one of those could have gone differently.
"As we look forward, my biggest key is not pressure," he added. "I pretty well have learned to ignore everybody and everything they say. If I can qualify better, I think I can win races."
Andretti is hoping a change in car number (to 27) and a new race engineer will lift his fortunes.
"There's been some personnel changes that I'm really excited about and things have been going great in offseason testing," Andretti said. "I had a problem with over-engineering the car itself. My hit rate is not good as an engineer.
"I can just really focus on myself and look at the differences between myself and my teammates, and if there's a deficit, try to fix that," he added. "We know where we're at. We just need to see where the competition rolls out."