Was Honda playing Possum?

A reader asks, Dear AutoRacing1, Now that Indy has passed, with Honda the victor, success at Texas and Milwaukee qualifying, I wonder if Honda was playing possum prior to Indy? They received a turbo upgrade but maybe more importantly, lulled the Chevy camp into a false sense of superiority. I can see that Honda might be willing to tank the races prior to Indy so as not to show all their cards. After all, the Indy 500 is the prize. Having the motor competition in IndyCar this year is refreshing, even with Lotus being a complete wank. I'm hoping for Ford to join the fray with Cosworth next year. Do you see any conflict of interest if Cosworth is building the ECU also? Neil Komai

Dear Neil, Was Honda playing possum? Maybe, but the update they did to their engines on Carb Day (when all teams were allowed an engine refresh) certainly bumped up their performance. More than anything I think Honda is beating Chevy with better fuel mileage. That is how they won races in CART and that is how they won so many races in F1 (Senna and Prost days). Honda kicked Ilmor's butt in CART (Mercedes engine) so there is no reason to think they won't smoke the Chevy/Ilmor IndyCar engine. They are relentless and are out to win, as it should be. As for Cosworth, they do not make the ECU, that is supplied by McLaren. Cosworth supplies the in-car steering wheel dashboard for all the IndyCars as well as the data collection (data logging) and analysis software the teams use to analyze the data output by the McLaren ECU. The Cosworth system provides real-time wireless telemetry of the data between the car and the pits as well. Would this constitute a conflict of interest if Cosworth also enters the series as a engine builder for a Ford or other manufacturer? In my opinion no because the Cosworth electronics are only collecting data and displaying it. They are not doing anything to directly improve the performance of the race car. Mark C.