Honda needs help and it’s not getting any from IndyCar

The Honda aero kit is not only slow, it's ugly. Teams are ready to throw in the towel

Honda still has much to resolve as it struggles through this IndyCar Series season, but its IndyCar leader is convinced the manufacturer will return in 2016.

"I have every confidence," Steve Eriksen told The Indianapolis Star on Friday. "We want to be there for the 100th Indianapolis 500. (The race) has been too much a part of our history."

Honda has multiyear contracts with its teams, but its commitment to IndyCar expires at year's end. Eriksen, the vice president and chief operating officer of Honda Performance Development, said his group has proposed a contract extension through 2017; he said IndyCar prefers 2020.

Before signing anything, Eriksen said Honda wants to see how IndyCar will control costs related to bodywork kits. First-year costs "are exorbitant," he said.

Above all else, Honda wants to know it has a chance to keep up with Chevrolet. With the top four drivers in points, Chevrolet almost certainly will add a season championship to the Indianapolis 500 victory it scored last month.

Heading to Sunday's Honda Indy Toronto, the annual street circuit race at Exhibition Place, Honda has won two of the nine races — both in rain-impacted sessions — and grabbed just 14 of a possible 45 top-five finishing positions. It has not won a pole.

Eriksen isn't blaming teams, but their respective situations haven't helped the cause. Andretti Autosport is having its least-productive IndyCar season, both of IndyCar's single-car teams are partnered with Honda, and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports lost its lead driver (James Hinchcliffe) to injury.

Add in the decision by IndyCar to scrap qualifying-specific kits at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — it was done in the name of safety, IndyCar president Derrick Walker said — and Honda hasn't had much to feel good about this season.

"We have to put ourselves in position to win every weekend," Eriksen insisted.

Making that happen won't be easy. Wirth Research designed the Honda aero kit proven to be bulkier with more drag than the Chevrolet equivalent. Walker has encouraged Honda to offer components for immediate approval, but Eriksen said the company doesn't have any due to IndyCar's compressed schedule (this is the 10th straight on-track weekend). There also isn't likely enough money in the Honda kitty to convince Chevrolet powerhouses Team Penske or Ganassi Racing to switch sides.

Eriksen said Honda engineers have focused on wind tunnel testing to arm teams with information "to understand the tradeoff analysis with different (kit) options." It's possible, Eriksen said, Wirth's kit offered too many options.

How Honda team owners reacted Friday varied. Dale Coyne said the manufacturer is "going to have to do a better job or get out." Larry Foyt said he hasn't heard Honda's plan for improvement.

Sam Schmidt was the most outspoken, saying Honda must double its budget to turn the corner. Schmidt requested a weekend meeting.

"I want to know if (Honda) is stepping up the development program for the rest of the year," he said.

Schmidt also wants IndyCar to disband the aero kit program for 2016, although Walker said that's not an option — Chevrolet wouldn't support it, anyway.

Said Schmidt: "In business you evaluate when something doesn't work; you do something else. (The kits) aren't putting more bodies in the seats or (adding) people on TV, and teams can't afford to spend more money on aero kits."

There is a lot on Eriksen's plate. All he knows for sure is Honda expects to be back next year. Curt Cavin/IndyStar