Chevy and Honda submitted their aero kit designs for homologation Sunday night, completing an intense process that first came to light in 2010. With their proverbial homework now handed into the Verizon IndyCar Series, taking a break to catch their breath would be a welcome change, but in reality, the Jan. 18 homologation deadline wasn't a stopping point – it was a brief moment to lift off the throttle before powering onto the next task.
"We're on track from that standpoint," Chevy IndyCar program manager Chris Berube told RACER. "In fact, we were intending to submit a couple days early so that we had some time to react if there were any issues."
Honda Performance Development vice president Steve Eriksen says every available minute was used to solidify their aero kit design.
"If we had more time, we would use it from the standpoint of it's the typical aero story: You use every last moment you can because every day, on average, you find something," he added. "Yeah, if we could, we'd continuously develop just like we did on the ARX sports car program in the heyday of the Acura sports car program.
"It was nonstop development and then you'd be implementing parts continuously. But given the openness of the aero kit rules – which, as our Wirth Research friends tell us are more open than Formula 1 – is a daunting prospect because, well, how much money do you have to spend?"
Eriksen has been a proponent of establishing a homologation table akin to the system used to govern IndyCar's annual engine upgrades. With specific items allowed to be modified at different intervals – some items each year, and others every two or three years – it keeps the costs under some semblance of control.
The concept wasn't ratified by the series, so for now, Chevy and Honda will press ahead with their homologated aero kits and look to update the areas that remain open for optimizing after the kits debut at Round 2 in St. Petersburg.
