Honda Tag

By INDYCAR INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018) – INDYCAR has landed a lead engineer from a championship-winning manufacturer as its new managing director of engine development. Darren Sansum joins INDYCAR after a successful stint at Toyota Racing Development, which has won the past two manufacturer championships in NASCAR’s Cup series. Sansum brings considerable experience to INDYCAR, having also worked for Ford Motor Company, Cosworth Technology and Ilmor Engineering. At INDYCAR, Sansum will oversee engine development and competition between Honda and Chevrolet in the Verizon IndyCar Series effective Feb. 6. “DarrenRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Yusuke Hasegawa will not return to be the head of Honda’s Formula One project for the 2018 season, as the position has been eliminated. Honda confirmed on Thursday that Hasagawa’s, who took over the role at the start of 2016 from Yasuhisa Arai, will move to a non-F1 position of executive chief engineer, effective January 1, 2018. The changes come after three years of underwhelming performance as the engine supplier with McLaren, a partnership that began in 2015. However, the two elected to part ways andRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor 2017 Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato was the star of Honda ‘Thanks Day’ at Twin Ring Motegi today. The annual event showcases Honda’s brightest racing stars who lap the circuit in both current and historic race cars to the delight of a massive crowd. Sato was joined by the Borg-Warner trophy which made its first overseas trip to mark the occasion. Other notable participants included MotoGP Champion Marc Marquez, as well as McLaren-Honda Formula One drivers Jenson Button and Stoffel Vandoorne. Toro Rosso driver Pierre Gasly,Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The new universal aero kit is looking promising in the buildup to the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Honda completed their latest round of manufacturer testing recently with the focus primarily on their superspeedway package. James Hinchcliffe (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports entry) and four-time series champion Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing entry) were selected for the trials at both Texas Motor Speedway (Monday) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Thursday), with representatives from every Honda-powered team on hand as well. Admittedly eye candy for every person that has hadRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief AUSTIN, Texas – Fernando Alonso is set to continue on with McLaren after the two announced a contract extension on Thursday ahead of the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas, which keeps the pair together for the 2018 Formula One season. The 36-year-old Spaniard returned to the Woking-based outfit for a second time in 2015 and has since struggled for results at the disappointment of a Honda relationship which comes to an halt at the end of this season. The two-time Formula OneRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor After racing in Malaysia and Japan for Toro Rosso, 2016 Formula 2 (formerly GP2) champ Pierre Gasly is set to miss the U.S. Grand Prix in order to compete in the Super Formula season finale to try and add another series championship to his CV. Gasly temporarily replaced Daniil Kvyat in the team’s lineup and is expected to be paired with the Russian for 2018, but he is only half a point off the championship lead in Super Formula behind Toyota driver Hiroaki Ishiura. It isRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Honda has confirmed that Fernando Alonso’s power unit, which was under threat of being damaged from the opening lap crash in Singapore, has been cleared for use in the upcoming Malaysian Grand Prix. The incident came after Alonso made a blazing start, but was a victim of circumstances following the collision between Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen. Alonso continued on for a handful of laps later before being forced to retire. Amid concerns of a damaged power unit, Yusuke Hasegawa, executive chief engineer andRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Carlos Sainz’s widely reported move from Toro Rosso to Renault is apparently in the form of a “loan” which at least in theory, Red Bull can take back if they need or desire to. With the top Red Bull team filled and Pierre Gasly coming to take his place at Toro Rosso it is likely that Sainz will stay at Renault after 2018, but it is not guarunteed. Should Honda continue to be a disaster in 2018 and Red Bull be forced to take their enginesRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The biggest open secret in racing is now official; McLaren announced today that it is ending its troubled partnership with Honda, and signed a three year engine deal with Renault that will secure the Woking team with power units through the 2020 season. Takahiro Hachigo was regretful that the duo could not emulate the success of their illustrious past. “It is unfortunate that we must part ways with McLaren before fulfilling our ambitions, however, we made the decision with a belief that this is the bestRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Renault may yet come out the big winner through McLaren’s separation from Honda. Doing their best to exploit an enemy’s weakness, they have already poached Carlos Sainz from Toro Rosso and dropped them from their engine supply, but if a report by the usually accurate Auto Motor und Sport proves to be true it’s about to get a lot worse for Red Bull. According to the report, the French manufacturer has informed Red Bull that they are cancelling their order of power units for the 2019 andRead More