INDYCAR: Wirth Research To Build Honda's Aero Kits

IndyCar

INDYCAR: Wirth Research To Build Honda’s Aero Kits

As first revealed by SPEED.com in March, Wirth Research will provide aero kits for Honda along with technical support for its IndyCar teams.

Media Release | Posted September 09, 2011

Nick Wirth and his team at Wirth Research played a central role in Honda's early IndyCar Series championships, later shifting to deliver titles for the company in sports car racing. (LAT)

Wirth Research is delighted to announce a new long-term technical partnership with California-based Honda Performance Development (HPD) – a partnership which began in 2003 that not only extends the two organisations’ globally successful sports prototype programmes but also encompasses an exciting new IndyCar project.

The strength and efficiency of Wirth Research’s advanced all-digital aerodynamic and chassis development process combined with HPD’s world-class engines has already been proven in both LMP1 and LMP2 prototype categories since 2007. The jointly developed ARX sportscars have delivered an unrivalled combination of race, class and overall championship titles in all of the world’s top sportscar series.

Having seen the partnership achieve so much at the highest level in international endurance racing, HPD and Wirth Research are now working together on an exciting new IndyCar programme. 2012 sees the introduction of a new IndyCar chassis and engine package, and teams will be powered by a choice of different manufacturer supplied engines for the first time since 2005. Those teams selecting to race with Honda power plants will benefit from the full technical support on the chassis side from Wirth Research. Looking further ahead, HPD and Wirth Research will be joining forces to provide these Honda-powered teams with their own bespoke bodywork when that regulation is introduced as planned in 2013.

“Our relationship with Wirth Research has already delivered some remarkable results in all of the world’s greatest sportscar series’ and races including both the 12 Hours of Sebring and Le Mans 24 Hours,” said HPD vice-President Steve Eriksen. “We have total trust in Wirth Research’s proven design, development and engineering expertise and are now looking forward to further success with jointly developed prototype contenders. On top of this comes our new IndyCar project. With the advent of new multi-engine regulations plus plans to allow manufacturers to introduce their own bodywork packages, our special relationship with Wirth Research takes on additional impetus and importance in the next few years.”

Nick Wirth, President of Wirth Research, is immensely proud of his company’s nine-year track record with HPD and is looking forward to furthering this success as well as meeting the new challenges presented by the new IndyCar programme.

“The results we have achieved together to date at the peak of international sportscar racing speak for themselves and underline the level we have achieved with our Computational Fluid Dynamics – CFD-based aerodynamic technology and the other key elements of our unique all-digital development process,” said Wirth. “Now we have taken full advantage of the flexibility and efficiency offered by these ground-breaking technologies to ensure our hugely successful sportscar programme goes from strength-to-strength. Moreover we will be in a position to offer similar technical resources to the Honda IndyCar teams in 2012 and beyond.”

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