Monday 27th July 2009

Honda Eyes Formula Ford

New racer concept looks to the future of grass roots open-wheel racing

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Honda might have scrapped its F1 programme, but that doesn’t mean it has given up on motorsport. As Formula Ford celebrated its 40^th anniversary in the US last weekend at Road America, Honda revealed its own take on the venerable open-wheel formula, with a prototype fitted with an engine from a Honda Jazz.

Honda Performance Developments (HPD), the US racing arm of Honda, has developed the new car as a low-cost, low-maintenance alternative to the ‘Kent’-engined Formula Ford for US club racing.

The new Honda-engined Formula Ford proposal (surely Formula Honda??) uses a 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine from the US version of the Jazz, which is known in the States as the Fit. The idea is that the new engine could revitalise the lower end of the US open-wheel racing scene, especially as the old Kent engine is now rather obsolete - unlike the 1600cc Duratec used in most European Formula Ford championships.

"Many of us, myself included, have been involved in FF racing," said Marc Sours, HPD production division manager. "We've all seen FF engine costs rise and replacement parts become increasingly difficult to locate.

"The result has been a decline in FF participation. We believe that introducing the modern, less-expensive Honda Fit engine can restore interest in and raise the profile of FF to a point where it once again becomes the place for young drivers to begin their careers."

Although the prototype uses a Swift chassis, the HPD-developed engine is intended as a bolt-on kit, so existing racers could replace their Kent engines with Honda units without having to buy an all-new chassis.

There’s no word as to whether the kit could come to Europe - it hasn’t yet gone beyond a concept in the US - but with club racers and aspiring young professional drivers everywhere looking to cut costs wherever they can, it seems like an idea that has promising potential.

[Turbobanana]

Formula Fit, surely?

I quite like the idea, but only if they can tune it to cough, splutter and pop as well as flameout on the overrun.