IMSA: Honda P2 engines in demand for 2017

Tequila Patron ESM's overall victory using Honda power at last month's Rolex 24 At Daytona has led to multiple inquiries regarding an engine supply for 2017. The main question facing Honda Performance Development VP Steve Eriksen is whether the Japanese brand can honor those requests.

IMSA's new-look P2-based Prototype class will undergo a sizeable transformation next year as factory-affiliated efforts from Cadillac, Mazda, and possibly more will highlight the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship's top class, yet with a new requirement for manufacturers to supply engines and custom bodywork, HPD would be unable to meet the supply requests without spending money to comply with the series' additional demand.

"We've had two teams come to us since Daytona expressing interest in using the HPD engine in 2017, and I've had to tell them we'd love to, but IMSA won't allow it unless you've got manufacturer-branded bodywork to go with it," Eriksen told RACER. "I'm having to turn away teams because they want our engines but we don't have the bodywork they'd need to use [the engine]. The bodywork requirement isn't new, but this is the first time where we're faced with turning teams down because of it."

Under IMSA's grandfather rules for 2017, teams can use a 2015-'16 P2 coupe with HPD's 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 powerplant in the Prototype class, but after that one-year exception, all Prototype entrants must use a 2017-compliant P2 car with either the stock ACO bodywork and Gibson V8 engine, or one of IMSA's manufacturer-branded 2017 P2s carrying the aforementioned engine+bodywork package.

"Teams could run a 2016 car with 2016 power levels, but that could be a hindrance because we don't yet know what the exact 2017 power levels will be, although we do know they will be going up," Eriksen added.

On the surface, HPD's note about turning down clients for 2017 could be perceived as its intent to leave Prototype at the end of the season. Eriksen says that isn't the case, and cites the ongoing lack of a final rules package as the barrier preventing HPD from making a decision.

"It's nothing that's been approved or greenlighted," he remarked. "We're studying it, but the 2017 regulations haven't even been released yet. I have no idea what the ACO is doing, and IMSA's backed up waiting on them. The [P2] rules are supposed to be out from the FIA and accompanied by IMSA's regulations, but at this point, nobody, with compete confidence, can build anything until the rules come out."

If HPD were to go forward with a 2017 engine and bodywork supply program, selecting one of the four approved chassis constructors (Dallara, Onroak Automotive, ORECA, or Riley/Multimatic), creating an installation package for its motor, and embarking on a bodywork design would need to happen in a short timeframe.

"Because the cars are going to be homologated through the four constructors, my understanding is there's a April timeline for submitting their surfaces – what their [ACO] bodywork will look like," Eriksen said. "And I've heard the Gibson engine isn't going to be available until late August, at the earliest, so that puts anybody that wants to run the stock ACO configuration in a place where it eats into your time.

"For the non-ACO configuration, the IMSA cars, they could be done sooner if they're already working towards something with a constructor. For the bodywork, it's 12 weeks of work, at least. On the styling side with a Cadillac or a Mazda, you're also probably going through internal approvals before you can craft a final design that goes into production and can be installed on the base [P2] foundation. There's a number of weeks of work once you've decided on a constructor chassis, then make the bodywork to represent whatever you're trying to promote."

With the ACO rules in hand, Eriksen and the rest of HPD's management team will be able to come to a conclusion on 2017 P2.

"IMSA has kept us informed on where they're at in the process, but you can't make decision without all of the information, so we continue to wait," he said.

Honda will be represented by ESM (TOP) and Michael Shank Racing (BELOW) at the next WeatherTech Championship round in Sebring on March 19.