Pruett strikes again, but this time it's on the program most are pretty sure is actually happening:
http://www.racer.com/imsa/item/14205...ears-unveiling
There is an interesting quote in the article, though, from Tim Cindric:
"We have nothing in our possession," he said. "We're digging out some of our old sports car equipment to prepare things as time allows. There's no cars here, there's no engines here, there's no testing we've been a part of.
And I'm not aware of any car testing that isn't already testing."
...Wub?
Anyhow, I was gonna let this slip by unmentioned unless someone else decided to bring it up, but something clicked in my brain when I saw the article pop up that makes the whole program make a fair bit more sense, and in my mind a connection that makes it a fair bit more likely.
Specifically, the word that the Honda DPi will be built on an Oreca chassis. Why does this make things seems more likely in my mind? Well... HPD/Acura started out with converted Courage LC75s. All of their successful designs were derived from the same aero those original modified Coruages had - aerodynamic trends that Oreca adopted when they bought Courage. Despite a brief foray away from it with the 05, they've returned to it with the 07 - look at the 03 and the 07, you can see the aero influence of the 03 in the 07.
The aero on a Honda DPi will probably be done by Wirth, just as with all previous Honda LMPs. It makes sense to go with the car that at it's base is the most similar to the aerodynamics they actually did well - and remember that there's no guarantee they'll be taking the Nissan or Mazda route with the aero alterations. In fact, I'd actually EXPECT Honda to go the Cadillac route of visible but still very close to the original design.
I my be overstating how much this increases the likelihood of the program going forward as advertised, but still, it's interesting food for thoguht on how the program would come together.