Honda optimistic of netting 10th consecutive Indy 500

Honda remains confident it can win a 10th straight victory in the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday despite being overshadowed in the extensive practice and qualifying runs.

Local hero Ed Carpenter produced a giant-killing performance when he steered his Chevrolet-powered machine to the pole.

In fact Chevrolet cars fill the first 10 places on the grid with veteran Alex Tagliani the best of the Honda runners to start from 11th position.

The next best Japanese-powered runners are Justin Wilson (14th) and the two Chip Ganassi drivers Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti in 16th and 17th.

Honda is unbeaten since Buddy Rice’s 2004 victory although put in perspective it has had precious little competition for the majority of that period.

In 2012 Franchitti and Dixon finished one-two with the Scot claiming his third win at the Brickyard.

“Last year’s win by Dario and 1-2 finish for Honda was a milestone event for Honda Performance Development,” Art St. Cyr, HPD president, said.

“While we take a great deal of pride in the unprecedented record of performance and reliability achieved by HPD during our six-year run as sole supplier, the challenges provided by manufacturer competition validate Honda’s reason for racing.

“Once again, Chevrolet has presented a stern challenge for our engineers and partner teams but that simply encourages us to redouble our efforts.”

Seven teams are using the Honda HI13RT Indy V6 engine that is designed and manufactured by HPD at Torrance in California.

Indy 500 grid