Cosworth to boost overtaking

The Cosworth XFE engines, which power all the cars in the series, will run 725bhp in full-throttle configuration, with power-to-pass giving an extra 75bhp, as opposed to the standard setting of 750bhp, plus 50bhp of power-to-pass boost.

"We tested this system in Fontana pre-season, and again in Portland two weeks ago, and we are comfortable that this is something we can run reliably," Ken Deagle of Cosworth USA said.

"For now, though, this is just a one-off for the Houston race. At the third round in Monterrey, we will return to 750bhp with 50bhp power-to-pass boost."

Circuits such as Long Beach, Portland and Monterrey have long straights, where the regular 50bhp power-boost can make more of a difference.

But the new 1.615-mile circuit at Reliant Park, Houston, is a tighter and more intricate layout, and drivers are not only less likely to notice the 25bhp reduction in standard boost, they are likely to benefit more noticeably from the extra 25bhp power-to-pass.

RuSPORT driver Justin Wilson said: "So long as the reduction of 25bhp doesn't take away the edge of what makes Champ Car's great, and doesn't close up the gap from the top drivers to the less experienced ones, then I think it is an interesting experiment and worth doing at a circuit where the straights are shorter.

Wilson, who finished second in the season-opening round in Long Beach continued: "Last year, when I passed Oriol [Servia] for the lead at Toronto, the 50bhp power-to-pass boost was marginal in terms of whether I would make it alongside him into the braking area. A 75bhp boost in those circumstances would encourage more overtaking attempts."

One of the aspects of the Houston boost change that has yet to be decided is the duration of each power-to-pass attempt.

Deagle added: "Each car will have 60 seconds of power-to-pass in total on race day in Houston. How it will be broken down will be decided once we have timed the car on the longest straight straight around Reliant Park.

"At any circuit, once we have timed the cars on the longest straight, we round that up to the nearest second and divide the 60sec total power-to-pass by that figure.

"So if a car takes say, 9.3sec to go down that straight, we will set each power-to-pass boost to last 10 seconds, giving each driver six chances to use the extra horsepower."