Preview: Honda targets home win

The manufacturer has never won the Motegi race in four years of trying and has announced its departure from the CART Champ Car race at the end of this season.

"It would mean a great deal," stated Honda Performance Development general manager Robert Clarke. "The Motegi circuit was designed and built by Honda to showcase what we call American-style racing in Japan and was intended to bring what Honda had built in CART racing in the U.S. over to Japan so people there could experience it.

"It's kind of the missing link in our programme - we've been quite successful on the engine side with our teams, but winning this particular race is one thing we haven't been able to succeed at."

HPD has sent six engineers from its California base to Japan to assist in the build-up for Honda's home race, but Clarke tried to downplay the pressure on his group to succeed. Ford-Cosworth powered drivers have won at Motegi every year.

"Our effort really has been no different than years past," he said. "We've truly put 100 percent of our effort into getting the latest spec engine we can. One thing we did do different this year is that we sent over a group of HPD engine builders to Japan, basically so we could work until the last minute and have the latest, greatest spec engine that we could build.

"It's almost like we are our own worst enemy," Clarke added. "We've put so much effort into winning and preparing for this event, and in the past it's kind of come back and bit us. You're just kind of asking for trouble changing too many things at the last minute."