Meet Chris Lang: Honda Engineer and Pikes Peak Crew Chief

1.  What is your role at Honda and what projects do you work on?

I am an electrical system designer and Hybrid system designer.  I design the vehicle electrical system architecture including, wire harness, fuse boxes, and units.  I am currently responsible for the Honda Pilot and Acura MDX but have also worked on Honda Element and Acura TL.

2. How did you get into racing and how has Honda helped you pursue your hobby?

In high school and college I got into modifying cars to make them faster or handle better.  I was more interested in the building and improving portion more than just the driving of them.  Through several special Honda race car projects, I have been able to increase my knowledge of race car building.  Some of the cars have been very impressive and I am very proud of.  As the crew chief over the cars for this year’s event, I have had to take on a bunch of new responsibilities in helping prepare and coordinate all of the vehicles.  It has been a very challenging but rewarding process.

3. What excites you about racing Pikes Peak? About racing your Acura/Honda?

My favorite part about Pikes Peak is the race environment and the structure.  It is not a circuit, it is not a drag race, it is a time trial.  You get one chance to get it right and you don’t know what the mountain is going to throw at you.  You can design the fastest car and have the best driver, but it might be snowing when its your turn…..  You never know.

4. What is the biggest challenge on the Pikes Peak course?

The biggest challenge is the extreme altitude and temperature.  It is very difficult to maintain power at the top as you run out of oxygen for the engine and the cold temperatures make tire traction difficult.

5. What work has gone into your vehicle to get it ready for this unique challenge?  Are there any features or technology in your vehicle that you feel make it uniquely suited for Pikes Peak?

The NSX is the only car we are bringing that has previously run the race.  Even though it is a veteran, it is getting a makeover with several updates based on lessons learned from last year.  The CRZ was previously a road race car and had minimal modifications.  It features HPD’s supercharger kit and is a hybrid vehicle.  The battery will help the car accelerate in the higher altitudes where the engine will begin to suffer.  The Odyssey was built by the Honda Manufacturing of Alabama Race Team and is a beast built for power.  The TL and the EV Fit were mass productions cars, so they needed the complete transformation into race cars.  All of the cars have taken hours of dedication from the crew in evenings and weekends to pull this off.  Since my specialty is in the electrical system, I naturally had to build the wire harness for most of the cars and get them running.

6. How has Honda helped you prep yourself and your vehicle for this race?
The guys in our fabrication department are very talented as most of them have race car backgrounds.  By Honda allowing us to use this valuable resource, we were able to get much of the fabrication done in-house.  Being able to work side-by-side with these guys has been a great learning experience and I would like to thank all of them for their help. 

7. If you could race any track in the world which would you choose and why?

I would love to race/build a car for the Baja 1000.  I like the extreme conditions that push the vehicle to the absolute limit.  The challenge of surviving the race in one piece requires much planning and designing and a lot of luck!

For more information about Honda Racing:  http://hpd.honda.com/

For more information about Pikes Peak:  http://www.ppihc.com/

*Courtesy of Honda Racing Blog