Wheldon to go for Honda joyride

Dan Wheldon will get a Honda F1 test drive sometime in 2006, according to American speculation. The Indy 500 winner and newly crowned IRL champion, an Englishman, can expect the same sort of 'prize' drive as enjoyed by previous title winner Tony Kanaan, who drove the BAR last month at Jerez (Spain).

''In fact, every future IRL champion should expect (the same) now that Honda will supply all engines to the tour,'' 'Racing Press' predicted.

At the very least, Kanaan, 30, took a positive experience back across the Atlantic of his turn with 950 horsepower and carbon braking.

''The first two laps nearly took my head off,'' the Brazilian giggled in reference to the drive in a BAR. ''The braking and acceleration are so much greater (and the F1 team) has a lot more engineers (than in IRL).''

He added: ''I think a lot of IRL drivers would like a drive.'' [Editor's Note: No test times were released from Kanaan's test so it is concluded his lap times were nothing to write home about. You can't expect a driver to spend years doing 100% throttle racing to be fast in an F1 car.]