"We are very confident that we won't be electrocuted"

Those are the words of Honda Racing test driver Alex Wurz after Honda completed their first major test of their KERS system at Jerez. Honda have already completed tests with KERS at Santa Pod and Silverstone, but Jerez was their first chance to run the system at length.

In an interview with Autosport.com he was asked if he could feel the difference KERS made to driving, "Yes. Thank god I feel it! If I wouldn't feel the 60 kilowatts, then I should not be a test driver. I have driven it before in a shakedown, the very first time the KERS was in the car at Santa Pod, and now it is interesting to drive it on the track. It has different effects on the car, and feeling how power output is interesting. It is all good. It is not that extreme, but you do feel it and it is quite nice. It works and, in the end, it is not rocket science. The car companies already have KERS in road cars, but the difficulty for F1 is getting it packaged."

Wurz was also asked how good Honda's KERS system was compared to the opposition: "It is impossible to answer because we don't know the output of the other teams, how they store the energy, so we cannot say. I would hope we are ahead, but there is no guarantee."

As I mentioned previously, given some of the struggles teams have had developing and integrating the KERS, and if Honda, Toyota, and BMW get their systems working properly, we can see a real competitive shift in 2009 if only for part of season. Particularly if there is a real performance advantage. Given the trusted feedback of a test driver the caliber of Alex Wurz, Honda might be on the climb back to respectability.

http://formulaoneamerica.blogspot.com/2008/09/kers-development-is-challenge.html