OREANDA-NEWS. Seven teams and a dozen full-time entries will lead the Honda effort as the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series opens with the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The manufacturer and its Honda Performance Development racing arm are seeking their seventh competitive manufacturers' championship and 10th consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory.

Honda's expanded 2013 IndyCar lineup has combined for four Indianapolis 500 victories, six IndyCar drivers' championships and 68 - over one third - of Honda's 196 IndyCar race victories, as the manufacturer closes in on its milestone 200th win since entering open-wheel competition in 1994.

The Chip Ganassi Racing organization serves as Honda's anchor team, and is led by four-time series and defending Indianapolis 500 champion Dario Franchitti, Honda's most successful driver in IndyCar competition with 31 race wins.  All of Franchitti's IndyCar successes have come with Honda power, making him the manufacturer's most decorated driver in North American open-wheel racing.

Franchitti is partnered at Target Chip Ganassi by two-time series champion Scott Dixon, who also includes an Indianapolis 500 victory (2008) among in his 29 race wins, all but five of them scored with Honda power. Dixon's series championships came in 2003 and '08. He and Franchitti are the only active drivers with multiple IndyCar titles to their names.

The three-car Ganassi lineup is rounded out by the Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Charlie Kimball, who returns for his third season with the team and Honda power after a career-high second-place finish at the Honda Indy Toronto in 2012.