One year ago, Honda returned to its home race at Suzuka knowing it was going to struggle. Over the course of the season its engines had proved to be down on power and woefully unreliable -- expectations were low. On paper, therefore, Fernando Alonsos 11th place might not have been a disaster, but in the glorious high definition of Formula Ones world feed, the reality of how Alonso ended up 11th made painful viewing.GP2 engine! GP2 engine! Agggh! Alonso yelled over the team radio as the Toro Rosso of Max Verstappen breezed past him into Turn 1. Roughly 20 laps earlier he had been passed in the same manner by the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson, laying bare the deficiencies of Hondas energy deployment on the run down to Turn 1. The problems were clear to everyone and Alonso, in his words, was telling it like it was.The engine last year was not ready to compete, he said a week ago when reminded of his outburst. I said in all the interviews from the beginning of the year that our boss from Honda [Yasuhisa Arai] was saying the project was immature and we were learning a lot of things. And this was the process to improve the engine, so I was not saying anything differently [on the radio]. This year we are all saying the same thing, which is that we have made a lot of progress, we are happy with the direction and we are able to compete with all the other teams.What a difference those 12 months have made. In that time the power unit has matured significantly and a strong points finish this weekend is a realistic goal rather than a hopeful one. Yusuke Hasegawa, the man who replaced Arai as the boss of Hondas F1 project, says recent results back up his companys ambitions.Of course Suzuka is very important, and after Spa and Monza, McLaren-Honda is expecting to get better results, he told ESPN. I think its a fair comment that we can expect better than Spa and Monza [in Suzuka], and showing a good result is very important for the fans and internally at Honda for next year so we can accelerate the programme. But its not just inside Honda, its for the Japanese fans to motivate the support of Hondas activity -- it is very important to get a good result.Realising potentialHasegawa replaced Arai at the start of the year in part of a company-wide management reshuffle. The recovery from that painfully difficult first season was already underway, but it has been Hasegawas job to turn that recovery into results.Last year, Arai-San was struggling to build up the team and the organisation of it, so he succeeded that job to me and my job is to complete the team, he says. We need to be able to see that progress from outside, which means we need to get some points and also some better qualifying position. Although we cant be satisfied with our current performance, my job is to maximise the performance and to eliminate any tiny error to get concrete results.Its no secret that Honda was underprepared last year, but what is often overlooked is the scale of the project it was taking on. After six years away from the paddock, the Japanese manufacturer was returning to the most complex set of engine regulations the sport has ever known and it was doing so one full season later than the competition. Essentially it had to start from scratch and learn the hard way, but Hasegawa says those lessons have been part of the maturation process for the Honda engineers.Of course the performance, the knowledge and the skill we didnt have [last year], but we have seen after one year our young engineers have grown up very much. It is very good, but still we are behind the other teams, so we need to catch up.A fair bit of catching up has already been done. After just a couple of races this year, it became clear that Hondas second attempt at the regulations was already more powerful than the year-old Ferrari engine in the Toro Rosso, meaning it had reached the same level of performance at the start of its second year that Ferrari had achieved at the end of its. Of course, Ferrari and the rest of the field had taken another step since, but it went some way to answering the critics from the first year. Whats more, Hasegawa claims Honda had not broken new ground with the power unit over the winter but instead started to realise the potential that had previously been masked by reliability issues.From a result point of view, it is fair comment [to say we are ahead of last years Ferrari], but from a technical performance point of view, I dont think we have made a big gain [this year]. We struggled to maximise our performance last year because we had so many errors or issues at the circuit. That was the reason we couldnt prove where we were last year, I think.We are now at a good level [of reliability], but still we need to improve more because we have already retired nine times in the last year. Of course some have been due to crashes, on Fernandos car and Jensons car, but also we have had some mechanical issues as well, which I think is one of the worst [failure] numbers among the teams. So definitely we have improved to a much better point than last year, but we need to be more stable with reliability.Fixing the problems of 2015The main performance issues last year were related to inefficiencies in the design of the power units turbine and MGU-H. In races the lack of supplementary energy recovered by the MGU-H from the turbine meant the Energy Recovery System would deplete its battery power on long straights and leave the drivers significantly down on power at the end of long straights -- making them sitting ducks for rivals to overtake. Overcoming that issue has been a big step for Honda this year, but it has not been a magic bullet. The V6 internal combustion engine is still down on power compared to Hondas rivals and despite a significant upgrade at the Belgian Grand Prix this year, the focus for improvement for the upcoming winter is clear.The main area [of focus for 2017] is combustion, Hasegawa says. We have to improve the combustion -- the energy itself.I think the deployment level is almost as good as other top teams, so from a deployment point of view we are satisfied with that. But technically speaking, the engine power is still behind.But if we improve our engine performance, which will be with a more efficient engine, then it will be less exhaust gas energy, so we need more effort to keep that deployment level [at a satisfactory level] if we have a better engine.Free from tokensOne factor that is expected to help Honda next year is the scrapping of the token system. The cost-saving measure was designed to limit the amount of performance upgrades manufacturers could bring to their power units over the course of the season in the hope of preventing an engineering arms race. But Hasegawa says it is the ideas behind the upgrades and not the system that polices them that will ultimately dictate whether Honda can catch up.Even without tokens it is not very easy to catch up with other teams, he said. But, of course, if we knew everything [about how to improve], then even with the token system I think we can catch up. Of course, it will be nicer without tokens so that we have no limitations to modify.Ultimately, Hondas success is going to come down to the people it has employed and the ideas they can realise in next years power unit. In its first year, the Japanese manufacturer was criticised for not employing knowledge from elsewhere in the paddock, but Hasegawa says that has not been the case this year and new people are bringing ideas from outside its Sakura base to complement those generated within.I am one of those [new] people and Honda has tried to change our team, so to do that we have invited a lot of people [to join], also from the outside. We also brought in some consultant from outside the company.Some of the new ideas we have introduced this year, but most of the technology we have learned this year is for next year. We need to take some time to absorb that technology.Turning Hondas F1 project around was never going to be the work of the moment, but the gains made this year have already manifested in results on track. Its rivals are not going to stand still, but there is an overwhelming sense that there is more to come in next year as the changes that have been put in place this season start to filter through. Suzuka in 2017 could be a very different prospect again. Shoes Ireland From China . Mickelson barely made the cut but had the best round of the day with nine birdies and an eagle coupled with two bogeys to sit two shots behind leader Craig Lee of Scotland. Lee shot a 69 for a 12-under 204 total. "I just love the fact I am in contention and have an opportunity in my first tournament of the year here in Abu Dhabi," Mickelson said. Shoes Ireland On Sale .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. https://www.shoesirelandsale.com/ . -- Claudio Bieler hadnt scored since early September, and not from the run of play since mid-July. Discount Shoes Ireland . It was hard for Luck to pull off another comeback, or even get into the end zone, while standing on the sideline. Rivers threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to rookie Keenan Allen and Nick Novak kicked four field goals to give the Chargers a 19-9 victory against the Colts on Monday night. Wholesale Shoes Ireland . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- As excited as Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan was about his teams 16-0 win over the Patriots earlier this month -- his first in Foxborough in eight tries -- he was quick to acknowledge it came with an asterisk.Its satisfying. But lets face it: They had a player out, Ryan said at the time.That player, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, is back for Round 2 as New England (6-1) looks to get even for the lone blemish on its record this season.The Patriots enter the week playing well three weeks after coach Bill Belichick described a performance against the Bills in which he said the team failed in all three phases of the game.The offense is thriving with Brady back, outscoring opponents 95-46 over the past three games. New England is also the only team in the NFL not to throw an interception this season and has a league-best 115.9 passer rating.The defense is healthy as its been in weeks as well. In addition, it will have defensive end Rob Ninkovich on the field after he missed the first meeting with Buffalo while serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances.Ninkovichs presence should be helpful as the Patriots look to contain Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor better than they did at home.Taylor made plays with both his arm and feet in the first win, finishing with 246 yards passing and a touchdown.Reducing his effectiveness is a priority.Hes very explosive, Ninkovich said. He can still get a ball 60 yards down the field as hes running out of the pocket, so you really have to do a good job keeping him in the pocket.Probably the only neegative development since Bradys return has been on special teams with Stephen Gostkowski.ddddddddddddThe Patriots kicker, who entered the season having not missed an extra point since his rookie year in 2006, has missed two in the past two games. Hes also just 9 for 12 (75 percent) on field goals, which is below the career-low 77 percent he kicked in both 2010 and 2006.Though Gostkowski was especially hard on himself after his performance against the Steelers, Belichick lauded the work his kicker puts in weekly, adding well work through it.He also dismissed the idea that Goskowskis recent woes could be related to the different types of techniques hes being asked to employ on kickoffs this year. Belichick likened it to the multiple kinds of shots a golfer has to have in their repertoire.Youve got to be able to hit a sand wedge, youve got to be able to hit a 5-iron, youve got to be able to drive, youve got to be able to putt, Belichick said. Thats what kickers and punters do.Special teams captain Matt Slater said Gostkowski has nothing but support among his teammates.Were just gonna be as positive as we can be with Stephen, Slater said. You dont want to say too much, but you also want to let him know that we continue to have faith in him. We continue to believe in his ability to perform, and that we wouldnt trade him for anyone.---AP NFL websites: http://pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/khightower ' ' '