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HONDA CELEBRATES THE “DOUBLE FORTY”

AT GOODWOOD

In 1965 Honda competed in its first full year of Grand Prix motor

racing. Coincidentally this was the year that the official British

import subsidiary of the Japanese company, Honda (UK), was

created.

So 2005 marks this double milestone. It’s also the eighth

consecutive year that Honda has participated in the world’s

premiere historic motor sport event – The Goodwood Festival of

Speed.

Honda will field its biggest ever entry of no fewer than five

Formula 1 cars (including a contemporary B·A·R Honda) plus nine

Grand Prix racing motorcycles. And there will be a galaxy of

Honda’s racing heroes – past, present and future – to put them

through their paces.

As this year’s feature marque and one of the main sponsors of

the event, Honda will command the spectacular central display.

Positioned on the lawn in front of Goodwood House, this will be

used to display the largest and finest collection of Honda racing

cars and bikes yet seen outside Japan.

The 2005 event marks the return to Goodwood of Honda’s

historic GP cars. This year the company fields two of the V12

racers from the 60s – the rarely seen

1.5 litre RA272 with which the company won its very first car GP,

plus the RA300

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Honda celebrates the “double forty” at Goodwood…2

from the early 3.0 litre era. Also representing the same period is

the Brabham-Honda BT18, which won 11 consecutive races during

the 1966 F2 season. From the 80s Honda fields the one thousand

horsepower 1.5 litre turbocharged Williams Honda FW11s as

driven by Piquet and Mansell, as well as the Championship

winning McLaren MP4/4. And finally, Honda will demonstrate a

contemporary B·A·R Honda, which has evolved into one of the

most consistently successful F1 cars of the modern era.

The sextet of cars is joined by nine GP motorcycles –

represented by the 50, 125, 250, 350 and 500cc machines, all

from the 60s, as well as later V4 500cc two-strokes from the 80s

and 90s. And to bring the display right up to date, Honda will

include the RC211V four-stroke V5 racer from the current Moto GP

era.

The display of victorious machinery arrives in the UK directly from

The Honda Collection Hall in Japan. Designed to be a living

history, The Collection Hall is a state-of-the-art three-storey

museum situated in Motegi dedicated to the company’s rich

history of innovation, racing passion and engineering excellence.

This year is Honda’s eighth at Goodwood, the event having

become an annual pilgrimage for The Collection Hall team from

Japan. The team participates because of the event’s high quality

and profile – and because of Honda’s special relationship with

the UK.

Success on two wheels …

Honda’s motor sport history is as old as the company itself, for

as long ago as 1923 the then 17-year old Soichiro Honda was

involved in the development of a Curtiss-engined racing car –

which he co-drove to victory in the machine’s first race, at Fifth

Japan Automobile Competition. After that, Soichiro would never

lose his enthusiasm for motor sport.

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It was in 1954 that Honda first announced its intention to compete

in the Isle of Man TT race – and five years later a team of five

riders arrived on the island with 125cc RC141 and RC142 four-

stroke twins. Although the Honda riders were outpaced, they did

manage to finish sixth, seventh, eighth and tenth, earning the

team the Constructors’ Prize.

Since then, the company has established a proud record of

achievement in many different motorcycle events – and achieved

its 500th motorcycle GP victory as long ago as 2001. The driving

force for this success has been Honda's determination, as

evidenced by its technology and products, to meet and conquer

every challenge.

Today, Honda Racing Corporation is a team of specialists bonded

by their dedication to motorcycle sports. The company combines

participation in motorcycle races throughout the world with the

development of high potential racing machines. Its racing

activities are an important source for the creation of leading edge

technologies used in the development of Honda motorcycles.

The UK is an important market for Honda Racing. Honda UK has

supported and enjoyed success in leading motor sport

championships for many years. Honda Racing is now the official

team name for its entry in the British Superbike and Supersport

championships, the British and World Motocross Championships,

British Supermoto Championship and its own Honda Formula 4-

Stroke Offshore Powerboat series. No other manufacturer has

promoted such a diverse product range so efficiently and enjoyed

the success that Honda Racing has achieved over the past 40

years.

Honda Racing also makes a positive contribution to the

advancement of motorcycle sports through a range of activities

that includes sales of production racing motorcycles, support for

satellite teams and rider education programmes.

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… and four

Having already earned itself a reputation as a world-class

motorcycle manufacturer by achieving outstanding results in the

Isle of Man TT and other races, Honda was keen to develop

passenger car technologies through competition and started

preparing for the challenges of Formula One in the early 1960s.

The exciting project started to take shape in 1963 and by the end

of the year Honda had fitted its experimental 1.5-litre RA270E to a

steel-tube space frame chassis of its own design. This chassis

had been built purely for testing, as Lotus had secured a deal to

run the engine in the following year's championship.

However, in February 1964 the British team dropped out of the

project forcing Honda to choose between postponing its entry

into F1 or operating its own engine, chassis and race team.

Encouraged by its early progress and willing to rise to the titanic

challenge, Honda was determined to press ahead.

A new RA271E was prepared for the fast-approaching season

together with an all-new state-of-the-art monocoque chassis

constructed from aluminium panels. In an early example of

technical ingenuity that would become the hallmark of all

Honda’s F1 engineering efforts, the load-bearing V12 engine was

installed transversely into the chassis.

The first Honda F1 car made its Grand Prix debut on the daunting

22-kilometre Nürburgring circuit in early August with Ronnie

Bucknum at the helm. The young American held a top 10 position

before being forced to retire with suspension damage. A month

later Bucknum underlined the RA271's potency by running as high

as fifth on the famously fast Monza circuit before overheating and

braking problems interrupted progress up the leader board.

Another non-finish was recorded in the American Grand Prix.

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Learning the lessons gleaned from its first three Grands Prix in

1964, Honda's engineers laboured hard through the off-season to

overcome their lack of four-wheeled racing experience. The team

was eager to capitalise on the potential advantages afforded by

the advanced RA271 engine which with a maximum horsepower

of 230bhp was producing more than 10 per cent greater power

than any of its rivals.

To boost the team’s chances of success, the experienced Richie

Ginther was signed to partner Bucknum in a two car attack. The

Californian’s arrival started to produce results – Ginther scored

Honda’s first World Championship point at Belgium's legendary

Spa-Francorchamps circuit in June and led both the British and

Dutch Grands Prix.

First F1 win

The final race of the season and of the 1.5-litre regulations was

staged in Mexico – it was a landmark event for Honda too.

Ginther grabbed the lead at the start and kept the opposition at

bay to record Honda’s maiden F1 victory on only its 11th outing.

Adding to the celebrations, Bucknum finished a fine fifth.

The three litre era

Development of an all-new engine and chassis for the 1966

season began immediately after Honda's breakthrough F1 victory

in Mexico. Having considered both V12 and V16 layouts to meet

the new 3-litre regulations, Honda’s engineers opted for the 12-

cylinder alternative.

Once again the engine boasted more power than its rivals but the

new machine was handicapped by being considerably

overweight. Despite this Ginther ran second on its debut in Italy

until a tyre burst and was looking good for a comfortable third in

America before gearbox gremlins prevented a podium finish.

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For 1967, Honda focused its energies on a single car entry for

Englishman John Surtees – the only man ever to win World

Championships on both two and four wheels. Surtees scored

three top six points-scoring finishes in the first six races of the

season before the sensational introduction of the brand new

RA300 at Monza in September.

After an epic battle with Jim Clark (Lotus-Cosworth) and Jack

Brabham (Brabham-Repco), Surtees surged through to record a

famous victory by just two-tenths of a second. After the dramatic

victory in its maiden race, Honda continued with the RA300 for

the remainder of the 1967 season.

The company proved itself to be among the F1 elite by securing

fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship with Surtees also

claiming fourth place in the Drivers’ Championship. Based on

these improving results, optimism ran high for Honda's fifth

season on the Grand Prix grid.

To take the team to greater heights Honda developed a new

chassis, the RA301. The car featured a tougher, full-length

monocoque and was considerably lighter than its forebear thanks

to the extensive use of magnesium. The RA301’s water-cooled

V12 engine was extensively redesigned in the search for greater

power.

However despite proving more than a match for its rivals on

several occasions, the RA301 was plagued by misfortune.

Mechanical problems prevented top three finishes in Spain and

Monaco before a suspension failure robbed Surtees of certain

victory in Belgium.

The team had to wait until France to score its first points when

Surtees finished second. The Englishman qualified on pole

position (Honda's first) and led at Monza until crashing when

avoiding a spinning car and led again at the season finale in

Mexico until retiring with tyre problems.

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The following season proved less successful, with Surtees

finishing no better than seventh in the Drivers’ Championship.

Tragically the Englishman’s best result – a second place in the

French Grand Prix – was marred by the death of the French driver

Jo Schlesser who was making his debut in the RA302.

Many of the problems in 1968 resulted from Honda's brave

decision to pursue simultaneous development of two completely

different cars. To help promote and market the company's new

range of air-cooled road cars Honda instructed its engineers to

design an air-cooled F1 engine. A V8 format was selected and a

lightweight RA302 chassis was specially designed to meet the

needs of the new air-cooled unit.

Honda’s engineers were keen to banish their disappointments in

the 1968 season and redress the balance in 1969. In August work

started on an all-new car to be equipped with a lightweight and

compact water-cooled V12.

However, within weeks, Honda announced its ‘temporary

withdrawal’ from Grand Prix racing. The company's racing

activities were to be put on hold for 15 years as Honda

concentrated its efforts and resources on new challenges.

During its six-year adventure in Formula One, the company had

grown unrecognisably as a producer of passenger cars and it

was now preparing its plans to become a leader in the compact

car market. Many of the skills absorbed from the original F1

programme would prove beneficial to the development of

Honda’s road cars throughout the years that followed.

The 80s return

Having established itself among the world’s premier automotive

manufacturers, Honda fulfilled its departing promise made in 1968

by re-entering Grand Prix racing

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in 1983. The prime mover behind the new project was Nobuhiko

Kawamoto, whose sole objective was to capture the World

Championships that had eluded Honda during the 1960s.

During the company’s 15-year absence, however, the F1 world

had evolved almost beyond recognition. Honda's return to F1

coincided with the zenith of the turbocharged era which

superseded the 3-litre normally aspirated generation of Grand

Prix cars that Honda and others had pioneered back in 1966.

During its first F1 programme, Honda had taken on the technical

and financial burden of producing both engine and chassis in-

house. By the time the company was evaluating a return to F1 in

the early 1980s, there was the very attractive alternative of finding

an established British race team to provide the chassis.

Honda gained confidence in the merging of Japanese and

European racing cultures via a highly successful relationship with

the Ralt Formula 2 team for whom Honda supplied 2-litre V6

engines. So, when the company officially announced its re-entry

into F1 during the autumn in 1981, it was to be exclusively as an

engine supplier.

The Turbo era

The prototype of Honda’s first turbocharged F1 engine,

designated RA163E, was installed in a modified Spirit F2 chassis.

The hybrid ran for the first time at Silverstone in November 1982

heralding Honda's return to F1.

Following more development work, the Spirit-Honda made its

debut in a non-championship F1 race at Brands Hatch in April

1983 and its full Grand Prix debut at the British Grand Prix in July.

In the hands of Stefan Johansson, the car contested five further

Grands Prix finishing seventh in Holland and showed enough

promise for Honda to secure a contract to supply engines to the

front-running Williams team.

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To speed up development, a pair of Honda powered FW09s were

hastily prepared for the final round of the season in South Africa

and Keke Rosberg wasted no time proving the potential of the

exciting new partnership. The Finn claimed fifth place to record

Honda’s first points of its second era in F1.

In 1984, Honda’s technicians were faced with a new challenge

as the F1 authorities introduced a fuel tank capacity limit of 220

litres along with a ban on mid-race refuelling. These stringent new

regulations, aimed at constraining ultimate horsepower, forced

engineers to marry efficiency with potency.

In order to gain a competitive edge, it became necessary for

Honda’s engine builders to decrease the weight of internal

moving parts, to minimise frictional losses and to optimise fuel

consumption through the use of ever more sophisticated

electronic control systems.

For its first full season with Williams, Honda produced the RA164E

– a heavily revised version of the RA163E. Despite some early

problems largely associated with the enormously high

temperatures produced by the forced induction, Rosberg scored

Honda’s first Grand Prix victory since 1967 on the streets of

Dallas in the USA.

An all-new RA165E engine was introduced mid-way through the

following season and immediately received positive reviews from

Rosberg and team mate Nigel Mansell. The pair both claimed top

six finishes on the new engine’s debut in Canada and Rosberg

took the chequered flag at the next Grand Prix in Detroit to record

the second victory for a Honda turbo V6. Mansell and Rosberg

won the final three races of the season to establish Williams-

Honda as the team to beat in 1986 when Nelson Piquet would

replace the Finn.

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First World Championship

For 1986, a new RA166E engine was introduced to meet the

demands imposed by a further lowering of fuel tank capacity limit

from 220 litres to 195 litres. The new Williams-Honda FW11

dominated the championship with Mansell and Piquet taking nine

wins between them to secure the Constructors’ Championship

for Williams-Honda with one round remaining. The Drivers’

Championship, however, eluded

Honda when Mansell suffered a spectacular rear tyre blow-out in

the final race.

With the latest turbocharged engines now producing well in

excess of 1000bhp (from just 1.5-litres), the sporting authorities

sought to counter the ingenuity of F1 engine manufacturers by

limiting boost pressure to 4 bar for the 1987 season.

This again forced Honda’s technicians to seek new solutions...

which they did successfully. With engines now being supplied to

Lotus as well as Williams, Honda-powered cars took victory in 11

of the year’s 16 races. The high point came at Silverstone where

the Honda-powered cars of Mansell, Piquet, Ayrton Senna and

Satoru Nakajima completed a 1-2-3-4 clean-sweep.

First Drivers’ Championship

Piquet finally clinched the Drivers’ Championship at the

penultimate round at Suzuka, the first Japanese Grand Prix in a

decade. The Brazilian’s title was the first for a driver powered by

a Honda engine and, at the same time, Honda had achieved its

long-held ambition of victory in both the Drivers’ and

Constructors’ World Championships.

Restrictions on turbocharged engines were further tightened for

the 1988 season with boost pressure cut from 4 to 2.5 bar and

fuel tank capacity reduced from 195 to 150 litres. With a new 3.5-

litre normally aspirated formula due for introduction in 1989,

Honda set-up a separate project to concentrate on the creation

of a new ‘atmo’ engine. However, for 1988, Honda’s engineers

were determined to end the

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turbo era on a high note by competing with a new RA168E turbo

engine designed to overcome the latest fuel-efficiency

constraints.

Domination with McLaren

Having ended its relationship with Williams at the end of 1987,

Honda joined forces with McLaren as well as remaining with Lotus

for 1988. The first ever McLaren-Honda – the MP4/4 – was an

innovative machine and the new combination’s dominance was

total. An almost perfect record established the MP4/4 as the

most successful car in F1 history.

Between them, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna won 15 of 16 rounds

with the Brazilian finally clinching his first world title after a heroic

season-long duel with his French team-mate. The McLaren-

Honda team broke many records during the final season of the

turbocharged era, scoring an unprecedented 199 points and

recording no fewer than ten 1-2 finishes.

To meet the new-for-1989, 3.5-litre normally aspirated engine

regulations, Honda designed a brand new RA109A V10 engine for

reigning champions McLaren. Only Renault and Honda opted for

the novel 10-cylinder configuration though others were soon to

follow suit. McLaren prepared a new MP4/5 chassis and the

formidable duo of Senna and Prost were once again contracted to

drive.

Despite the challenging new regulations, McLaren-Honda’s

winning ways continued – the team won 10 of 16 races with Prost

taking the title. For the third consecutive year, Honda claimed

both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships.

Not wanting to sit on its laurels, Honda’s renowned engineers

incorporated many innovations into a new RA100E engine for

1990. With Prost leaving for Ferrari, Gerhard Berger lined up

alongside Senna in a pair of revised MP4/5B chassis.

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Although Ferrari mounted a serious attack, the result was another

successful campaign for Honda which saw Senna reclaim the

Drivers’ Championship and Honda take its fifth Constructors’

Championship on the trot.

Honda’s constant search for areas of possible improvement

based on rigorous assessment of its own achievements and

comparisons of its performance with that of its closest rivals, led

the company to design a new V12 engine for McLaren in 1991. An

upgraded version of the championship winning V10 would be

provided to Tyrrell.

Badged RA121E, the new V12 propelled McLaren’s latest MP4/6

to victory in the year’s first four Grands Prix. In total Senna

scored seven wins on the way to his third Drivers’ Championship

with Honda in four years. With Berger winning in Japan, Honda

clinched the Constructors’ Championship for the sixth

successive season.

A major update of the RA121E engine was introduced for McLaren

in 1992 but by now Williams had gained a major competitive edge

through the introduction of active suspension, coupled with a

semi-automatic gearbox and other computer-controlled features.

Honda responded by increasing power but despite Senna winning

three races and Berger two – including the season finale in

Australia – for the first time since 1987 the World Championship

would not be won by Honda power.

Long before the title had been lost, Honda’s management had

already taken the major decision that 1992 was to be the last year

of Honda's second period of participation in Grand Prix racing.

Berger’s victory in Australia was the company’s 71st win in the

last race of Honda’s second F1 adventure.

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The current era

Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) and Ricardo Zonta (Brazil) carried

the Honda banner in 2000, the first year of Honda’s return to F1.

Villeneuve recorded seven points-scoring finishes while Zonta, in

his debut year, finished in the points three times. The year kicked

off in style as Jacques and Ricardo brought home their B·A·R

Hondas in fourth and sixth places respectively at the season-

opening Australian Grand Prix.

The following year, Villeneuve teamed up at B·A·R Honda with

Frenchman Olivier Panis, while the new Honda partner team of

Jordan Honda fielded Germany’s Heinz-Harald Frentzen

(replaced by Ricardo Zonta in the German Grand Prix and

then Jean Alesi in the final five races) and Italian Jarno Trulli.

Between them, the Jordan Honda pilots racked up a total of nine

points-scoring finishes, while the B·A·R Honda pairing of

Villeneuve and Panis finished in the points on five occasions.

The Canadian took the honour of scoring Honda’s first podium of

its third generation in the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix, following it up

with another third place in the German GP of that year.

In 2002, while B·A·R Honda maintained its driver line-up, it was all

change at Jordan Honda, who paired the experienced Italian,

Giancarlo Fisichella, with the Japanese prodigy, Takuma Sato. A

product of Honda’s Suzuka Racing School, Sato graduated to F1

from a sweeping British F3 Championship victory. Honda’s four

F1 drivers together tallied nine points-scoring finishes, with

Fisichella enjoying a strong run of form in mid-season, with three

consecutive fifth place finishes in the Austrian, Monaco and

Canadian Grands Prix.

Changing the focus for 2003, Honda chose to provide engines

exclusively for B·A·R, and for the first time became an official

B·A·R sponsor – a clear sign of the increased collaboration

between the two partners. Honda’s name was carried once

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again by Villeneuve who was joined by a new team-mate in

Englishman Jenson

Button. Entering his fourth year of Formula One and already

marked as a potential future champion, Button made his mark at

the team by finishing the season with

17 points, 11 more than his World Champion team-mate.

2004 was Honda’s 20th year in Formula One, spanning three

distinct generations since its 1964 debut. The season presented a

particularly exciting technical challenge with new regulations

requiring drivers to use the same engine for an entire Grand Prix

weekend.

Button remained at the team for 2004, with 2003 test-driver

Takuma Sato taking up a race seat once again (though Sato had

also scored three World Championship points in his B·A·R Honda

race debut at the 2003 Japanese Grand Prix).

The year will be remembered for B·A·R’s consistent front running

performances, the only team to get consistently close to the

winning red cars.

For British race fans, Button’s exploits were a particular source

of pride and excitement. The run of success began with a maiden

pole position for the English driver at Sepang, followed by nine

others over the rest of the season – including a memorable drive

from 13th on the grid up to second place in Germany.

Sato’s season was certainly spectacular – a mix of raw pace,

outrageous overtaking manoeuvres and frustrating mistakes. It

included a high point podium place at the US Grand Prix, but the

Japanese driver suffered more retirements and lacked the

consistent pace of his team mate.

Button eventually ended the season third in the Drivers’

Championship with Sato eighth. But the combined points earned

by the drivers elevated B·A·R to second in the constructors’ title,

the first time that a team has finished so high without winning a

race.

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B ·A·R HONDA looks forward to 2005

Following its most successful season to date, Lucky Strike B·A·R

Honda embarks on 2005 with renewed determination to pursue

its goal of winning the FIA Formula One World Championship.

Confidence within the team is high as November 2004 saw Honda

increase its commitment to both B·A·R and Formula One by

announcing its intention to become an equity partner in the team,

complementing its existing status as engine supplier, chassis

development partner and major sponsor.

For 2005 Nick Fry has been newly appointed B·A·R Honda Chief

Executive Officer, with Geoffrey Willis continuing as the team’s

Technical Director. Honda has also added a number of key

personnel to the team to strengthen the unity already established

during the past few years.

The driver line-up of Jenson Button and Takuma Sato, supported

by test drivers Anthony Davidson and Enrique Bernoldi, affords

B·A·R Honda the benefit of consistency as well as experience of

the car and the team’s operational style.

Honda in the UK

Honda (UK) is the marketing arm of Honda responsible for selling

the company’s car, motorcycle and power equipment products

in the Britain.

The company was established in 1965 at 4 Power Road Chiswick

as a wholly owned subsidiary of Honda Motor Company, Japan.

Since 1991 it has become a division of Honda Motor Europe Ltd,

originally based in Reading. In 2000, both Honda (UK) and Honda

Motor Europe moved to a new purpose designed building situated

just off junction 5 on the M4, at Langley, Slough.

Under Managing Director Ken Keir, Honda (UK) currently employs

350 people and is responsible for some 200 car dealers, 153

motorcycle dealers and 330 Lawn and Garden and generator

dealers, 68 Marine dealers and 107 ATV Dealers.

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Sales this year are expected to total 100,000 cars, 25,000

motorcycles and scooters, 65,000 power products, 3500 Marine

and 4400 ATVs.

Honda’s European car plant (Honda of the UK Manufacturing Ltd)

was commissioned in 1992, initially building Accord and Civic

models for Europe. Last year the plant built some 193,000 Civic

and CR-V models, with the cumulative total

now exceeding 1.3 million. Later this year HUM will commence

building the all new 8th generation version of the Civic.

ends…

For more information, contact:Graham Avent 01753 590193 [email protected] Pearce 01753 590232 [email protected]

Images and other Honda press material can be downloaded from the Honda (UK) media web site at www.hondauk-media.co.uk or www.newspress.co.uk

http://www.newspress.co.uk/

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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