Honda

2009 News

March - Brawn GP - Virgin - Richard Branson deal adds new life to Formula 1

Branson set to sponsor Brawn GP - 28th March 2009

British entrepreneur Richard Branson's Virgin Group has been lined up as the new Brawn GP team's first significant sponsor, according to Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

"Virgin and Brawn have come to commercial terms which he (Branson) thinks are viable," Ecclestone told The Times. "Both he and the team are happy.

"I've been pushing, pushing, pushing and pushing. I am delighted they have just got going on it and have a deal in place.

"It's good for the team, it's good for Formula One, I'm very happy with it."
There was no immediate comment from the team at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, where their British driver Jenson Button and Brazilian Rubens Barrichello are favourites to win on Sunday.

Brawn have risen from the embers of the Honda team after the Japanese manufacturer announced in December that they were pulling out of the sport due to the credit crunch.

Their Mercedes-powered car, the legacy of a year and a half of intense work by Honda, has looked very quick in pre-season testing.

Branson had been linked to the team as a possible purchaser before Honda accepted a management buyout led by former principal Ross Brawn.

The Times said the multi-million dollar deal was expected to be announced on Saturday with Branson flying to Melbourne for the occasion.

Profile

Honda Motor Company, Limited, Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki-gaisha, Honda Technology Research Institute Company, Limited), shortened to Honda is a multinational corporation, engine manufacturer and engineering corporation headquartered in Japan.

The company manufactures automobiles and motorcycles, trucks, scooters, robots, jets and jet engines, ATV, water craft, electrical generators, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment, and aeronautical and other mobile technologies. Honda's line of luxury cars are branded Acura in North America and China. More recently they have ventured into mountain bikes.

Honda is the 5th largest automobile manufacturer in the world as well as the largest engine-maker in the world, producing more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year. Currently, Honda is the second largest manufacturer in Japan behind Toyota and ahead of Nissan.

Honda is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Their shares trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, as well as exchanges in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Fukuoka, London, Paris and Switzerland. American Honda Motor Co. is based in Torrance, California. Honda Canada Inc. is headquartered in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, and is building new corporate headquarters in Markham, Ontario, scheduled to relocate in 2008. It was originally planned to be located in Richmond Hill, Ontario, but delays led them to look elsewhere.Hero Honda, a joint venture between India's Hero Group and Honda, is the largest manufacturer of two wheelers in the world. Honda of Canada Manufacturing is based in Alliston, Ontario. Honda has also created joint ventures around the world, such as Honda Siel Cars India Ltd, Hero Honda Motorcycles India Ltd, Dongfeng Honda Automobile Company in China and Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan.

Racing history

Motorcycle

Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) was formed in 1982. 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. HRC also contributes to the advancement of motorcycle sports through a range of activities that include sales of production racing motorcycles, support for satellite teams, and rider education programs.

Soichiro Honda, being a race driver himself, could not stay out of international motorsport. In 1959, Honda entered five motorcycles into the Isle of Man TT race, at that time the most prestigious motorcycle race in the world. While always having powerful engines, it took until 1961 for Honda to tune their chassis well enough to allow Mike Hailwood to claim their first Grand Prix victories in the 125 and 250 cc classes. Hailwood would later pick up their first senior TT wins in 1966 and 1967. Honda's race bikes were known for their "sleek & stylish design" and exotic engine configurations, such as the 5-cylinder, 22,000 rpm, 125 cc bike and their 6-cylinder 250 cc and 380 cc bikes.

1979 saw Honda return to Grand Prix motorcycle racing with their exotic, monocoque-framed, four-stroke NR500. The NR500 featured elongated cylinders each with 8 valves and with connecting rods in pairs, in an attempt to comply with the FIM rules which limited engines to four cylinders. Honda engineered the elongated cylinders in an effort to provide the valve area of an 8-cylinder engine, hoping their four-stroke bike would be able to compete against the now dominant two-stroke racers. Unfortunately, it seemed Honda tried to accomplish too much at one time and the experiment failed. For the 1982 season, Honda debuted their first two stroke race bike, the NS500 and in 1983, Honda won their first 500 cc Grand Prix World Championship with Freddie Spencer. Since then, Honda has become a dominant marque in motorcycle Grand Prix.

In motocross, Honda has claimed 24 motocross world championships.

Automobile

Honda entered Formula One as a constructor for the first time in the 1964 season at the German Grand Prix with Ronnie Bucknum at the wheel. 1965 saw the addition of Richie Ginther to the team, who scored Honda's first point at the Belgian Grand Prix, and Honda's first win at the Mexican Grand Prix. 1967 saw their next win at the Italian Grand Prix with John Surtees as their driver. In 1968, Jo Schlesser was killed in a Honda RA302 at the French Grand Prix. This racing tragedy, coupled with their commercial difficulties selling automobiles in the United States, prompted Honda to withdraw from all international motorsport that year.

After a learning year in 1965, Honda-powered Brabhams dominated the 1966 French Formula Two championship in the hands of Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme. As there was no European Championship that season, this was the top F2 championship that year. In the early 1980s Honda returned to F2, supplying engines to Ron Tauranac's Ralt team. Tauranac had designed the Brabham cars for their earlier involvement. They were again extremely successful. In a related exercise, John Judd's Engine Developments company produced a turbo "Brabham-Honda" engine for use in IndyCar racing. It won only one race, in 1988 for Bobby Rahal at Pocono.

Honda returned to Formula One in 1983, initially with another Formula Two partner, the Spirit team, before switching abruptly to Williams in 1984. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Honda powered cars won six consecutive Formula One Constructors Championships. WilliamsF1 won the crown in 1986 and 1987. Honda switched allegiance again in 1988. New partners Team McLaren won the title in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991. Honda withdrew from Formula One at the end of 1992, although the related Mugen-Honda company maintained a presence up to the end of 1999, winning four races with Ligier and Jordan Grand Prix.

Honda debuted in the CART IndyCar World Series as a works supplier in 1994. The engines were far from competitive at first, but after development, the company powered six consecutive drivers championships. In 2003, Honda transferred its effort to the rival IRL IndyCar Series. In 2004, Honda-powered cars overwhelmingly dominated the IndyCar Series, winning 14 of 16 IndyCar races, including the Indianapolis 500, and claimed the IndyCar Series Manufacturers' Championship, Drivers' Championship and Rookie of the Year titles. In 2006, Honda became the sole engine supplier for the IndyCar Series, including the Indianapolis 500. In the 2006 Indianapolis 500, for the first time in Indianapolis 500 history, the race was run without a single engine problem.

During 1998, Honda considered returning to Formula One with their own team. The project was aborted after the death of its technical director, Harvey Postlethwaite. Honda instead came back as an official engine supplier to British American Racing (BAR) and Jordan Grand Prix. Honda bought a stake in the BAR team in 2004 before buying the team outright at the end of 2005, becoming a constructor for the first time since the 1960s. Honda won the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix with driver Jenson Button.

Honda Racing F1 Team is a Formula One team run by Japanese car manufacturer Honda. The team is based in Brackley, United Kingdom, and uses the facilities of former British American Racing, which Honda fully acquired in 2005. Engines are built at the Honda R&D facility in Tochigi, Japan.

Ross Brawn was recently appointed team principal. Honda's current drivers are Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. The team began by using the same predominantly white livery that Honda used in the sport during the 1960s, but has since switched to a livery dubbed the "Earth Car", with minimal corporate advertising, and depicting the planet earth and space.

2008

On July 19, 2007, it was announced that Barrichello and Button will continue the factory effort as teammates into 2008. On November 12 2007, autosport.com confirmed that former Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn is to join Honda as team principal. Nick Fry will remain with the team as Chief Executive. On the 10th January 2008, it was announced that Alexander Wurz had signed as test driver for the 2008 Formula One Season. On 29 January 2008, Honda launched their 2008 race car. The "Earth Car" has a slightly different livery from its 2007 counterpart, with only part of the car containing the earth picture, and the rest with Honda's classic white paint. Button, Barrichello and Wurz were present at the launch. (Credit: Wikipedia).

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