Formula One: Honda F1 preview for Nurburgring
16 May 2000
FIA Formula 1 World Championship - Round 6 European Grand Prix, Nürburgring - 19/20/21 May 2000 - Preview BAR HONDA TARGETS FURTHER POINTS AT THE EUROPEAN GRAND PRIX Round six of the Formula One world championship takes the Lucky Strike Reynard BAR Honda team to south-east Germany this weekend for the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. Drivers Jacques Villeneuve and Ricardo Zonta, hoping to improve on last year's two-car finish, were boosted by recent testing and will be looking to add to BAR Honda's 2000 points tally. Last week's three-day test in Jerez allowed all four official drivers to gain valuable mileage in the BAR Honda 002. The race drivers were joined by test pilots Darren Manning and Patrick Lemarie as the development work was shared out among the personnel. More than 1000km were completed and the team was able to make good progress in preparation for Germany, Ricardo Zonta topping the time sheets on Wednesday and recording the second fastest time of the week overall. Takefumi Hosaka, Managing Director of Honda R&D, confirms that Honda's constant programme of development continues with regular modifications to the RA000E engine. "We are always making small adjustments to the engine. We are satisfied that our direction of development is correct and little by little we will progress. We are beginning to get closer to the leaders, but we must ensure that we maintain reliability at the same time." Jacques Villeneuve claimed his maiden Grand Prix success at the Ring in 1996, a year later making it two in a row at the German track. The Canadian will be hoping for more of the same with BAR Honda this week. "We definitely made progress last weekend," said Villeneuve. "Sixth on the grid in Spain represented a significant improvement and in the race we were running comfortably quicker than the cars behind." The Nürburgring The 176 corners of the old 22.7 kilometre Ring disappeared from the F1 calendar after Niki Lauda's fiery accident in 1976, returning in 1984 as a fully revised 4.55-kilometre circuit equipped with ultra-modern facilities. The new Nürburgring offers a good challenge to drivers, the third and fourth gear corners allowing them to build up a rhythm during the lap, while the generous run-off areas and gravel traps have enabled the circuit to retain some of the speed characteristics of the original circuit. Honda at the Nürburgring Surprisingly, not one of Honda's 71 Grand Prix successes has come at the Nürburgring. John Surtees recorded Honda's best performance around the original circuit, finishing fourth in 1967 after a challenging 15 laps. In 1985, the first Grand Prix on the drastically revised track, Keke Rosberg's Williams-Honda led for half the race before retiring, leaving team mate Nigel Mansell to claim a point in sixth place. The European Grand Prix, however, was kinder to Honda that year, Mansell winning the race at Brands Hatch, with Rosberg third. FIA Formula 1 World Championship - Round 6 European Grand Prix, Nürburgring - 19/20/21 May 2000 - Information Circuit Details Circuit Name: Nürburgring Circuit Address: Nürburgring GmbH, 53520 Nürburg, Eifel, Germany Circuit Length: 4.556 km / 2.831miles Lap Record: Heinz-Harald Frentzen 1'18"805 (Williams-Renault - 1997) Timetable (all times are local, CET is the same, UK time is one hour behind) Friday Free Practice: 11.00-12.00 & 13.00-14.00 Saturday Free Practice: 09.00-09.45 & 10.15-11.00 Qualifying: 13.00-14.00 Sunday Warm-up: 09.30-10.00 Race (67 laps): 14.00 1999 Results Winner: Herbert (Stewart-Ford) 1hr 41min 54.314sec Average Speed: 177.034km/h Fastest Lap: Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes) 1:21.282s Pole Position: Frentzen (Jordan Mugen-Honda) 1:19.910s BAR 1999 Jacques Villeneuve Qualified: 8th Race: 10th Ricardo Zonta Qualified: 17th Race: 8th Previous Nürburgring winners Hakkinen (1998), Villeneuve (1997/96), M Schumacher (1995), Alboreto (1985), Prost (1984) Honda at the Nürburgring Grands Prix: 5 Wins: 0 Podiums: 0 Honda F1 winners Ayrton Senna 32, Nigel Mansell 13, Alain Prost 11, Nelson Piquet 7, Gerhard Berger & Keke Rosberg 3, Richie Ginther & John Surtees 1 Teams McLaren-Honda 44, Williams-Honda 23, Honda 2, Lotus-Honda 2 2000 BAR Honda Results Jacques Villeneuve - Aus Q8,R4 - Brz Q10, DNF - SM Q9, R5 - GB Q10, DNF - SP Q6, DNF Ricardo Zonta - Aus Q16, R6 - Brz Q8, R9 - SM Q14, R12 - GB Q16, DNF - SP Q16, R8 2000 Jordan Mugen-Honda Heinz-Harald Frentzen - Aus Q5, DNF - Brz Q7, R3 - SM Q6, DNF - GB Q2, DNF - SP Q8, R6 Jarno Trulli - Aus Q6, DNF - Brz Q12, R4 - SM Q8, DNF - GB Q11, R6 - SP Q7, R12 2000 Points Jacques Villeneuve - 5 Ricardo Zonta - 1 Heinz-Harald Frentzen - 5 Jarno Trulli - 4