2002 Canadian Grand Prix Preview
Honda F1 Press Information PREVIEW Canadian Grand Prix, 7 – 9 June 2002 ------------------------------------------------ The Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal will once again be one of Honda’s most high-profile races of the year as Honda Canada gears up to promote the involvement of the Japanese manufacturer in Formula One and its partner teams, Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda and DHL Jordan Honda. For the third year running, Honda will be at the heart of the Crescent Street Festival, the central activity of the race weekend celebrations in downtown Montreal surrounding the 2002 Canadian Grand Prix. Honda Canada will be hosting a main feature of the Crescent Street Festival on Friday 7 June in the lead-up to the race, a public charity auction in an effort to raise over $50,000 for the Montreal Rehabilitation Institute, a short-term hospital specialising in physical rehabilitation. The auction will be held from 5.30pm to 6.15pm on Crescent Street itself, as part of the festivities surrounding the Grand Prix. Honda is supporting the innovative institute for the third consecutive year, aligning its reputation as a provider of technically enhanced mobility with the aims and work of the organisation. A wide range of special Honda Formula One items to entice F1 fans will be up for bids from the public at the event. Chief among these, two limited edition Honda scooters sporting the Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda and DHL Jordan Honda liveries respectively headline the collection, together with a VIP trip to the British Grand Prix and a rare factory tours package of both Honda-powered teams’ headquarters in the UK. Completing this leading line-up of auction lots are much sought-after autographed helmets from each of the four 2002 Honda-powered drivers, while a nosecone from last year’s B.A.R Honda 003 F1 car also goes under the hammer. Honda Canada is one of Honda Motor Company’s most active markets, or ‘Genpos’. Selling both the Acura and Honda brands, it has established itself as a key part of the manufacturer’s North America region within Honda’s Glocalisation structure. Founded in 1969, Honda Canada now ranks as one of Canada's five largest automobile manufacturers, the largest retailer of motorcycles and All Terrain Vehicles and one of the largest power equipment and marine companies in Canada. With Montreal being the home race of B.A.R Honda’s Jacques Villeneuve, there is of course further importance for Honda’s Canadian market as Canadian race fans look forward to seeing their national Formula One driver battling around the circuit named in his father’s memory in his B.A.R Honda 004. Shuhei Nakamoto – Race and Test Team Manager, Honda Racing Development “Following the tests at Paul Ricard and Silverstone last week with the next step engine which we had planned to use in qualifying at the Canadian Grand Prix, we’ve decided to carry out additional testing before the final implementation. We will race in Canada with a further developed engine with increased performance based on the engine used for qualifying in Austria. We will continue with the development programme over the next couple of races and are optimistic for increased performance.” Circuit Details Circuit Name Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Circuit Address Ile Notre-Dame, Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Circuit Length 4.361km/2.709miles Timetable (all times are local – GMT/UTC is 5 hours ahead) 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: 08.30-09.00 Race (69 laps): 13.00 2001 Results Winner R Schumacher (Williams) 1h34m31.522s Fastest race lap R Schumacher (Williams) 1m17.205s Pole position M Schumacher (Ferrari) 1m15.782s Lap record R Schumacher (Williams) 1m17.205s Honda in Canada 2001 Zonta 7th / Trulli 11th / Villeneuve DNF / Panis DNF Honda in Canada 11 Grands Prix; 4 wins (Berger 92, Senna 90/88, Mansell 86); 7 podiums Honda F1 winners Senna 32, Mansell 13, Prost 11, Piquet 7, Berger & Rosberg 3, Ginther & Surtees 1 Team wins powered by Honda McLaren-Honda 44, Williams-Honda 23, Honda 2, Lotus-Honda 2 ------------------------------------------------ For further information and photos go to the Honda F1 media website www.honda-gp.com, user name: honda, password: ginther -------------------------------------------------------------- Charlie Reid, Honda F1 Press Office, Imperial House, Imperial Road, London, SW6 2AG, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7384 2133 Fax: +44 (0)20 7384 1238 Mobile: +44 (0)7780 664855