2002 French Grand Prix Preview
Honda F1 Press Information PREVIEW French Grand Prix, 19 - 21 July 2002 The 11th round of the 2002 FIA Formula One World Championship takes Honda and its partner teams, DHL Jordan Honda and Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda, to Magny Cours for the French Grand Prix. Both teams arrive at the circuit after testing last week, Jordan Honda for two days in Valencia, Spain, and B.A.R Honda for three days in Monza, Italy. Giancarlo Fisichella took up testing duties for Jordan Honda and clocked up over 600 kilometres of reliable running, while in Monza, B.A.R Honda test driver Anthony Davidson was joined by Olivier Panis for the final two days of the team’s test. In sharp contrast to this everyday hive of activity, as the Honda-powered teams strive for more performance from their 21st Century chassis and engine package, Honda turned back the clock last weekend in England, as it brought some of its most evocative F1 cars and motorcycles to the Goodwood Festival Of Speed, revisiting the long and colourful motorsport history which set the foundations for its current participation in Formula One. Three Grand Prix cars from the two previous generations of Honda’s F1 challenge were joined by a trio of ‘60s Grand Prix motorcycles, together with some of their contemporary drivers and riders. The display of victorious machinery arrived in the UK direct from the Honda Collection Hall at Motegi, Japan. Designed to be a living history, the Honda Collection Hall is a state-of-the-art three-storey museum dedicated to the company's rich history of innovation, racing passion and engineering excellence. Two magnificent V12 F1 cars, the RA300 and RA301 from the ‘60s 3-litre era, together with a Lotus Honda 100T from the turbo period of the late ‘80s, showcased Honda’s F1 heritage, while the company’s outstanding Grand Prix motorcycle stature was represented by 125, 250 and 350cc machines, all from the ‘60s. These multi-cylinder four strokes mark a period in time when Honda was completely dominant in bike GP racing, just as it is today in the four-stroke MotoGP class. Complementing the proud line-up of hardware were some famous names, including a number of Honda’s most successful drivers and riders, led by John Surtees, to this day the only man to have won world championships on two wheels and four. Surtees’ relationship with Honda began when he drove for the F1 team in the 1967 season. Following his victory in that year’s Italian GP, he remains one of only two men to have won victories for Honda with both engines and chassis designed by the company. Joining him in demonstrating the F1 cars were Satoru Nakajima, the highest points-scoring Japanese Grand Prix driver of all time who successively partnered Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet at Lotus Honda, and Danny Sullivan, former CART Champion and Indy 500 winner. The motorcycle heroes were headed by Jim Redman, winner of six world championship crowns and 45 victories – all on Hondas – with Ralph Bryans and Tommy Robb, both Grand Prix winners with Honda in various classes, also dusting off th! eir leathers to demonstrate Honda’s fine history. Images of Honda at the 2002 Goodwood Festival of Speed are available to view and download in the photo section of www.honda-gp.com username: honda password: ginther Shuhei Nakamoto – Race and Test Team Manager, Honda Racing Development “We were obviously encouraged by the results at the British Grand Prix and it was great to score some points - a real boost for everyone - but we’re fully aware that there’s still a lot of work to be done. Now that we’ve successfully introduced our new engine in race trim, we must remain focused on continuing our step-by-step development at each Grand Prix to improve our performance throughout the second half of the season, beginning at Magny Cours, and help both our partner teams fight for more points.” Circuit Details Circuit Name Magny Cours Circuit Address Circuit Nevers Magny Cours, Technopole, 58470 Magny Cours, France Circuit Length 4.251km/2.641miles Timetable (all times are local – GMT/UTC is 2 hours 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 (72 laps): 14.00 2001 Results Winner M Schumacher (Ferrari) 1h33m35.636s Fastest race lap D Coulthard (McLaren) 1m16.088s Pole position R Schumacher (Williams) 1m12.989s Lap record D Coulthard (McLaren) 1m16.088s Honda in France 2001 Trulli 5th / Frentzen 8th / Panis 9th / Villeneuve DNF Honda in France 13 Grands Prix; 4 wins (Prost 88/89, Mansell 86/87); 11 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