2006 Japanese Grand Prix - Preview
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2006 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX
SUZUKA
02 OCTOBER
PREVIEW
This week, the Honda Racing F1 Team heads straight from Shanghai across the East China Sea to Japan for the penultimate race of the 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship, Round 17 - the Japanese Grand Prix, held at the Honda-owned Suzuka circuit on Honshu Island.
The team is certainly pumped up in preparation for its home race after achieving its fourth successive double points finish in China last weekend when Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello ended the race in fourth and sixth positions respectively. Another eight points in the bag further reduces the gap to third place in the Constructors' Championship, whilst the drivers lie sixth and seventh in the Drivers' Championship.
Built by Honda as a test circuit in 1962, Suzuka is a legendary drivers' circuit which has managed to retain much of its challenging layout, despite recent modifications. This year's Japanese Grand Prix will mark the twentieth race that Suzuka has hosted since Formula One first came to the circuit in 1987.
RUBENS BARRICHELLO
"I'm really looking forward to going to Suzuka this year as a member of the Honda family for the first time. The Japanese fans are always so enthusiastic and create such a great atmosphere over the race weekend that it will be exciting to hear them cheering for me. Suzuka holds some special memories for me as I won there from pole position in 2003. The circuit itself is challenging because of the corners and combinations of the track layout and you need a good balance, especially for turns one and two. Our performance has been improving consistently over the last few races, and we had a good final test in Jerez, so I am expecting us to be competitive at Suzuka."
JENSON BUTTON
"Suzuka is a very special weekend for the whole Honda Racing F1 Team because it is Honda´s home circuit and one of our two home races of the year. I've had some great support there in the past, especially since I've been involved with Honda, and I'm excited about going back this year. It's a very tough circuit and a real challenge for the drivers mentally and physically. You have to be precise, very consistent and it is really important to get the set-up of the car right. Suzuka is definitely one of my favourite circuits and I hope that we can put in a strong performance there for all our Honda fans."
GIL DE FERRAN
Sporting Director
"We are delighted to return to Japan and race in front of our home crowd and the many fans and friends of Honda. Suzuka itself is one of the classic racing circuits in the world and a great driver's track. The layout has a little bit of everything and some relatively short straights, which makes overtaking a challenge and places a premium on car handling. Fortunately, this is one of our fortes, particularly during the latter part of this season. Both of our drivers enjoy the track and have gone very well in the past, Rubens having won there and Jenson having scored points in every single visit he has made. Last year, the venue gave us one of the most exciting races in recent F1 history. Hopefully this year will be no different and our team will be in the thick of the fight."
SHUHEI NAKAMOTO
Senior Technical Director
"The Honda Racing F1 Team heads home to Japan in good heart. This will be our team's second home race of the season and the support of the Japanese fans makes it a place we always look forward to visiting. It would be great to win at Suzuka and sing the national anthem with the fans in the grandstand! We will be introducing our upgraded Suzuka special engine, which will be the culmination of all our development work on the V8 unit. At our last test in Jerez, we also introduced a new aero package and further mechanical developments, which will be the baseline for the chassis set-up work at Suzuka."
Suzuka, Japan
Race Distance 53 laps
Circuit Length 3.608 miles (5.807 kms)
Situated on Honshu, the largest of the Japanese islands, the Honda-owned Suzuka circuit was designed by John Hugenholtz, a Dutchman who also produced Zandvoort and Jarama, and was completed in 1962. Originally used as a test circuit by Honda, the track is now just one component of a giant amusement park and other facilities.
The Suzuka track has an18-turn figure-of-eight layout that is unique in F1. It begins with a fast fifth gear First Curve that tightens to lead into a series of fast S-bends. Spoon Curve and the legendary 130R are the other great challenges on this popular driver's circuit. Overtaking is normally done into the slowest corner on the track, the 40mph Casio Triangle chicane at the end of the lap, into the First Curve and very occasionally at the Turn 11 Hairpin.
Suzuka has recently been sympathetically modernised: in 2002, the circuit was reduced in length by realigning several key corners to provide greater run-off areas. Retaining walls were also moved back and the track slightly altered at the S-Curves and Dunlop Curves. For 2003, the 130R was tweaked to provide a faster and more fluent corner with an earlier turn-in. Further changes were made at the revised Casio Triangle chicane which is now more open than before.
Honda in Japan
Honda Motor Co., Ltd. was started by Mr Soichiro Honda from a small factory in Hamamatsu city, Shizuoka in 1948. Renowned from the outset for its exquisite engineering, the ensuing 58 years have seen the company grow to become a global force, employing over 140,000 people.
The Japanese headquarters of Honda play a key role in the development of advanced technologies and the co-ordination of the global business to produce optimal performance. Honda R&D is responsible for key technological research and product development, in co-operation with its international subsidiaries to strengthen Honda's global competitive edge in progressive technologies.
Numerous Honda developments are 'made in Japan' including the development of global vehicle platforms for increased local production. Honda also encourages the localisation of production through support of improved manufacturing expertise in local factories.
In addition to Suzuka, Honda also owns the Twin Ring Motegi ciruit, situated to the north of Tokyo. Twin Ring Motegi boasts international class oval and road circuits, which host rounds of the IRL and MotoGP championships, among other races. It is also home to the Honda Collection Hall which houses approximately 350 products and racing machines from Honda's history.
RUBENS BARRICHELLO... talks through a lap of Suzuka
"Suzuka is a very challenging drivers' circuit and one of the 'old school' circuits like Spa, Monza, Silverstone and Interlagos. It is certainly one of my favourites, which is great because it's also the team's 'home' circuit and is owned and operated by Honda.
A lap of Suzuka feels something like this:
The last chicane at Casio Triangle is quite slow, which allows you to get on the power early on the exit. This means that we can arrive at turn one, or First Curve as it's called, at 275km/h, making this one of the fastest corners in Formula One and requiring total commitment.
We brake hard into turn two, which tightens and requires a very precise exit to set you up for the series of 'S' Curves. This is a great combination of curves, requiring a very good car balance. If handled well, it can be very rewarding as the mixture of left and right turns flows well together, giving a great sense of cornering force. The final element of this section of track - the Dunlop Curve - opens out into the fast 225 km/h Degner One, which again flows very smoothly into the tighter Degner Two, concluding this most challenging section of the Suzuka track.
Now we accelerate hard out of Degner Two and along the short straight towards the hairpin, crossing under the part of the track which is a 'figure of eight' layout. This is both the slowest, and lowest, point on the circuit. After the previous series of curves, this hairpin seems desperately slow at 70km/h.
Climbing the hill through the fast flat right-hander, we head for the farthest point on the circuit - Spoon Curve. This double-apex left-hander has a fast entry at 200km/h, which tightens to 150km/h, and requires a clean and tidy exit to ensure maximum speed on the long straight back towards the pits. At the highest point on the circuit, where we cross over the track once more, is an exhilarating flat left-hander called 130R, which is taken at 300km/h. It used to be more challenging but it is still a quite incredible feeling to drive through there.
Next, hard braking down to 80km/h for the ultra-tight right-left Casio chicane brings us back on to the pit straight for the finish line.
All in all, this is a great track and I will certainly miss racing here."
Honda Racing F1 Team - 2006 results
RUBENS JENSON
Qualifying Race Qualifying Race
Bahrain 6 15 3 4
Malaysia 20 10 2 3
Australia 16 7 1 10
San Marino 3 10 2 7
Europe 4 5 6 DNF
Spain 5 7 8 6
Monaco 5 4 13 11
Britain 6 10 19 DNF
Canada 9 DNF 8 9
US 4 6 7 DNF
France 13 DNF 17 DNF
Germany 6 DNF 4 4
Hungary 3 4 14 1
Turkey 13 8 6 4
Italy 8 6 5 5
China 3 6 4 4
HONDA MEDIA PARTY
To celebrate the Japanese Grand Prix - Honda's home race held at its own circuit
Honda invites all media and photographers to its annual media party in the Suzuka Circuit fairground on
Thursday 5 October
The fun starts at 19:00
in the area behind the main grandstand
We look forward to seeing you there!
Further details available in the media centre on Thursday or
from Tracy Novak in the Honda Racing F1 Team hospitality area
ENDS
For further information on the Honda Racing F1 Team, please contact:
General Media Enquiries Communications Manager, Tracy Novak
Telephone: +44 (0)1280 844096 Direct Dial: +44 (0)1280 844212
Fax: +44 (0)1280 844211 Mobile: +44 (0)7736 630753
Email: media@HondaRacingF1.com Email: tnovak@HondaRacingF1.com
For the latest team news and photography visit HondaRacingF1.com
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