Formula One: From Brickyard to Backyard as Honda Heads Home to Suzuka
30 September 2000
FIA Formula 1 World Championship - Round 16 Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka - 6-8 October 2000 - Preview FROM BRICKYARD TO BACKYARD AS HONDA HEADS HOME As the 2000 Formula One season reaches its climax with a Far Eastern double-header, the teams head to Japan for Honda's home race at the Honda-owned Suzuka circuit. The Japanese manufacturer celebrated its 200th Grand Prix at Monza earlier this month and to celebrate this milestone, a demonstration of Honda's historic Formula One cars and former drivers will take to the track at 13:00 hours on Sunday. Sir Jack Brabham, whose association with Honda dates back to the 1966 Formula 2 title, when his Brabham-Honda took wins in ten of the 13 events, will drive the RA272 that won the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix in the hands of Richie Ginther, Honda's maiden Grand Prix success. John Surtees will climb behind the wheel of the Honda RA273, the precursor to the RA300 with which he claimed his famous victory at Monza in 1967. Representing the second generation of Honda's Formula 1 campaign, Satoru Nakajima will pilot the Lotus 100T powered by the Honda RA168 V6 turbo engine from 1988. The final car on display will be the McLaren MP4/6 that delivered Honda's sixth consecutive constructors' title in 1991 courtesy of Gerhard Berger and Ayrton Senna. The car will be driven by Berger, himself the last man to win a Grand Prix for Honda - Adelaide 1992. Lucky Strike Reynard BAR Honda travels to Japan boosted by a double points-scoring performance in last weekend's US Grand Prix. Jacques Villeneuve narrowly missed out on a podium finish in Indianapolis and will be hoping that Honda's home advantage and a new specification engine will be important factors as the team searches for the first top-three result of Honda's third F1 generation. "There is always a lot of expectation from the fans when we race at Suzuka, so we prepare specially for the weekend," admits Kazutoshi Nishizawa, Technical Director of Honda Racing Development. "The Suzuka specification engine is based on the qualifying unit that we ran in Monza. The speed of Suzuka places a lot of emphasis on engine performance and we have uprated the engine with the circuit's requirements in mind. We completed a race distance with the new engine during testing at Silverstone earlier this month, so we are well prepared for our home race." Suzuka After two visits to Mount Fuji (1976-77), the Japanese Grand Prix returned to the Formula One calendar in 1987, coinciding with Honda's emergence as the dominant power supplier in world motor racing. It therefore made perfect sense to launch Formula One's assault on the Far East market at the spiritual home of Japanese motor racing, the Honda-owned Suzuka circuit. Suzuka hosts Japan's motorcycle Grand Prix, International GT races and single-seater championships, including the Honda-powered Formula Dream, in which many of Japan's current stars have cut their racing teeth. Honda also owns the Twin Ring Motegi circuit that hosts Japan's round of the CART championship. Suzuka is widely recognised as one of the best circuits in the world. The circuit's unique figure of eight configuration includes a fly-over and an interesting combination of turns and straights. The 130R corner ranks alongside Spa's Eau Rouge as one of the most demanding in the world, challenging the drivers to the very limits of their bravery and skill. Honda in Japan Suzuka has often been the scene of dramatic title showdowns and a number of Honda landmarks have been achieved in front of the passionate home fans. At the first race in 1987 Ayrton Senna's Lotus-Honda claimed second place, while Nelson Piquet secured the first ever Honda-powered drivers' championship with Williams. Senna clinched his own world championship title the following year, completing the tenth 1-2 finish in McLaren-Honda's record-breaking campaign. Controversy abounded in 1989 when Senna and McLaren-Honda team mate Alain Prost had a coming together, causing the Frenchman to retire. Senna won the race, but was later excluded for missing the chicane, handing the drivers' crown to Prost. The pair clashed again a year later; this time it was Senna who took the title after their double retirement. Gerhard Berger triumphed in 1991, but again Senna lifted the drivers' championship, completing five consecutive clean sweeps for Honda-powered cars. Suzuka Circuit 7992 Ino-cho, Suzuka-shi, Mie-ken 510-02, Japan Circuit Length 5.864km/3.644 miles Lap Record H-H Frentzen 1:38.942 (Williams-Renault, 1997) Timetable (all times are local, CET is 7 hours behind, UK time is 8 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: 10.00-10.30 Race (53 laps): 14.30 1999 Results Winner M Hakkinen (McLaren-Mercedes) 1hr 31min 18.785sec Pole position M Schumacher (Ferrari) 1:37.470 BAR 1999 Jacques Villeneuve Qualified: 13th Race: 9th Ricardo Zonta Qualified: 18th Race: 12th Previous Japanese GP winners Hakkinen (98), M Schumacher (95/97), Hill (94/96), Senna (93), Patrese (92), Berger (91) Honda in Japan Grands Prix: 6 Podiums: 7 Wins: 3 (Berger 1991, Senna 1989 / 1988) 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