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Category | Formula One |
---|---|
Constructor | Honda |
Designer(s) | Ken Hashimoto (project leader, Honda R&D) Keinosuke Taki (development chief, Honda R&D) |
Technical specifications | |
Engine | Honda RA121E 3.5 L (213.583 cu in) V12 |
Power | 740–770 hp (552–574 kW; 750–781 PS) @ 14,500 rpm |
Tyres | Bridgestone (for F3000) |
Competition history | |
Notable drivers | Keinosuke Taki Ken Hashimoto |
Category | Formula One |
---|---|
Constructor | Honda |
Designer(s) | Ken Hashimoto (project leader, Honda R&D) Keinosuke Taki (development chief, Honda R&D) |
Technical specifications | |
Engine | Honda RA122E 3.5 L (213.583 cu in) V12 |
Transmission | 6-speed Honda semi-auto |
Power | 740–770 hp (552–574 kW; 750–781 PS) @ 14,500 rpm |
Tyres | Bridgestone (for F3000) |
Competition history | |
Notable drivers | Keinosuke Taki Satoru Nakajima |
Category | Formula One |
---|---|
Constructor | Honda |
Designer(s) | Ken Hashimoto (project leader, Honda R&D) Keinosuke Taki (development chief, Honda R&D) |
Technical specifications | |
Engine | Mugen-Honda 3.0 L (183.1 cu in) V10 |
Transmission | 6-speed Honda semi-auto |
Power | 670 hp (500 kW; 679 PS) @ 13,500 rpm |
Tyres | Bridgestone (for F3000) |
Competition history | |
Notable drivers | Keinosuke Taki Ryo Michigami |
The Honda RC100 (also known as Honda RC-F1 1.0X, chassis number RC1-203/1) was a prototype Formula One car built by engineers from Honda R&D Center, Tochigi, although not as an official project of Honda. The car was completed in 1993 and initially tested at Honda's Suzuka Circuit. Two more cars, known as RC101 (RC-F1 1.5X, chassis RC1B-101) and RC101B (RC-F1 2.0X, chassis RC2-001), were also built and tested before the project ended.
These cars should not be confused with the Honda RA099, which was an official Honda prototype intended for the 1999 season but also never ran.
During the 1992 season, Honda announced that they would end their engine supply programme that had existed since 1984. This was due to Honda's desire for a new challenge after dominating in Formula One, with Honda deciding to move to the CART championship in North America (although their tuning partner Mugen Motorsports would continue carrying Honda's presence in the sport until they returned in 2000).
However, engineers at Honda decided to launch their own separate project by attempting to build a full Formula One car, something Honda had not done since the 1960s. Honda at the time encouraged engineers to create their own projects in an attempt to motivate and boost morale. Funds from Honda's motorsports budget were specifically put aside each year for engineers to be able to realistically create these projects. These projects were however not backed by Honda Motor Company, and the engineers actually had to work on their personal projects on their own time.
In the early 1990s, to study how a Formula One chassis works, the mass-produced car engineers of the Honda Automobile R&D Center, Tochigi, started to design a Formula One chassis as a volunteer activity outside of working hours. With no access to latest Formula One chassis in 1991, the engineers had to develop the RC100's monocoque and suspension by calculation and analysis. By late 1991, the engineers was able to obtain and rebuild an used 1991 Honda Formula One engine, the RA121E, as used in the McLaren MP4/6. [1]
When the RC100/RC-F1 1.0X was tested, the engineers were satisfied with the performance of the monocoque and suspension at the test, but not with the aerodynamics of the chassis when tested in their wind tunnel, prompting the development of the next car. [1] The RC100 was painted white, and nicknamed the "white crow" by the Honda R&D engineers.
Members of Honda R&D Center's chassis design team decided to give another try at building another Formula One chassis, attempting to fully comply with the 1993 Formula One regulations and solving aerodynamic problems of the previous car. The car used the same Honda RA122E/B V12 engine that was being used in Honda's engine supply program in 1992 and a six speed semi-automatic transmission built by Honda, mirroring the McLaren Honda MP4/7A.
While the car was still being completed in 1992, Honda Motor Company president Nobuhiko Kawamoto acknowledged that the project existed, although it was confirmed to have had no backing from Honda. The completed RC101/RC-F1 1.5X was unveiled to select media in February 1993. Later that year, Honda engineers had the car crash tested by FISA in order to confirm that it indeed complied with the 1993 regulations; this necessitated the destruction of the original car.
The first public testing came at Suzuka in January 1994, when yet another car had been built and Satoru Nakajima performing the public test. Soon after, testing on the RC101 came to an end as Honda concentrated on their new CART program.
Following rule changes necessitated by safety concerns following the deaths at 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, a third Honda R&D Formula One car was later built, based on 1995 regulations. The RC101B/RC-F1 2.0X featured new developments such as stepped bottom and a raised nose cone, and used a 3.0 liter Mugen-Honda engine as well as grooved Japanese Formula 3000-spec Bridgestone tyres. [2]
The RC100, RC101 and RC101B were planned to be destroyed after a demonstration running at the 2001 Honda Festival, an annual social gathering of Honda companies, in Honda Automobile R&D Center, Tochigi; it was the first time the cars were presented following the tests. Ultimately, the RC100 was presented to Honda Technical College Kansai and the latter two cars are now shown at the Honda Collection Hall, located at Twin Ring Motegi.
Lola Cars International Ltd. was a British race car engineering company in operation from 1958 to 2012. The company was founded by Eric Broadley in Bromley, England, before moving to new premises in Slough, Buckinghamshire and finally Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and endured for more than fifty years to become one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of racing cars in the world. Lola Cars started by building small front-engined sports cars, and branched out into Formula Junior cars before diversifying into a wider range of sporting vehicles.
The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series. It is considered as being the top level of single-seater racing in Japan and regional motorsports in Asia. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and managed by Japan Race Promotion (JRP). As of 2022, Super Formula is the fastest racing series in the world after Formula One.
Satoru Nakajima is a Japanese former racing driver. He is a five-time Japanese Top Formula champion, and was the first full-time Japanese Formula One driver. Accordingly, he is responsible for several firsts for Japanese drivers in Formula One, including being the first to score championship points, and being the first to record a fastest lap.
Mugen Motorsports (無限), legally known as M-TEC Company, Ltd., is a Japanese company formed in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda, the son of Honda Motor Company founder Soichiro Honda, and Masao Kimura. Mugen, meaning "without limit", "unlimited" or "vast", is an engine tuner and parts manufacturer that manufactures OEM parts such as body kits and sports exhausts for Honda. Despite the family relationship, however, Mugen is not, and has never been, owned by Honda Motor Company; Mugen owner Hirotoshi Honda has been the biggest shareholder in Honda since his father's death in 1991.
The Honda RA272 was a Formula One racing car designed by Yoshio Nakamura and Shoichi Sano for the 1965 Formula One season. It was the first Japanese car to win in Formula One, achieving victory at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix after leading every lap with driver Richie Ginther. The win came just two years after Honda started producing road cars, and was the first of 89 victories for Honda-powered Formula One cars.
The Japanese automobile manufacturer Honda has participated in Formula One, as an engine manufacturer and team owner, for various periods since 1964. Honda's involvement in Formula One began with the 1964 season, and in 1965 they achieved their first victory at the Mexican Grand Prix. After further success with John Surtees, Honda withdrew at the end of the 1968 season due to difficulties selling road cars in the United States and Honda driver Jo Schlesser's fatal accident.
Dome Co. Ltd, literally "child's dream", is a Japanese racing car constructor involved mainly in open-wheel and sports car racing.
The Peugeot 905 is a sports-prototype racing car built by Peugeot's racing department, Peugeot Talbot Sport.
The Honda RA099 was a prototype Formula One racecar, commissioned by Honda, designed by ex-Ferrari and Tyrrell designer Harvey Postlethwaite and built by Dallara in 1999. Its purpose was similar to the one surrounding the Toyota TF101 of 2001, in that it was supposed to be a working test car used in preparation for a full-scale assault on Grand Prix racing in the following years.
The Honda Civic Type R is a series of high-performance hatchback/sedan models based on the Civic, developed and produced by Honda since September 1997. The first Civic Type R was the third model to receive Honda's Type R badge. Type R versions of the Civic typically feature a lightened and stiffened body, specially tuned engine, and upgraded brakes and chassis, and are offered only in five- or six-speed manual transmission. Like other Type R models, red is used in the background of the Honda badge to give it a special sporting distinction and to separate it from other models.
The Honda RA271 was Honda's first Formula One racing car to enter a race. The chief engineer on the project was Yoshio Nakamura, with Tadashi Kume in charge of engine development. It was driven in three races during 1964 by American driver Ronnie Bucknum.
Équipe Ligier is a motorsport team, best known for its Formula One team that operated from 1976 to 1996. The team was founded in 1968 by former French rugby union player Guy Ligier as a sports car manufacturer.
The DAMS GD-01 was an unraced Formula One car used by the French motorsport team, Driot-Arnoux Motor Sport (DAMS). The GD-01 was designed and built by a collaboration of DAMS and Reynard engineers from 1994 to 1995, and was intended to establish the team—which had achieved considerable success in lower categories—in Formula One (F1), the premier Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)-sanctioned level of racing. However, due to insufficient financial backing, the team never entered the championship, despite completing construction of the chassis and conducting limited testing.
The Dome F105 was an unraced Formula One car designed and built by the Japanese motorsport constructor, Dome.
The first generation Honda NSX, marketed in North America and Hong Kong as the Acura NSX, is a 2-seater, mid-engine sports car that was manufactured by Honda in Japan from 1990 until 2005.
The 2017 Autobacs Super GT Series was the twenty-fifth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era, and the thirteenth season under the name Super GT. It was the thirty-fifth overall season of a national JAF sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The season began on April 9 and ended on November 12, after 8 races.
Honda has been competing in a variety of racing series through the years, including Formula One, IndyCar, touring car racing, sports car racing and MotoGP. Currently they are involved in Formula One, MotoGP, Super GT, Super Formula, IndyCar, IMSA, BTCC, TC2000, Formula 3, Formula 4, off-road, WSBK, EWC, MXGP, TrialGP and various different GT3 and TCR series.
The RA series of 3.5-litre and 3.0-litre, naturally-aspirated, V10 racing engines were made by Honda to compete in Formula One racing; between 1989 and 1990, and then again between 2000 and 2005. Between 1992 and 2000, the engines were also made by Mugen Honda. The customer engines were used by McLaren, Arrows, Lotus, Ligier, Tyrrell, Prost, and Jordan.
Honda has made a number of naturally-aspirated V12 engines designed for Formula One motor racing; starting with the 1.5-litre RA271E engine in 1964, and ending with the 3.0-litre RA273E in 1968. This would be followed by a 21-year hiatus, until Honda reintroduced the new 3.5-litre RA121E in 1991. The RA121E would go down as the last V12 engine to win a Formula One World Championship. Honda's last-ever V12 engine, the RA122E/B, raced in 1992.
The Mugen MF308 is a naturally aspirated, gasoline-powered, 3.0 L (180 cu in), V8 racing engine, designed, developed, and built by Mugen Motorsports, for Formula 3000 racing categories, between 1988 and 2005. It produced between 490–500 hp (370–370 kW) over its lifetime. It famously powered Jean Alesi to the 1989 International Formula 3000 Championship, with Eddie Jordan Racing.