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Formula 1
Honda also surprised everyone by entering Grand Prix racing in 1963, just three short years after producing their first road car. They
began development in 1962 of the RA271 and startled the European-dominated Formula One garages with their all-Japanese factory team
(except for American drivers Ronnie Bucknum and Richie Ginther). More startling was the fact that Honda built their own engine and chassis,
something only Ferrari had traditionally done. In only their second year of competition, Honda reached the coveted top step of the podium
with Ginther's win in the RA272 at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix. In 1967, another Honda-racecar (partly designed by Lola in the UK) with a
high-revving 3-litre engine called the RA300 scored another F1 win in the Italian Grand Prix. (This car and the RA272 are simulated in
driveable form in the Grand Prix Legends racing simulation for X86-based pc's.) Honda backed up their Grand Prix victories by dominating the
1966 Formula 2 season, winning every race that year with Jack Brabham's team.
Honda returned to Formula One in 1983 as an engine supplier for Spirit and stayed in the sport for a decade, at various times teaming with
Lotus, McLaren, Tyrrell and Williams. Honda supplied engines to six constructor champions, as well as five driver championships, before
dropping out of the sport again.
Honda returned yet again in 2000, providing engines for BAR. They also supplied engines to Jordan Grand Prix for 2001 and 2002. This would
lead to a battle for the right to use the Honda engines in the long term. in 2003, despite their better showing in the previous 2 seasons,
Honda dropped Jordan Grand Prix. In mid-November 2004 Honda purchased 45% of the BAR team from British American Tobacco (BAT, the founder
and owner of BAR) leading to BAR's best season, when they were able to achieve second place in the 2004 Formula One season. In September
2005 purchased the remaining 55% share to become the sole owner. BAT will continue as title sponsor with the Lucky Strike brand in 2006,
but will withdraw entirely from Formula One after that. It has not yet been decided under what name the team will race in 2006.
In all, Honda-powered cars have won 75 Grands Prix.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article Honda.
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