Honda fears falling behind as rivals benefit from F1 2014 experience

Honda fears falling behind as rivals benefit from F1 2014 experience

Honda top brass admit that taking a watching brief during next year's F1 campaign could put it at a disadvantage when it returns to the track in 2015.

The Japanese marque is due to make a much-heralded return to the top flight with McLaren – with whom it dominated the period between 1988-92 – but will not be ready for competition until 2015, giving rivals Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari a year's head-start when it comes to understanding the new engine and drivetrain technology being adopted by the category next season.

Although Honda is already working on its own version of the new 1.4-litre turbocharged V6 powerplant, it admits that not being able to pit it against the three established manufacturers on track next year will prevent it from learning some of the development tricks it expects the 'big three' to pick up.

"There are both advantages and disadvantages of participating from 2014," motorsport chief Yasuhisa Arai told the FIA's official publication Auto, "Many things will happen during the F1 season, and we are in a fortunate situation to be able to observe what will happen. However, as we are only able to observe, we cannot physically be at the track to see the problems.

“Other teams can improve on their problems and progress as the race goes on. How they will progress will be a mystery to us and our engineers must rely on their imaginations."

McLaren will start next season with the new driver pairing of Jenson Button and rookie Kevin Magnussen, but will have to complete one further year with long-standing engine partner Mercedes before being able to make the switch to Honda. Both McLaren and Honda, however, believe that their historical success together will make the transition as smooth as possible.

The pair's previous five-year partnership, which included the successful but volatile pairing of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna behind the wheel, produced no fewer than eight world championships, as well as 44 race wins, 53 pole positions and 30 fastest laps - in just 80 grands prix. The 1988 season was the most dominant in history, with McLaren winning all but one of the 16 races, and only losing a grip on the other when Senna collided with a slower car in Italy.

“Whilst both companies are fully aware that we're embarking on a very demanding journey together, we're hugely committed to the success of the partnership, and we'll spend the next 18 months working together to ensure that we're fully established and competitive ahead of our first grand prix together in 2015,” team principal Martin Whitmarsh said in May.

“The names of McLaren and Honda are synonymous with success in F1 and, for everyone who works for both companies, the weight of our past achievements together lies heavily on our shoulders. But it's a mark of the ambition and resolve we both share that we want once again to take McLaren-Honda to the very pinnacle of F1 success. Together we have a great legacy – and we're utterly committed to maintaining it.”

Arai, too, believes the combination of past success and determination to succeed again will put the pairing in a good position when they finally come together on track.

"We have had a great history together, but more important is the mutual respect we have for each other's work ethic and processes,” he concluded, “We have the same mentality or feel when we pursue victory and that is very important."

Source;
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/198825/1/honda-fears-falling-behind.html

Honda's 2014 WTCC Civic revealed

Honda has released the first visual of its 2014 World Touring Car Championship challenger reflecting the all new technical regulations for the FIA WTCC which will come into force next year.

The Honda Civic WTCC render shows the 'subtle style of the wheel arch extensions, larger diameter wheels, sleeker aero package and extended rear spoiler'. Add all this to increased engine power and the 2014 Honda WTCC racer is clearly an 'ambitious' car designed to retain Honda's Manufacturers World Championship crown and enable its drivers to challenge for the World Champion title.

Two works cars will be run by JAS Motorsport for Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro next season with further Civics to be entered by private outfits Zengo Motorsport and Proteam Racing for Hungary's Norbert Michelisz and Moroccan Mehdi Bennani respectively.

This announcement follows hot on the heels of the recent unveiling of the new 2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship Civic Tourer racer, with Matt Neal and Gordon 'Flash' Shedden confirmed as the Honda Yuasa Racing drivers for another season.

Source;
http://www.crash.net/wtcc/news/198722/1/hondas_2014_wtcc_civic_revealed.html

This McLaren-Honda F1 Documentary Has All The Greats And A Concerto

Welcome to Sunday Matinee, where we highlight classic car reviews or other longer videos I find on YouTube. Kick back and enjoy this blast from the past.

There's still nothing as captivating as a long video with great footage from the early 1990s and that legendary time for F1 – with names like McLaren, Honda and Senna.

This look at the McLaren-Honda days is narrated by someone who must intend this to be an informational video for elementary school viewers and even the smallest F1 fan probably won't learn anything they didn't from the commentary. However, it's an extensive look into the team and the daily lives of drivers at the track which turns out to be kind of fascinating in this case.

The narrator also talks a lot about tires and it sounds like he could say, "There it is again!" at any moment.

Then there's this one-on-one interview with Ayrton Senna where he spends a lot of time thinking before saying something good. Riveting.

Also, you get to see a lot of Honda Concertos in this. They must've really been pushing the performance of that car way back when. Zero to 60 in under 10 seconds! And it sounds like they forced them on new drivers as company cars. Then you worked up to a real car, like a new Legend. Those were the days.

Thanks for the tip, Nick!

Source;
http://jalopnik.com/this-mclaren-honda-f1-documentary-has-all-the-greats-an-1448762815

Honda Fires new F1 Engine for the First Time

Today Honda has released a recording of its new F1 engine which was recently fired for the first time. The engine is being developed for the 2015 season where Honda will participate under a joint project with McLaren.

Manabu Nishimae, President of Honda Motor Europe Ltd, commented, “It is exciting to hear the cry of our new born Formula One engine for the first time. Our engineers are working hard to develop the engine and we are all looking forward to the start of the 2015 season.”

Honda will be in charge of the development, manufacture and supply of the power unit, including the engine and energy recovery system, while McLaren will be in charge of the development and manufacture of the chassis, as well as the management of the new team, McLaren Honda.

From 2014, new F1 regulations require the introduction of a 1.6 litre direct injection turbocharged V6 engine with energy recovery systems. The opportunity to further develop these powertrain technologies through the challenge of racing is central to Honda’s decision to participate in F1. Throughout its history, Honda has passionately pursued improvements in the efficiency of the internal combustion engine and in more recent years, the development of pioneering energy management technologies such as hybrid systems. Participation in Formula 1 under these new regulations will encourage even further technological progress in both these areas. Furthermore, a new generation of Honda engineers can experience the challenges and the thrills of operating at the pinnacle of motorsport.

Honda will base its European racing operation in Milton Keynes from June 2014.

Source;
http://www.hondanews.eu/en/corporatenewsdetail/?id=3335

Honda NSX Concept-GT breaks cover

To race at Suzuka

Honda has announced the NSX Concept-GT race car which will compete in the GT500 class of the Super GT Series fifth round this weekend at Suzuka.

As you would imagine, the racecar is based on the Acura NSX concept and complies with the 2014 regulations established by the Japan Automobile Federation regarding GT500 cars. The vehicle is powered by a 2.0-liter mid-mounted inline direct-injection turbocharged four-cylinder engine working together with a hybrid setup.

No further details were released, but we notice the addition of a wide body kit including a huge rear wing, a lowered suspension, a carbon fiber front spoiler lip, side vents and multi-spoke alloys shod in Bridgestone Potenza tires.

The road-legal Acura NSX is scheduled to go on sale in 2015, with production taking place in Ohio, United States.

Source;
http://www.worldcarfans.com/113081661530/honda-nsx-concept-gt-breaks-cover

Honda steals Detroit show from Chevrolet

Simon Pagenaud, of France, raises his fist on his victory lap at the IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix auto race on Belle Isle in Detroit, Sunday, June 2, 2013. The victory was Pagenaud's first. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

bu George Pohly

DETROIT – The weekend wasn’t as bad for Chevrolet as it was for AJ Allmendinger.

But it was close.

Allmendinger failed to complete a lap in either of the 70-lap IndyCar Series races on Belle Isle, including the one Sunday won by Frenchman Simon Pagenaud for Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports. 

That wasn’t what the former NASCAR driver who’s reviving his career with Team Penske had in mind when he arrived in the Motor City after a strong showing in the Indianapolis 500. 

“Just a huge mistake by me,” a glum Allmendinger said after his second first-lap crash of the weekend. “I don’t know what to say.” 

Perhaps the same goes for Chevrolet. 

What can anyone say?

At an event that carried the automobile maker’s brand in its name, the Bowtie bunch got shut out during the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit as first Mike Conway on Saturday and then Pagenaud drove Honda-powered cars to first-place finishes in the first “doubleheader” of racing by the IndyCar Series.

Honda drivers took the top five places, and six of the top seven, on Sunday. 

On Saturday, Honda took three of the top four places. 

“They’ve worked really hard since Indy,” James Jakes, the runner-up Sunday, said in reference to Honda. 

Tony Kanaan, driving for KV Racing Technology and powered by the Chevrolet IndyCar engine, scored an emotional victory in the Indianapolis 500, Kanaan’s first in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

But Chevy’s bounce from Indy was short-lived. 

Dario Franchitti, whose Target Chip Ganassi Racing team is in the Honda camp, won the pole position for Saturday’s race. 

Then Conway, a late fill-in for Dale Coyne Racing, won the pole for Sunday before he prevailed in the Saturday race that featured only 14 caution laps. 

It was a different story Sunday.

Well, sort of a different story. 

There were six cautions before the race was 30 laps old.

The most dramatic caution came from a lap-28 accident that involved 10 cars and compelled Will Power, whose Team Penske Chevrolet was damaged in the melee, to pitch his racing gloves at Sebastien Bourdais, the driver Power blamed for the pileup. 

“He once was a champ, and now he’s a chump,” Power said before the No. 12 crew got his car back on the track. 

Once racing resumed, the balance of the weekend’s second race was competitive and entertaining.

It just did not end well for Chevrolet. 

“It’s very sweet for Honda to win in General Motors’ city,” Pagenaud said. “I’m very proud of Honda.

“But I’m not going to bash General Motors. I thank them for putting on this event.” 

Team Penske, run by Detroit champion and IndyCar icon Roger Penske, had a tough Sunday.Allmendinger finished last, Power 20th and Helio Castroneves eighth. 

Perhaps the best that can be said for Chevrolet is that, as the IndyCar teams packed up and left Detroit, Chevy drivers Marco Andretti and Castroneves were tied for the season points lead with 206 markers apiece. 

“We leave here tied for the top of the points standings, which is where we want to be, so overall it was a good weekend,” Castroneves said. 

A victory or two would have been better, of course. 

But that’s racing.

Chevrolet had its day at Indianapolis, and Honda returned the favor in Detroit. 

The IndyCar Series moves next to Texas.

It’s Chevy’s turn to answer back. 

Source;

http://www.themorningsun.com/article/20130603/SPORTS03/130609902/honda-steals-detroit-show-from-chevrolet#full_story

Honda to build engine for McLaren’s Porsche 911 competitor…or so we’d like to think

Looking at the neighbor kid’s mistreated Civic or your grandpa’s Accord, you might not guess that Honda is one of the world’s foremost engine manufacturers. But it is.

Aside from its car engine division, Honda produces all kinds of small displacement engines powering anything from its motorcycles to its power generators – and beyond.

In fact, if you think far enough back to what now seems like ancient history, the 1980s and ‘90s, Honda used to be apart of one of the winningest Formula 1 teams of its time: McLaren-Honda. With drivers like Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at the wheel, Honda’s engines propelled the team’s cars to 44 Gran Prix wins from 1988 to 1991.

Recently, Honda announced it would again team with McLaren for the 2015 season producing the new turbocharged 1.6-liter V6 engines required by Formula 1 for 2014.

Additionally, McLaren has said it’ll be producing an entry-level Porsche 911 competitor beneath he MP4-12C. Could this mean that McLaren will soon have a Honda-powered road-going sports car? Motor Trend seems to think so.

The idea doesn’t seem too far-fetched. Sure, we’re not millionaires in the market for a McLaren but taking our present budget-minded selves into consideration, we’re a bit concerned with a McLaren sports car’s potential reliability – especially compared to the meticulously-built 911.

Not to say that McLaren designers don’t put the time in, but as a small, independent brand, it’s R&D isn’t on the same level as Porsche’s. Add a Honda motor under the hood, however, and you’ve got our penny-pinching attention.

There’s some credence to the theory from a financial standpoint, too. Formula 1 changed the engine requirements so that the innovation going into Formula 1 cars could trickle down into the consumer market. The money spent on R&D on a new-fangled motor could greatly be offset if it were to hit a production car, albeit de-tuned.

Source;

http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/honda-to-build-engine-for-mclarens-porsche-911-competitoror-so-wed-like-to-think/

Say Goodbye to the Honda HSV-010

Honda aborted its front-engined NSX project years ago and turned it into a racecar, but even that's being put to pasture as the new hybrid NSX rolls in.

 

by Noah Joseph of www.carbuzz.com

Never heard of the Honda HSV-010 GT? That’s because, unlike the other cars competing in Japan’s Super GT series, the HSV-010 isn’t actually based on a production car. It traces its roots to an aborted front-engined NSX project, but a loophole in the regulations allowed it to race anyway. But it won’t for much longer. According to reports, Honda Racing will race the HSV-010 GT in the GT500 class of the Super GT series this year, much as it has since 2010. But 2013 will be its last season before Honda phases it out in favor of the new NSX.

With the roadgoing NSX not expected to arrive until late next year, at the earliest, that means the Super GT500 version will be the first on the scene. It also means that the HSV-010 will have had a rather short lifespan, deployed only on the racetrack (despite its original production intentions) for three years. In contrast, the original NSX competed in the Super GT series (and its predecessor Japanese Grand Touring Car Championship) for a solid twelve seasons. The original won the title three times, and the HSV-010 another one. Will the new NSX be as successful? Only time will tell.

Source;
http://www.carbuzz.com/news/2013/4/4/Say-Goodbye-to-the-Honda-HSV-010-7713722/

McLaren and Honda getting back together?

By Greg Stuart on 11 March 2013 in F1

 

The dream team from 1988-1992 could be reunited in 2015…

Between 1988 and 1992, McLarens powered by Honda engines won four Drivers’ titles – three for Ayrton Senna and one for Alain Prost – and the same number of Constructors’ championships.

Now the latest rumour going around the F1 paddock is that Honda could be back in F1 by 2015 and looking to provide engines to the team again.

Speaking to Autopsort magazine recently, McLaren Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh was non-committal about whether Mercedes-Benz would continue to provide the team’s engines beyond the 2014 season.

"We have a contract that covers the next three seasons at the moment and we will certainly go into next year [2014] with Mercedes-Benz,” said Whitmarsh.

"There is nothing to announce at the moment,” he added. “I can't elaborate any further.”

Whitmarsh’s comments were analysed by Autosport’s F1 Editor Edd Straw, who was unconvinced that the McLaren/Mercedes-Benz partnership would exist beyond 2014.

“That he specifically confirmed next season, but dodged the issue of 2015 is telling,” said Straw.

“While the dotting of the i’s and the crossing of the t's might be incomplete, both McLaren and Honda plan to renew their partnership on track in 2015,” he added.

Should the rumour turn out to be true, it would bring to an end one of the most established manufacturer/engine supplier relationships in the modern Formula One era.

Following Honda’s withdrawal from the sport at the end of the 1992 season, McLaren languished for several years, using uncompetitive engines from Ford and Peugeot as the Renault-powered cars of Benetton and Williams drove off into the distance.

Mercedes-Benz returned to Formula One as an engine supplier in 1995 and were initially used only by McLaren. Four seasons later, the partnership took its first Drivers’ title with Mika Hakkinen, and claimed the Constructors’ title in the same year. Another Drivers’ title followed a year later, with Lewis Hamilton adding a third in 2008.

The relationship has even continued onto the road, with McLaren and Mercedes-Benz having jointly developed the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren road car back in 2003.

But even though McLaren has seen its fair share of success using Mercedes-Benz power, there’s no doubt that a return to Honda engines, and the subsequent evocation of the Senna/Prost era, would make for a great story.

Source;
http://www.redbull.com/en/motorsports/f1/stories/1331583536261/mclaren-and-honda-getting-back-together-