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- Honda celebrates the “double forty” at Goodwood
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| Honda celebrates the “double forty” at Goodwood |
| The three litre era Development of an all-new engine and chassis for the 1966 season began immediately after Honda's breakthrough F1 victory in Mexico . Having considered both V12 and V16 layouts to meet the new 3-litre regulations, Honda’s engineers opted for the 12-cylinder alternative.
Once again the engine boasted more power than its rivals but the new machine was handicapped by being considerably overweight. Despite this Ginther ran second on its debut in Italy until a tyre burst and was looking good for a comfortable third in America before gearbox gremlins prevented a podium finish. For 1967, Honda focused its energies on a single car entry for Englishman John Surtees – the only man ever to win World Championships on both two and four wheels. Surtees scored three top six points-scoring finishes in the first six races of the season before the sensational introduction of the brand new RA300 at Monza in September.
After an epic battle with Jim Clark (Lotus-Cosworth) and Jack Brabham (Brabham-Repco), Surtees surged through to record a famous victory by just two-tenths of a second. After the dramatic victory in its maiden race, Honda continued with the RA300 for the remainder of the 1967 season. The company proved itself to be among the F1 elite by securing fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship with Surtees also claiming fourth place in the Drivers’ Championship. Based on these improving results, optimism ran high for Honda's fifth season on the Grand Prix grid.
To take the team to greater heights Honda developed a new chassis, the RA301. The car featured a tougher, full-length monocoque and was considerably lighter than its forebear thanks to the extensive use of magnesium. The RA301’s water-cooled V12 engine was extensively redesigned in the search for greater power. However despite proving more than a match for its rivals on several occasions, the RA301 was plagued by misfortune. Mechanical problems prevented top three finishes in Spain and Monaco before a suspension failure robbed Surtees of certain victory in Belgium. The team had to wait until France to score its first points when Surtees finished second. The Englishman qualified on pole position (Honda's first) and led at Monza until crashing when avoiding a spinning car and led again at the season finale in Mexico until retiring with tyre problems. The following season proved less successful, with Surtees finishing no better than seventh in the Drivers’ Championship. Tragically the Englishman’s best result – a second place in the French Grand Prix – was marred by the death of the French driver Jo Schlesser who was making his debut in the RA302. Many of the problems in 1968 resulted from Honda's brave decision to pursue simultaneous development of two completely different cars. To help promote and market the company's new range of air-cooled road cars Honda instructed its engineers to design an air-cooled F1 engine. A V8 format was selected and a lightweight RA302 chassis was specially designed to meet the needs of the new air-cooled unit. Honda’s engineers were keen to banish their disappointments in the 1968 season and redress the balance in 1969. In August work started on an all-new car to be equipped with a lightweight and compact water-cooled V12. However, within weeks, Honda announced its ‘temporary withdrawal’ from Grand Prix racing. The company's racing activities were to be put on hold for 15 years as Honda concentrated its efforts and resources on new challenges. During its six-year adventure in Formula One, the company had grown unrecognisably as a producer of passenger cars and it was now preparing its plans to become a leader in the compact car market. Many of the skills absorbed from the original F1 programme would prove beneficial to the development of Honda’s road cars throughout the years that followed. |
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