Honda RA107 | |
---|---|
Race Car | |
Category | Formula One |
Constructor | Honda |
Designer | Shuhei Nakamoto (Senior Technical Director) Gary Savage (Deputy Technical Director) Kevin Taylor (Chief Designer) Mariano Alperin-Bruvera (Head of Aerodynamics) |
Predecessor | Honda R106 |
Successor | Honda R108 |
Chassis | Moulded carbon fibre and honeycomb composite monocoque |
Suspension (front) | Double wishbone with pushrod-activated torsion springs and rockers, Showa dampers |
Suspension (rear) | Double wishbone with pushrod-activated torsion springs and rockers, Showa dampers |
Engine | Honda RA807E 2,400 cc (146.5 cu in) V8 (90°). naturally-aspirated, mid-mounted. |
Electric_motor | {{{Electric motor}}} |
Battery | {{{Battery}}} |
Power | 700-775 hp @ 19,000 rpm |
Transmission | Honda 7 speeds sequential semi-automatic |
Weight | {{{Weight}}} |
Fuel | Eneos |
Brakes | {{{Brakes}}} |
Tyres | Bridgestone Potenza
BBS Wheels |
Notable entrants | Honda Racing F1 Team |
Notable drivers | 7. Jenson Button 8. Rubens Barrichello |
Debut | 2007 Australian Grand Prix |
Races competed | 17 |
Race victories | 0 |
Podiums | 0 |
Constructors' Championships | 0 |
Drivers' Championships | 0 |
Pole positions | 0 |
Fastest laps | 0 |
The Honda RA107 is a Formula One racing car with which Honda Racing F1 contested the 2007 Formula One season. A modified version of the RA107, renamed the Super Aguri SA08 was used by Super Aguri in the 2008 Formula One season. The RA107 was the first Formula One car designed under former HRC motorcycle designer, Shuhei Nakamoto.
The car scored a best result of 5th at the Chinese Grand Prix and finished 8th in the constructors' championship. It featured a livery depicting planet Earth against a black background of space in order to raise environmental awareness, for which Honda won two awards at the 2007 Green Awards.[1]
Launch Information[]
It was revealed to the public on January 25 2007 at the Circuit de Catalunya in Spain. The RA107 was launched with the interim winter testing livery before the final colours were unveiled on February 26.
The 'livery launch' for the RA107 took place at the Natural History Museum in London and showed a completely new take on the look of a Formula One car. Honda's 2007 paint scheme does not use sponsorship branding but instead is focused on Honda's environmental desires. The car has been dubbed by some (including Honda themselves and team CEO Nick Fry [1]) as 'The Honda Earth car' and the car's livery depicts the planet Earth against the black background of space, with the only logos on the car being the Type R Honda 'H', and the Bridgestone logo, all at the very front of the car. On the rear wing is the web address of environmental awareness website My Earth Dream [2], launching on February 27, 2007. Pending the first race of the season, this will possibly be the first time in 30 years that a Grand Prix car has gone to the grid without a sponsored permanent livery.
Along with the launch of the new theme, a number of new sponsors were named at the launch event. These included two large global brands, Universal Music and Gatorade, as well as a large number of other companies including Fila, IBM, Instron, Oliver Sweeney, Perkin Elmer, Showa Denko, TUV and GF Agie Charmilles. [2]
2007 season[]
The team's form in pre-season testing was patchy, and it seemed the car was unable to produce the sort of results the car's predecessor had done.
The RA107's lack of pace was evident at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, with Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello qualifying 14th and 17th respectively (behind the 'customer' Super Aguri team, whose car, the Super Aguri SA07, was effectively an update of the previous year's Honda, the RA106). Barrichello finished the race in 11th place, with Button in 15th after receiving a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane.
The team did not score any points in the following six races, but more positively, the car's reliability was proving to be good. The team did have chances to gain points, however, at Monaco and Canada. In Monaco, Honda had their most competitive race up to that point but they were on the wrong strategy and required to pit an extra time, resigning them to a pointless race. At Canada, Barrichello could have finished as high as 3rd but was again on the wrong strategy which required him to pit an extra time dropping him to 12th.
At the French Grand Prix Button finished 8th, finally earning his and his team's first point of the season. Barrichello finished 9th in the following British Grand Prix, scoring his best result of the season. At the European Grand Prix, Jenson Button had had a strong first lap before the rain arrived and was up to 4th place before he aquaplaned off the circuit at the end of the pit straight, as did five other drivers.
The team scored points again at the Italian Grand Prix, as Button finished 8th to score his second point of the season. At the next round in Belgium both drivers were running out of the points before Button retired with hydraulic issues, while Barrichello finished 13th. In Fuji, the cars finished 10th and 11th in the wet conditions.
In Shanghai, Button put on a remarkable display of driving in the wet and scored the RA107's best result of the season with a strong 5th place, finally moving Honda ahead of Super Aguri in the championship standings. At Interlagos however, both cars retired with overheating engines due to the very hot weather in the race. Button finished the season 15th overall with six points, while for the first time in his career, Barrichello failed to score points during the season. Honda finished the season 8th in the constructors' championship.
Gallery[]
Complete Formula One Results[]
(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)
Year | Team | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Points | WCC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | Honda | Honda V8 | B | AUS | MYS | BHR | ESP | MON | CAN | USA | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | TUR | ITA | BEL | JPN | CHN | BRA | 6 | 8th | |
Jenson Button | 15 | 12 | Ret | 12 | 11 | Ret | 12 | 8 | 10 | Ret | Ret | 13 | 8 | Ret | 11 | 5 | Ret | ||||||
Rubens Barrichello | 11 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 12 | Ret | 11 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 17 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 15 | Ret |
Notes and references[]
- ↑ "Honda Worldwide | Formula 1 October 29, 2007 "Honda Racing F1 Team Wins at 2007 Green Awards"". 2008-01-04. http://world.honda.com/F1/2007/1029/.
- ↑ "Honda launch green campaign and livery", Autosport report, retrieved 26th Feburary 2007
External links[]
This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Honda RA107. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
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