16/06/2005
NEWS STORY
Three sons of famous racing dads will celebrate the 40th anniversary of Honda's first Formula One win, at the 2005 Goodwood Festival of Speed, on 24-26 June.
Pitpass has previously reported that Nelson Angelo Piquet (son of three-time World Champion, Nelson Piquet) will drive his father's 1987 Williams-Honda FW11B, the same car with which he won his final Formula One World Championship.
It's now been announced that Jeff Bucknum (son of Honda's first F1 driver Ronnie Bucknum) and David Hailwood (son of 'Mike the Bike' Hailwood), will also perform at this year's Festival of Speed. They will join World Champions, Tourist Trophy and Indy Car winners - and GP stars past, present and future - in the greatest ever showing of Honda powered racers in Britain.
The 'young guns' will drive their fathers' machines, with Jeff in Ronnie Bucknum's 1965 Honda RA 272 and David riding his father's 1967 Dutch TT winning RC181.
This year's list of Honda riders and drivers reads like a Who's Who? of motorsport. It includes John Surtees, the only car and motorcycle World Champion, Stuart Graham, the only car and motorcycle TT winner as well as multi world motorcycle Champions Ralph Bryans, Mick Doohan, Jim Redman, Freddie Spencer and Luigi Taveri.
Aside from these Honda will field more cars and bikes than ever in this, the seventh, year it has participated at Goodwood. Aside from the ones just mentioned, the list includes John Surtees' 1967 Italian GP winning RA300, the 1988 Championship-winning McLaren Honda MP4/4 and the F2 Brabham BT Honda, which took 11 consecutive wins during 1966.
The 10 racing motorcycles include 50, 125, 250, 350 and 500cc machines from the '60s, as well as the V4 500cc two-strokes from the '80s and '90s. They include the twin cylinder 50cc RC116 which screamed out 14 horsepower at over 21,000 rpm, the five cylinder 125cc RC149, and the six cylinder 250cc RC166 and 350cc RC173 machines - all from 1966.
From the present era, Jenson Button and Takuma Sato will be demonstrating the latest BAR Honda 007 - while current Honda Moto GP contender Nicky Hayden will ride the awesome RC211V Moto GP racer. This 200 horsepower V5 machine took both the 2002 / 2003 Manufacturer and Rider's titles in the hands of Valentino Rossi. Also on two wheels, Mick Extance, the only English rider to finish last year's Paris-Dakar rally will be demonstrating the Honda XR650 Rally Raider.
Mat Neal and Tom Chilton will respectively be putting their BTCC winning Honda Integra and Civic Type-R racers through their paces. And finally current BAR Honda test driver Anthony Davidson and double CART World Champion (now BAR Honda's Sporting Director) Gil de Ferran will drive the twin-turbo NSX GT, which races in this year's Japanese GT Championship.
As the main sponsor of this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed, Honda will command the prestigious central display area. For the first time this will be a moving spectacle featuring no fewer than six full size Honda-powered F1 cars. Mounted on giant arms, the sextet of cars will be 'moving in the breeze' giving a spectacular visual treat to crown this highlight of the motoring year. Not to be overshadowed, no less than 20 key motorcycles from Honda's history will surround the central drive in front of Goodwood House.
The latest sculpture celebrating six world famous Honda-powered Grand Prix cars is the tallest structure ever seen outside the 300-year-old stately home in Sussex. The 50 metre high, 30 metre wide work of art features massive 'swinging arms' made of toughened steel, supported by a massive base. In total there were more than 80 tons of steel used - with foundations dug 8 metres deep.
Six F1 cars are fixed to the base of each 50m long arm in order of their year of success. The key to this magnificent structure is the fact that this is the first time ever the cars will actually move up and down creating a 'mobile' effect to entertain the fans. The six cars on display - three actual cars and three replicas - were donated by Honda, Lotus, McLaren and BAR Honda. Special Italian designed lighting makes the display even more dramatic at night.
The attraction was created by architectural and sculptural designer Gerry Judah and his production team, who took more than a year to design and build it. "To make a powerful and dramatic impact the display needed to be both iconic and dynamic," said Gerry. "Honda's three eras of F1 challenge was a perfect opportunity to enhance the effect with the 'swinging arm concept' - it's the most powerful and dramatic centrepiece I have ever created."