Honda ready for second speed record attempt.
Having seen their first attempts washed out by irregular weather patterns, Honda Racing F1 have returned to Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA to attempt the outright land speed record for a Formula One car yet again.
Originally scheduled for October 2005, Honda saw their efforts come to nothing when a poor weather sequence saw the Salt Flats flooded for much of the year and placing the bid out of reach for the moment.
A second attempt was made in November unofficially conducted at the Mojave airfield in California and a speed of 413.205km/h was achieved.
Having seen their first attempts washed out by irregular weather patterns, Honda Racing F1 have returned to Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA to attempt the outright land speed record for a Formula One car yet again.
Originally scheduled for October 2005, Honda saw their efforts come to nothing when a poor weather sequence saw the Salt Flats flooded for much of the year and placing the bid out of reach for the moment.
A second attempt was made in November unofficially conducted at the Mojave airfield in California and a speed of 413.205km/h was achieved.
However, the team weren't satisfied: the speed was right, but the place was wrong. The objective from the outset of the Bonneville 400 project was for the Honda Racing F1 Team to set the first official Land Speed Record for a Formula One car at Bonneville's 40,000 square acres of salt flats which have been inextricably linked to cars and speed since the 1920s.
A technical challenge that has stretched team over the two-year project, the car they are racing is visually similar to the standard Honda F1 car, but the aerodynamics have been modified to achieve the highest speed possible
"Next week sees the climax of a long two-year project for the Honda Racing F1 team," said Bonneville 400 Technical Director Gary Savage. "We hope that the result on the Salt Flats will reflect the hard work and dedication that has been put into this project by all the team both in the UK and Japan".
The central character in this story though will inevitably be Bonneville 400 driver and former British Formula Three Champion, Alan van der Merwe. The South African-born 26 year-old is charged with getting the job done.
"It's been such a long build-up so I just feel totally prepared for it. Everybody has been working so hard over the last two years and is so well prepared that I don't feel any apprehension - I just want to get out there and do it. It's a good feeling to know that we are going to get on a plane next week and get it on. In fact, I wish I was on my way to Bonneville right now!"
