BAR to become HONDA

[alesi95]

This is not some story i've heard (at least not recently), But Dave Richards keeps banging on how the team will be radically re-branded.

The Lotus rebranding came up again at Monza and was promptly dismissed by the team.
Don't see how that would have worked David Hunt says he has the rights to the Lotus team name, But Proton quite clearly have the rights to the Lotus name as a manufactuer of automobiles. So if the lotus name did return then surely it would return as a Lotus-proton.

Aways this re-branding nonsense will probably surface as a Honda factory team (I reckon). After all Honda did want to return as a factory effort (like Toyota) in the first place.

Remeber the Honda test car of 98, It blitz the likes of Mclaren and Ferrari with Verstappen and Salo in the cockpit.
However it all fell apart when designer Harvey P past away.

[bart_jacobs]

Did Salo drive the car?

[alesi95]

yup

[neilap]

We (I) can only hope.

[Valve Bounce]

More important than the name (Baronda is my tip) is the degree of participation of Honda in the development of the car. I see that Renault are now testing over a period of two days just to develop the electronics. I have always suspected that the timing of Ferrari's success and their acquisition of McLaren's Electronics Guru was no coincidence. Maybe Red can shed some light on this because I understand he is an electronics whiz.

Valve

[Wrex]

The general view on the 98 car though was it was running underweight.

[Nicholas]

Like the sensational 2001 Prost that scored about a quarter of the number of points its nearest rival Sauber managed

[I Ate Yoko Ono]

Wasn't the "Honda" car basically a Dallara test hack? Can't see how it would have done well.

I noticed that Honda quietly dropped the programme and concentrated solely on engines. I have always believed this was because they realised they did not have the strength or infrastructure to carry it off at the time. Harvey's untimely death has no link to their not running a works team.

[Sodemo]

Wasn't the Honda car tested in 1999 not 1998?

[Total-F1]

Nope. 1998.

Mugen-Honda disappeared at the end of 98 and then Honda decided they wanted to do the works thingy...

[Marcel ten Caat]

In an interview with RTL5 Richards denied the Lotus brand rumour because Lotus is an historical name (and a succesfull one) and he doesn't want a modern team named after that.

As far as I know his suggestion was something like Lucky Strike Honda Racing.

[kdr]

pic - 14th feb, valentines day 1999.

although they may have run before new year i guess

[Nicholas]

The front nose looks a bit like one of the recent Minardis. Those ice-rink sidepods look a bit 90s.


Thought I'd let you know

[Sato san]

i know theres all this talk or BAR becoming HONDA...but i still think David Richards wouldnt have gone there unless he thought there was a good chance of either him or his Prodrive outfit having some chance at owning it at some point...its just a gut feeling , nothing more .

[neilap]

Honda has also stated they are not interested in running their own car.