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- A Winning Adventure
A Winning Adventure
A Winning Adventure
Honda's Decade in CART Racing
Author: Gordon Kirby & John Oreovicz
Format: Hardcover, 11" by 11", 300 pages
Photos: 265 color and 4 black-and-white photos
ISBN: 1-893618-26-9
When Honda announced it would enter the American CART racing series in 1993, the company had already enjoyed phenomenal success in Formula 1, first with Williams and then McLaren, which it powered to four consecutive championships.
The CART community expected Honda to quickly dominate, but instead the company struggled. After a promising year of development with Bobby Rahal’s team, Honda made a troubled debut in 1994, when it struggled to adjust to different fuel requirements, rules, and the unfamiliar challenge of racing on oval tracks. The low ebb came at the Indianapolis 500, where Rahal failed to qualify and was forced to run Ilmor-powered cars borrowed from Roger Penske. At the end of the season, Rahal, who was largely responsible for bringing Honda into CART, informed the manufacturer that he would not continue in 1995.
After that bitterly disappointing year, Honda’s racing directors and engineers in Japan and America redoubled their efforts for 1995. They developed a new lighter aluminum-block engine that produced more power and offered improved driveability. The results were startling: that year Honda set the fastest lap at Indianapolis, claimed its first pole at Michigan, and won its first race in New Hampshire. Then, in 1996, the company won the Manufacturer’s Championship and the first of six consecutive Driver’s Championships. By the end of 2002, its final season in CART, Honda had earned three more manufacturer’s titles and a total of 65 wins.
A Winning Adventure tells the complete story of Honda’s remarkable turnaround and unprecedented success in CART racing through frank interviews with key Honda managers and engineers, as well as champion drivers like Alex Zanardi, Juan-Pablo Montoya, Jimmy Vasser, and Gil de Ferran. Join us for a rare glimpse into the planning, politics, dedication and drive that go into a top manufacturer’s successful racing program.
Honda's Decade in CART Racing
Author: Gordon Kirby & John Oreovicz
Format: Hardcover, 11" by 11", 300 pages
Photos: 265 color and 4 black-and-white photos
ISBN: 1-893618-26-9
When Honda announced it would enter the American CART racing series in 1993, the company had already enjoyed phenomenal success in Formula 1, first with Williams and then McLaren, which it powered to four consecutive championships.
The CART community expected Honda to quickly dominate, but instead the company struggled. After a promising year of development with Bobby Rahal’s team, Honda made a troubled debut in 1994, when it struggled to adjust to different fuel requirements, rules, and the unfamiliar challenge of racing on oval tracks. The low ebb came at the Indianapolis 500, where Rahal failed to qualify and was forced to run Ilmor-powered cars borrowed from Roger Penske. At the end of the season, Rahal, who was largely responsible for bringing Honda into CART, informed the manufacturer that he would not continue in 1995.
After that bitterly disappointing year, Honda’s racing directors and engineers in Japan and America redoubled their efforts for 1995. They developed a new lighter aluminum-block engine that produced more power and offered improved driveability. The results were startling: that year Honda set the fastest lap at Indianapolis, claimed its first pole at Michigan, and won its first race in New Hampshire. Then, in 1996, the company won the Manufacturer’s Championship and the first of six consecutive Driver’s Championships. By the end of 2002, its final season in CART, Honda had earned three more manufacturer’s titles and a total of 65 wins.
A Winning Adventure tells the complete story of Honda’s remarkable turnaround and unprecedented success in CART racing through frank interviews with key Honda managers and engineers, as well as champion drivers like Alex Zanardi, Juan-Pablo Montoya, Jimmy Vasser, and Gil de Ferran. Join us for a rare glimpse into the planning, politics, dedication and drive that go into a top manufacturer’s successful racing program.
