Honda RA107: Off with the "Elephant Ears"

In Barcelona, Spain last week Honda F1 team has tested its new aerodynamic design which was in the form of "elephant ears".

The Honda RA107 which was driven by Christian Klien with its protruding elephant ears on its front nose was following the heels on MacLaren's nose-straddling front wing. Unfortunately it seems like the elephant ears are not really meant for racing, the Honda F1 team has set the slowest time of the day. The team has finally decided not to push through with their new aerodynamic design since it has done nothing to enhance the performance of their car.

According to Jacky Eeckelaert, engineering director, "The main purpose of our test programme this week was to evaluate different aerodynamic configurations which have been developed in order to improve the braking stability of the car. The braking is definitely better now and the lap times have improved and become more consistent, but there is still a long way to go to bring the team back into contention."

Honda, second largest auto seller in Japan and maker of high quality accord body kit, has been working really hard to correct the problems of the new car since the start of the season especially in terms of the car's handling performance.

According to some reports the team is currently working round the clock to develop a new car which would be launch hopefully next month in time for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Although the test didn't go well for the Honda team it proceeded remarkably for some teams like for instance David Coulthard and Red Bull Racing has been able to grab some attention by posting a new track record with a time of 1:21.066. The quick lap happens during the qualifying simulation wherein the RB3 was running on a minimal amount of fuel just before it hit the circuit.

Pedro de la Rosa of the McLaren's was 2-10ths back as he tries to test the new front wing of the team's car which would make its debut at the Spanish Grand Prix in two weeks time. Felipe Massa of the Ferrari team was able to finish with the third fastest time despite a mechanical failure that has interrupted his drive in the morning. And as expected of Ferraris they have finished the week recording the fastest time, three out of the four testing days.

Giancarlo Fisichella, the driver for Renault was the fourth quickest with Robert Kubica completing the top five. The driver for Toyota, Ralf Schumacher finishes as the sixth fastest.

About Honda Honda Motor Co., Ltd. or Honda for short is a Japanese engineering and engine manufacturer corporation. It is renowned for its automobiles and motorcycles. It has also surpassed Nissan as the second largest distributor of autos in Japan.

Honda also manufactures other products that include trucks, robots, scooters, jet engines, and jets, ATV, electric generators, water craft, lawn and garden equipment, marine engines, as well as aeronautical and other various mobile technologies. The high-end line of cars of Honda is sold under the Acura brand for China and North America. And just recently the company has ventured into the domain of mountain bikes and they have produced the first-of-its-kind bike that makes use of an internal gear changing system in the Honda RN-01 G-cross.

In addition, Honda is also the world's largest producer of engines, building more than 14 million internal combustion engines each year. It was in the year 2004 when Honda started producing diesel motors that were very silent and does not required the addition of particulate filter to pass the emission standards.

Honda has its base in Tokyo. Its shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange, Tokyo Stock Exchange and exchanges in Osaka, Sapporo, Nagoya, Kyoto, London, Switzerland, Paris, and Fukuoka. Honda has subsidiaries in California and Canada plus it also forms a number of joint ventures around the world which include Honda Siel Cars India Ltd., Dongfeng Honda Automobile Company in China, Hero Honda Motorcycles India Ltd., and Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan.