Honda RA108
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The Honda RA108 is the Formula One racing car that will be representing the Honda Racing F1 Team in the 2008 FIA Formula 1 World Championship beginning with the Australian Grand Prix held in Melbourne on March of 2008.
The team is pinning their hopes on their 2008 challenger after a dismal season last year that saw the team finish at a distant 8th place. The RA108 was officially unveiled at the team's operational headquarters in Brackley, UK with new test driver Alex Wurz on the drivers' seat followed by the initial shakedown at official test sessions in Valencia by race drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.
The Brazilian Barrichello completed the first miles equivalent to 12 laps without any problems. Button and Barrichello finished 13th and 15th, respectively in the preseason testing held at Jerez on the 13th of February, 2008.
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Design
In hopes of vastly improving on the team's disappointing finish in 2007, Honda came up with the RA108 with a completely different concept from its previous car mainly in terms of aerodynamic layout and mechanical structure. In order to achieve a high level of aerodynamic efficiency with stability, the team has revised the chassis to interact with the different aerodynamic features and the suspension which will allow for further developments to take place.
Like some of last year's contenders, the RA108 also has encountered problems that were aerodynamic related, with the cars balance shifting under braking and cornering. The acquisition of several key people, namely Loic Bigois from Williams, Jorg Zander formerly of Toyota and BMW, and Ross Brawn from Ferrari, have assured that some of the vehicle's loopholes were addressed.
The car's new wing has a trailing edge shape and slightly-raised tips while the nose tip has been kept very high, making the bridge wing packaging difficult. The front suspension has its lower wishbone attached nearer the sides of the monocoque than underneath and the upper wishbone apparently spaced out from the side of the tub with both aiming to improve the geometry.
According to Brawn, the team principal, the team has also addressed one of the main problems last year---the overly aggresssive downforce which made the car very sensitive to pitch and roll---by putting enough work on giving the drivers downforce that is more useable.
Honda has also evolved last year's livery from "My earth dream" to this year's "Earth Dreams," marking the next phase in the team’s long term environmental initiative.
Videos
| Launching of the Honda RA108 in Brackley. |
Formula One Results
| Year | Team | Engine | Tires | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Points | WCC |
| 2008 | Honda F1 | Honda V8 | Bridgestone | AUS | MAL | BHR | ESP | TUR | MON | CAN | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | EUR | BEL | ITA | SIN | JPN | CHN | BRA | |||
| Button | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Barrichello |
References
- Honda launches 2008 F1 car
- Honda RA108 Images, Specs, Infos
- Honda RA108 Wikipedia
- Honda unveils the new RA108... now with stripes
- Technical analysis of the Honda RA108
- The new Honda RA108
External Links
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