BAR Honda celebrates its centenary at Suzuka

Formula One heads for the final two rounds of the 2005 World Championship with back-to-back races in Japan and China. BAR Honda regards his Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix as another 'home race' alongside Silverstone and this year's event in Suzuka will have an even greater significance as Honda celebrates the milestone of its 100the Grand Prix with the BAR Honda Team.

Gil de Ferran "Together with Silverstone this is one of our most important grands prix as it can be considered as one of our home races - not only because of Honda but because of Takuma Sato also. The Suzuka track is a legendary drivers' circuit. For this race both Jenson and Taku will be driving the latest spec engine from Honda and we will have further developments on the car. We welcome the opportunity to perform next weekend, not only in front of the great number of F1 fans in Japan, but also in front of the supporters within our Honda family."

Built by Honda as a test circuit in 1962, the Suzuka circuit was designed by John Hugenholtz, a Dutchman who also produced Zandvoort and Jarama. The circuit is just one component of a gaint amusement park and other facilities and is situated on Honshu, by far the largest of the Japanese islands, which is also home to Tokyo, Yokohama and Osaka.

Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director at Honda Racing Development "It goes without saying that this is a big weekend for everyone. We are all determined to put on a good show for all our fans in Japan. To that end we have introduced an upgrade - Taku has already used the Suzuka spec engine in Brazil - but we will be fitting a new engine in Jenson's car for this race."