Tsukahara and McConville get taste of F1 with Honda

Honda’s Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Japan, venue for Monday’s “Honda Racing Thanks Day”, was the setting for two very special guest drives of the Honda Racing F1 Team’s 2008 F1 car on Tuesday 25 November.

Strapping themselves into a Formula One cockpit for the first time were Japanese Car Graphic Magazine Chief Editor Hisashi Tsukahara and Australian V8 driver Cameron McConville.

Both drivers are seasoned racers. Tsukahara holds an International C Class JAF racing licence following a varied racing career dating back to 1989 when he took part in the Tsukuba Production Race series. The following year he was second in the Tokyo Production Race series and has since competed in N1 and Suzuka Endurance races, Paul Ricard, Nürburgring and Thunderhill 24-hour races, the VW Golf GTi Cup and the Japan Le Mans Series.

McConville started his racing career in karts before graduating to Australian Formula Ford in 1991. While he experienced great success in open-wheel racing, he made his way to Australian V8 Supercars by way of victory in the 1996 GT Production Championship and two years in the Super Touring Championship. Other notable career highlights include victory in the 2001 Bathurst two-hour and 2002 Bathurst 24-hour races. He began his F1 commentary duties in 1999 and co-hosts Network Ten’s weekly motorsport show RPM on Australian TV.

McConville joined the Honda team at Motegi on Tuesday for what was his first visit to Japan and spent the early morning completing reconnaissance laps in a Honda Civic Type-R road car to learn the Twin Ring Motegi circuit. Cameron and his Network 10 crew spent a further day at Motegi filming the famous Honda Collection Hall on Wednesday. Australian Honda fans can look forward to a documentary of Cameron’s F1 drive during Network Ten’s build up to the Australian Grand Prix next March.