Honda team happy with RA106 debut

Last week’s encouraging debut of the 2006 Honda RA106 has been warmly received by key members of the Honda Racing F1 Team. The team experienced almost no problems during the first run of its latest contender and showed promising potential for 2006.

"It was exciting to see the first F1 car run by a 100 per cent Honda team for nearly 40 years out on the track,” said Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development. “The engine continued to be as reliable as it had been in the Concept car, which is a good sign for the rest of the year. We have a good baseline to work from, so will continue to develop as fast as we can in the remaining tests."

Conditions in Barcelona were vastly different to those expected when the forthcoming F1 season kicks off in Bahrain and Malaysia; nevertheless the competitive pace and reliability displayed by the RA106 bodes well for the future.

"It has been a very successful test for the new car, despite the very cold conditions we faced last week, confirmed Mark Ellis, Chief Test Engineer. “The performance and reliability 'out of the box' have been extremely encouraging and we have used the track time to identify areas where we can quickly further improve the overall performance."

The team will continue its testing programme this week in Valencia with Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button and Anthony Davidson all in action.