The F1 Cars Behind Honda’s Glory
First Year for All-Japan F1 Team
(from left) Sakon Yamamoto, Aguri Suzuki (team principal) and Takuma Sato
Struggling to meet customer chassis regulations
Racing in F1 with provisional car
The Super Aguri F1 team was founded in November 2005, and is headed by former F1 driver Aguri Suzuki. In 2006, the team’s first year of competition, they were planning to enter either the 2005 BAR 007 or the Honda RA106 that Honda had developed for 2006, in anticipation of the ban on the use of a customer chassis. However, rival teams pointed out the possibility of violating the Concorde Agreement, and the plan was drastically changed. Considering the time available before the season-opener, it was impossible for them to design and manufacture a car from scratch, so the team decided to purchase the A23 used by Arrows in 2002, and combine it with aerodynamic parts to meet the 2006 regulations as the SA05 to compete.
In the ever-evolving world of F1, however, adapting a four-year-old car to the regulations was more difficult than expected. In 2005, the minimum ground clearance was raised significantly, so the stays that suspend the front wing from the nose had to be shortened to raise the wing’s ground clearance. Also, the crash test criteria was stricter than when the A23 was built, so the shape of the side pontoons had to be changed to accommodate. The size of the side pontoons also had to be changed to accommodate the new 2.4L V8 engine, which required a different cooling performance. In addition, the engine fairing, diffuser, and rear wing could not be used, so they were modified to meet the regulations.
Honda actively supported Super Aguri. The Arrows A23 was powered by a Ford Cosworth 3L V10 engine, but the Super Aguri was powered by Honda’s 2.4L V8 RA806E. The size and details were different, and even the engine mounts were different by 20mm, so Honda’s cooperation was essential. In addition, the hydrualics system, electronics, and other systems had to be completely redesigned to adapt to the Honda engine.
With the team’s efforts and the support of Honda and many others, the Super Aguri SA05 shakedown took place on February 15 at Kemble Airport in England. Shortly thereafter, Takuma Sato and Yuji Ide were officially named as the new team’s drivers.
Due to the short preparation period, the SA05 was only a provisional car built to meet regulations. The team then introduced the SA06A, with a modified chassis, from the Round 12 in Germany, with its major differences from the SA05 being a 20kg weight reduction, a lower center of gravity for the engine and gearbox, and the accompanying improvements to the rear suspension geometry. In addition, the bodywork was narrowed from the side pontoons to the rear, greatly improving aerodynamic performance. This increased downforce in mid- to high-speed turns and stabilized the rear behavior.
However, because the SA06A’s front suspension and front aerodynamic package remained the same as the SA05, the improved rear end resulted in imbalance, and the car tended to understeer, making it difficult to turn. The new front suspension developed to improve this imbalance was introduced from Round 14, Turkey, named the SA06B (or B version). The new front suspension had a zero keel as far as possible, which smoothed the air flow under the monocoque, whereas the SA05 had a twin keel extending downward on both sides of the monocoque to the lower arms.
Super Aguri, which had fallen far behind its rivals by using the four-year-old monocoque, was not a contender for points even with the driving skills of Sato, who had a podium finish in 2004. Teammate Ide left the team after four races, followed by Frank Montagny after the next seven races. Sakon Yamamoto took over for the remaining seven rounds, but was unable to gain points. For the new team, the season was a harsh introduction to F1, but the experience would undoubtedly bring better results in the following year.
Led by team principal Aguri Suzuki with drivers Takuma Sato (right), who drove for BAR until 2004, and Yuji Ide (left), who finished second in the Formula Nippon 2005 series, the gained attention a mainly Japanese F1 team.
The Super Aguri SA05, used in the early rounds, was based on an old chassis and had an unnaturally low suspension setup. The car was named “05” despite being used in 2006, as it was only a provisional chassis, but it was used for 11 of the 16 rounds.
The SA06A was only used in Round 12, Germany. From Round 13, it was replaced by the SA06B with improved front suspension. The bodywork, which used to hang down significantly to the sides toward the back of the nose, were almost completely eliminated, and the car’s competitiveness was improved considerably.
RA806E
