Honda achieved its first victory at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix, in the second year of its first F1 era. In its second era, Honda also won its first race in the second year, the 1984 U.S. Grand Prix. However, in its third F1 era, starting in 2000, Honda was unable to achieve victory even after two years of participation, leading to its decision to reorganize F1 operations for Year 3. First, Kazutoshi Nishizawa, who had been the technical director of Honda Racing Development (HRD), the European frontline base, was moved back to Honda R&D’s Tochigi R&D Center, and appointed as the head of engine and powertrain development. Ken Hashimoto was newly appointed as the head of joint-chassis development with BAR. Overseeing the development of the chassis and engine was Honda R&D’s Executive Chief Engineer, Toru Ogawa who had been in charge of race technology development the previous year. This reorganization was based on the experiences and realizations of the previous two years. The team now understood that to succeed in F1, engine horsepower was important, but matching the car and the engine was more important.

The RA002E, introduced in 2002, was newly developed from the frame up, and its V-bank angle was widened from RA001E’s 80 degrees to 94 degrees, to lower the center of gravity and improve power output by reducing air intake interference inside the airbox tray. Its overall length was increased from 588mm to 600mm, with a weight increase by 3kg to 111kg. At the same time, the bore x stroke was increased to 97 x 40.52 mm. The maximum rpm was increased to 18,000rpm for even higher speed and output. The valve train was changed from a direct-drive to a rocker arm system in order to secure valve lift. The scavenging pump and water pump were integrated with the cylinder block and lower case to improve rigidity. From the latter half of the season, a closed-deck block with cylinder surface Nizical plating was adopted to achieve high rigidity around the bore and reduce friction loss.

Ogawa commented, “While keeping the engine concept, the wider V-bank angle was made only with the chassis design in mind,” revealing the importance of the engine contributing to the chassis. The center of gravity was lowered from the previous 191.3mm to 177mm for RA002E.

In the 2000s, the trend in F1 engine development continued to be the widening of the V-bank angle o lower the overall center of gravity. 90 degrees was the standard, while some engines had an ultra-wide 111-degree V-bank angle. The RA002E followed this trend, adopting a V-bank angle of 94 degrees, but suffered from vibration in the high-rpm range, and reliability-related issues were frequent in early- to mid-season. Olivier Panis, who also had problems with the car, retired in the first seven races of the season, and teammate Jacques Villeneuve also went without points-finishes until mid-season.

BAR Honda’s first points came in Round 10, Britain, where Villeneuve finished fourth and Panis fifth in a rain-drenched race. Villeneuve’s first points finish in 12 races, and Panis’ first in 21 races, since the 2001 Austrian GP, seemed to have broken BAR Honda’s long spell of stagnation.

In Round 11, France, Honda introduced the improved Spec 2.5 engine for all four BAR and Jordan cars. However, Giancarlo Fisichella crashed before qualifying, and Panis and Takuma Sato collided during the race. The last remaining engine, Villeneuve’s, blew up, wiping Honda-powered cars out of the race. Honda then announced at Round 13, Hungary, that it would switch to a one-team system, supplying engines only to BAR from 2003. Two rounds later, in Italy, Williams BMW’s Juan Pablo Montoya took pole position, beating the previous record set by Williams Honda in 1985 for the highest speed during qualifying. The BMW engine had reached a maximum 19050rpm. In response, Honda’s F1 engine development would return to its roots, aiming for even higher rpm and output.