June 25, 2008 – Honda’s impressive racing heritage will again be displayed at this year’s Festival of Speed (July 11-13), with performances from two and four wheeled legends spanning five decades, and a host of Honda’s most famous racing champions.
New for 2008 on Honda’s consumer stand, Vicki Butler Henderson will host a Question of MotorSport where two teams of Honda racers will pit their sporting acumen against one another. The quiz will take place at 2pm on Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday, team captain John McGuinness will be joined by quiz mates Alex Wurz and Stuart Graham, who will challenge John Surtees’ team, Cal Crutchlow and Mick Doohan. On Sunday, Jenson Button (captain) will be joined by Leon Haslam and Tommy Robb, to take on John McGuinness (captain) with his new team mates Jim Redman and Ralph Bryans.
Blasting up the Goodwood Hill for Honda will be:
Cars
Alex Wurz (Saturday) and Jenson Button (Sunday):
Honda RA107 – Powered by a 2.4 liter V8 engine, the Honda Racing F1 team’s 2007 challenger can reach maximum speeds of 211mph.
Tom Chilton (Friday), Stephen Worthy, Journalist (Saturday) and Vicki Butler Henderson (Sunday):
2008 Civic Type R BTCC – One of Britain’s most iconic hot hatches, Honda's 2-liter Civic Type R has been a power to reckon with, spearheading the Team Halfords attack in the most challenging and demanding of series outside of F1.
Andrew Frankel, national freelance journalist:
Tarquini’s Accord Super Touring BTCC 2000 – For more than a decade Honda has been at the forefront of Britain's Touring Car Series. This outstanding Accord was driven in the British Touring Car Series in 1994 by Italian Gabrielli Tarquini and partnered by Britain's James Thompson.
Motorcycles
Tommy Robb:
RC 163 – Winner of all nine races in the 250cc class in the 1962 World Championship, the RC 163 took the Manufacturer's and Rider's Championships, contributing to Honda's continuous streak of title wins with Jim Redman.
Stuart Graham:
RC 174 – Winner of seven out of eight races in the 1967 World Championship, the RC 174, equipped with a DOHC 6-cylinder engine took the Manufacturer's and Rider's Championships in the 350cc class. It was also an IOM TT winner with Mike Hailwood.
Luigi Taveri:
RC 163 – This machine's victory in the 250cc class at the 1961 West German Grand Prix was the first GP win for a Japanese rider. The machine dominated the class, winning all 10 events it entered.
Bob Heath:
RC 173 – One of the rarest motorcycles at the Festival, valued at more than £400,000 this is one of only two RC 173s built for Mike "the bike" Hailwood by Honda in 1965. This 4-cylinder, 350cc machine took Hailwood to victory in every Grand Prix he entered that year. The machine was re-built by Bob Heath with the help of Honda in Japan.
Jim Redman:
Honda Superstock CBR1000RR 2008 – Honda's lastest Fireblade capable of reaching 100mph in first gear! It's currently leading the 2008 Superstock Championship in the hands of Steve Brogan.
Ralph Bryans:
Honda RC 171 – This machine contested the 1962 Grand Prix Championship in the 350cc class. A successor of the RC 170, it debuted at the Ulster GP (Round 7) and contributed to Honda's first 3-class sweep.
John McGuinness:
2007 TT winning Fireblade – Honda’s Fireblade power also features in the hands of the Isle of Man TT’s lap record holder at 130mph. John's mastery of road circuits has made him one of the world legends of the sport. At Goodwood he's riding the actual bike that broke the TT record and won four TT races.
Cal Crutchlow (Saturday) and Leon Haslam (Sunday):
HM Plant Superstock Fireblade – This 200-plus horsepower rocket races in this year's hotly contested British Superbike Series. With a top speed of nearly 200mph, this is one of the fastest, best engineered racing bikes in the world today.
Mick Doohan:
HM Plant Superbike Fireblade – Mick will ride Leon Haslam's official 2008 Honda Fireblade Superbike machine which produces over 200bhp in the 2008 British Superbike Championship.
A full range of Honda cars, motorcycles and power products will be displayed on the consumer stand.