Although Honda has been powering F1 teams for 20 years now, the BAR team is Honda Motoring's first official title sponsorship of an F1 team. To some, BAR's Honda history appears an overnight success, though that is not really the case. The team is said to have launched to media in December 1997 by Craig Pollack, Paul Reynard of Reynard Racing Cars and British American Tobacco Company. The first few years were marked with fits and starts and Honda's engagement steadily progressed with the team's marked, hard-earned successes, until 2002 when David Richards (yes, Dave Richards of Prodrive) became team principal and big name in charge. Bringing with him technical guru Geoffrey Willis, from the Williams team and Honda's renewed commitment to the BAR team with a three-year contract, the BAR charge was on. In 2003, for the first time in their F1 history, Honda became an official major sponsor of BAR, meaning you and I have been seeing a more prominent Honda logo than ever before in BAR Honda F1 messaging. Besides exclusive engine supply, Honda's renewed commitment meant more involvement in overall development, the technical and R&D teams became partners more or less in such endeavors as the chassis program, but more importantly, the working partnership showed that Honda wanted the World Championship.
Interesting is the fact that the hottest F1 team worldwide with the youngest generation of F1 followers is BAR Honda, an outfit from UK, where the import scene is altogether different from ours. As fiercely arrogant and proud as we American scene-sters are about our tuning scenes-assuming that the U.S. is the epitome of Honda tuning-it then could be seen as a slap in face that Honda Motoring Company is in partnership with a British outfit, yet all the more fitting in many ways. The British motoring scene has for decades been a maverick arena for the world to watch, and the passion and fervor for Motorsports has not diminished in the least. Perhaps we headstrong Americans could take a few cues and tips on how to foster our very young import scene and develop it into something more than just nighttime import shows; into something that stands the test of time.
The average UK enthusiasts in general seem far more knowledgeable and thorough about the import scene than Americans, and are far more involved with all the hot Japanese brands in sport compact tuning, so much so that Corsas and Pugs get Veilside (or look-alike) front aero kits before the Civic Si Type-R. It's curious that young America, who is so obsessed with import culture and share a similar interest in F1 challenges with smaller displacement cars making great power, have not shown critical mass interest in F1. Having noted that, we are probably behind our own curve, like a dog chasing its tail instead of fetching the ball.
Though a lot of us in the States wait for the latest Option magazine, and skulk around online forums passing along fourth-hand gossip about the Japanese scene, the prescient Brits, who are always a step ahead in giving the nudge to universal trends, might be laughing last. Yes people, it might be hard to imagine and a blow to our collective ego, but perhaps England and Japan have a sexier relationship than we ever did with our Eastern paramour. People like Dave Richards, who has the racing Midas Touch, can make markets move and has been previously covered in ImportTuner, is like Malcolm McLaren was for the Sex Pistols. So Dave Richards for Motorsports racing, is probably spawning a generation or more of Motorsports moshing.