By BAR Honda
July 6 2005

Lucky Strike BAR Honda returned to its Northamptonshire base this week to make final preparations for its home Grand Prix which takes place at the Silverstone circuit this weekend. BAR Honda completed some valuable track time at the Silverstone test in June, when they ran aerodynamic and tyre evaluation programmes in preparation for this weekend's race.

The British Grand Prix is Round 11 of the Formula One World Championship and is the third of four gruelling sets of back-to-back races in the middle of the 2005 calendar. After a competitive race in Magny Cours last weekend, where Jenson Button scored a fourth place, the team are optimistic for Silverstone this weekend.

Every team wants to put on a good show at their home event, with BAR Honda and British driver Jenson Button being no exception. Both Jenson and Takuma Sato were greeted by legions of British fans at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last month, where the public were able to get close to the drivers and vehicles spanning several eras. The BAR Honda team experienced an overwhelming reception at the event, in preparation for what promises to be one of the busiest British Grand Prix weekends, with a maximum capacity crowd and grandstands full of loyal British F1 supporters.

Gil de Ferran, BAR Honda's Sporting Director, commented "Following an encouraging performance in France we come to Silverstone in an upbeat mood. It is a very fast circuit that should suit our cars. There is nothing particularly new on the car to speak of for this race, but we are running updated versions of engines and aero packages since the last Silverstone test. The changeable weather can always be an unpredictable factor during the British Grand Prix weekend, which can make things quite interesting on the pit wall! Obviously this is Jenson's and our team's home Grand Prix, so there is a lot going on, which in a way puts a little more pressure on everyone. On the other hand its very motivating to perform in front of the home crowd. Since our factory is just down the road and a lot of our guys live locally, most of our factory-based team will be in attendance."

Shuhei Nakamoto, Honda Racing Development's Engineering Director, added "The latest specification Honda engines worked well in Magny Cours which gives us cause for optimism this coming weekend at the team's home Grand Prix. A great many of our Honda associates will be coming to Silverstone and the entire team is working very hard to ensure the best possible preparation for a successful race on Sunday."