1987-1991
Preliminary discussions regarding a possible Honda Championship Auto
Racing Teams (CART) program. The final decision to proceed with the
project is made early in 1991.
January 1993
First U.S. announcement of Honda's Turbo V-8 program made at the
Detroit Auto Show. Honda signs testing agreement with Rahal-Hogan
Racing.
June 1993
First U.S. track test of Honda's new engine takes place at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with Mike Groff driving.
September 1993
CART program is introduced to Honda dealers in Las Vegas. Rahal-Hogan
Racing is named as the first team to receive race engines.
March 1994
Honda makes its CART race debut with the HRX Indy V-8 engine at
Surfers Paradise, Australia. Driver Groff finishes eighth.
July 1994
Comptech Racing becomes the second Champ Car team to receive Honda
engines for driver Parker Johnstone. Bobby Rahal records Honda's
first podium finish with a second place at Toronto.
December 1994
Honda announces that Tasman Motorsports will utilize the Honda engine
in 1995, replacing the Rahal-Hogan team. Rookie Andre Ribeiro will be
the team's primary driver, with veteran Scott Goodyear competing in
selected events. Comptech Racing takes over testing program. A
parallel development program begins for both the iron-block HRX V-8
and the new aluminum alloy block HRH V-8 engine.
March 1995
Tasman Motorsports and Ribeiro use the Honda HRX engine at the first
race of the 1995 season, the Grand Prix of Miami.
May 1995
The Honda HRH aluminum alloy engine debuts at the Indianapolis 500.
Tasman Motorsports driver Goodyear qualifies on the front row.
Teammate Ribeiro becomes the fastest rookie in Indianapolis 500
history. Goodyear leads much of the race and sets fastest race lap.
July 1995
Comptech Racing and Johnstone claim Honda's first Champ Car pole at
the Michigan 500. Both Johnstone and Ribeiro lead in the race,
Johnstone setting fastest race lap and Ribeiro leading the most laps.
August 1995
Ribeiro scores Honda's first CART victory, qualifying on the pole and
winning the New England 200 at New Hampshire International Speedway.
September 1995
Honda announces that Hall Racing and 1995 Rookie of the Year driver
Gil de Ferran will join the Honda CART engine program in 1996.
Target/Chip Ganassi Racing becomes the second new team to join Honda
and will field Reynard-Hondas for Jimmy Vasser and Formula One
veteran Alex Zanardi.
March-April 1996
Honda drivers win the first four races of the season. Vasser scores
his first CART victory at the season-opening Grand Prix of Miami,
with de Ferran second. Ribeiro wins the Rio 400, while Vasser wins at
Surfers Paradise from the pole and leads another Honda 1-2 finish at
Long Beach, with Johnstone second.
May 1996
Vasser qualifies on the pole and wins the inaugural U.S. 500 at
Michigan Speedway, the premier event of the season. It is Honda's
fifth win in six races.
June-July 1996
Honda drivers again win four races in a row. Series rookie Zanardi
wins at Portland. De Ferran is second at Portland, then wins at
Cleveland with Zanardi second. Tasman Motorsports drivers
Fernndez and Ribeiro win at Toronto and Michigan Speedway,
respectively.
September 1996
De Ferran's fourth place finish at Vancouver clinches the
Manufacturer's Championship for Honda. Zanardi's pole at Laguna is
the 12th of the season for Honda, and his victory is Honda's 11th win
of 1996. Vasser clinches the PPG Cup Driver's Championship. Zanardi
is Rookie of the Year.
December 1996
Testing begins on the all-new Honda HRR Series engine, designed
specifically for CART's new 40-inch turbocharger "boost" regulations.
Driver line-up remains intact, but Johnstone changes teams from Brix
Comptech to Team KOOL Green. Team owner Jim Hall retires, and de
Ferran moves to Walker Racing.
April 1997
Zanardi posts Honda's first win of 1997 at the Grand Prix of Long
Beach. He also qualifies on the pole for the first two races of the
season, setting a new CART record of six consecutive poles, a streak
that began at Mid-Ohio in 1996, and sets another record of 11
consecutive front-row qualifying efforts (Portland 1996 through Long
Beach 1997).
July-August 1997
Zanardi scores his second and third victories of the year at
Cleveland and the U.S. 500, his first oval win. More wins follow at
Mid-Ohio and Road America.
September 1997
Zanardi wins the PPG Cup as outgoing series champion Vasser wins at
Laguna Seca. Honda-powered drivers Zanardi, de Ferran and Vasser
finish 1-2-3 in the CART championship.
December 1997
Testing begins on the new Honda HRK Series engine, smaller, lighter
and more powerful. Dario Franchitti, Indy Lights Champion Tony
Kanaan, and veteran Paul Tracy join the Honda lineup for '98, joining
returning drivers Zanardi, Vasser and de Ferran.
March-April 1998
CART travels to Japan for the first time to race at the Honda-built
Twin Ring Motegi Circuit. Zanardi scores his first win of the season
at Long Beach. Vasser and Zanardi post another Honda 1-2 at Nazareth
Speedway.
May-July 1998
Target/Ganassi teammates Zanardi and Vasser win six races in a row,
starting with Zanardi's victory at the Motorola 300 on Memorial Day
weekend. Vasser wins one week later in Milwaukee, followed by four in
a row for Zanardi: Detroit, Portland, Cleveland and Toronto.
August-September 1998
Franchitti scores his first CART victory at Road America, followed by
another win at Vancouver. Zanardi finishes fourth and clinches his
second consecutive PPG Cup.
October 1998
Honda scores its first-ever 1-2-3 finish at the inaugural Grand Prix
of Houston, with Franchitti, Zanardi and Kanaan filling out the
podium. Vasser finishes fourth as Honda clinches its second
Manufacturer's Championship in three years and Kanaan is named Rookie
of the Year.
November 1998
Vasser ends the 1998 season with a $1 million victory at California
Speedway; the win is the 13th of the season for Honda, a record for
the manufacturer. Zanardi ends the season with a third place finish.
December 1998
Testing begins on the new Honda "HRS Series" CART engine, which will
be used in the 1999 FedEx Championship Series. Formula 3000 Champion
Juan Montoya joins Vasser on the three-time champion Target/Ganassi
team, while Indy Lights graduate Naoki Hattori partners de Ferran at
Walker Racing. Kanaan returns as Gerald Forsythe becomes new majority
owner of Tasman Motorsports. Franchitti and Tracy both return with
Team KOOL Green.
March-May 1999
Series rookie Montoya scores Honda's first win of 1999 at the Grand
Prix of Long Beach, followed by victories at Nazareth and Rio de
Janeiro. Honda takes the lead in CART Manufacturer's Championship and
will hold it for the rest of the season.
June-August 1999
Honda-powered drivers post 1-2-3 podium sweeps at Portland, the U.S.
500, Mid-Ohio and the new Chicago Motor Speedway. De Ferran wins at
Portland, Kanaan wins his first CART race at Michigan Speedway's U.S.
500, while Montoya leads the Honda sweeps at Mid-Ohio and Chicago.
Tracy also wins at Milwaukee, his first Honda-powered victory.
September-October 1999
Franchitti moves back into the championship lead with a second place
finish behind teammate Tracy at Houston and a victory in Australia.
Honda clinches its third Manufacturer's Championship in four years at
Laguna Seca's Honda Grand Prix.
November 1999
Honda wins 14 CART FedEx Championship Series races enroute to the
Manufacturer's Championship. Honda drivers again finish 1-2-3- in the
PPG Cup standings. Montoya and Franchitti tie on points, but Montoya
takes the crown with seven wins to three for Franchitti. Tracy is
third in the final standings.
December 1999
Testing begins on Honda's 2000 CART FedEx Championships Series
engine, designated the HR-0. The new engine is the latest evolution
of the basic design themes begun with the HRS powerplant in 1998.
Franchitti and Tracy return for their third season at Team KOOL
Green. Marlboro Team Penske joins the Honda-powered lineup, with Gil
de Ferran and the promising Helio Castro-Neves. Race winner Bryan
Herta moves to Forsythe Championship Racing while Walker Racing
fields Formula One veteran Shinji Nakano.
March-May 2000
Tracy scores Honda's first win of the 2000 season and moves to the
top of the point standings with a victory at the Grand Prix of Long
Beach and podium finishes at Miami and Rio de Janeiro. De Ferran
scores Penske's 100th Champ Car race win at Nazareth Speedway.
June-August 2000
Castroneves removes the hyphen and wins his first CART race at
Detroit, and scores Honda's 50th Champ Car victory at Mid-Ohio. The
Detroit race is Honda's 17th consecutive CART temporary circuit
victory, a new record. De Ferran moves into championship contention
with a win at Portland. Tracy storms from last place to first to win
Road America.
September-October 2000
Tracy and Franchitti finish 1-2 for Honda and Team KOOL Green at the
Molson Indy Vancouver. Honda drivers finish 1-2-3 (Castroneves, de
Ferran and Franchitti) at Laguna Seca. Honda drivers win on all four
permanent road courses this year. De Ferran sets a closed-course
world record of 241.428 mph in qualifying at California Speedway,
then finishes third in the race to claim the CART championship, the
fifth consecutive title for a Honda driver.
December 2000
Testing begins on the new Honda HR-1 engine as Honda expands to its
largest CART lineup ever with five teams and a total of nine drivers.
Marlboro Team Penske returns with de Ferran and Castroneves.
Franchitti and Tracy remain at Team KOOL Green and add technical
partner Team Motorola with driver Michael Andretti. Mo Nunn Racing
expands to two cars with Tony Kanaan joined by the returning two-time
champion Alex Zanardi, both returning to Honda power. Adrin
Fernndez forms Fernndez Racing to become an
owner/driver, also fielding a car for Shinji Nakano.
March-June 2001
Castroneves wins Long Beach for Honda's first 2001 race win, teammate
de Ferran is third and Tracy runs fourth. Castroneves and Franchitti
finish 1-2 at the Grand Prix of Detroit.
July-September 2001
Franchitti wins his first race of the year in Cleveland, and one week
later Andretti wins at Toronto, his first CART victory with Honda
power. Castroneves and de Ferran repeat their 1-2 performance from a
year ago at Mid-Ohio; de Ferran records a thrilling last-lap victory
at Rockingham Speedway in England.
September-October 2001
Following an announcement from CART that the series will adopt a
3.5-liter normally aspirated engine formula starting in 2003, Honda
announces that due to insufficient development time, it will end its
CART Champ Car engine program at the end of the 2002 season. Honda
clinches its fourth Manufacturer's Championship at Laguna Seca. De
Ferran wins at Houston and successfully defends his Driver's
Championship, the sixth consecutive Honda-powered driver to win the
title.