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Technology in the racing car (20): Honda RA 302 from 1968 - fire accelerator, air-cooled

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Created on September 9, 2022

Reading time 3min

Written by:

Gerhard Schütz

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Archiv Gerhard Schütz

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Morio / Public Domain / Wikipedia

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Archiv Zwischengas

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Honda RA 302 (1968) - Schlank und leichtgewichtig, aber nicht zuverlässig

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Honda RA 302 (1968) - Luftgekühlter Motor ohne Gebläse. Die Venturi-Luftzuführung ist rechts gut zu sehen

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Honda RA 302 (1968) - Chassisausleger hinten für den V- 120-Grad-Motor

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Honda RA 302 (1968) - Der V-8-Motor mit Luftkühlung ohne Lüfterrad, was für den Motorradbauer Honda nichts Fremdes war

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Honda RA 302 (1968) - Pedalraum als Knautschzone..

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Honda RA 302 (1968) - Der Chassisausleger im V des Motors und dahinter das Joch für die Aufhängung ist gut zu erkennen

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Honda RA 302 (1968) - Der aufgesetzte Ölkühler wirkt etwas provisorisch. Man wollte die Front kühlerfrei bekommen

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Honda RA 302 (1968) - Heckausprägung, Ankerpunkte für den Motor

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Summary

With the RA 302 from 1968, Honda wanted to eliminate the disadvantages of its predecessors. It was to be lighter and faster. The approach was radical, probably too radical for the time. The attempt ended in disaster and ultimately led to Honda's withdrawal from F1 at the end of the year. This article from the series "Technology in racing cars from 1958 to 1978" gets to the bottom of the failure of the 1968 Honda RA 302 and shows it in pictures.

This article contains the following chapters

Extreme lightweight construction as the motto
Entry against the recommendation of John Surtees
Withdrawal at the end of the season

Estimated reading time: 3min

Preview (beginning of the article)

The years 1958-1978 were the two most creative decades in the history of racing technology. This series portrays the most innovative, pioneering and exotic designs of Formula 1, Indy cars, sports cars and Can-Am, and at the same time traces the major lines of development that still have an impact today. The series started with Lotus, one of the most important innovation drivers of these two decades. And the series will also finish with Lotus. This time, everything revolves around a rather unfortunate F1 design. With the Type RA 302, Honda wanted to introduce a revolutionary concept to Formula 1 in 1968. But it was to become a cautionary tale of what happens when you launch a vehicle with many (even too many) fundamental innovations before it has been extensively tested.

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