By BAR Honda
July 21 2005

The Lucky Strike BAR Honda team heads back to Germany for round 12 of the 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship, which takes place at the Hockenheimring this weekend. After achieving a fifth place finish with Jenson Button at the British Grand Prix, the team is firmly focused on the opportunities which lie ahead in the eight remaining races.

In final preparation for the German and Hungarian Grands Prix, BAR Honda has been putting Honda's latest engine step through its paces and conducting a comprehensive programme of Michelin tyre tests and aerodynamic evaluations in southern Spain this week. Jenson Button, Takuma Sato, along with test drivers Anthony Davidson and Enrique Bernoldi, all took part in a three-car, three-day test at the Circuito de Jerez, making the most of the last opportunity to conduct on-track development before the inaugural Turkish Grand Prix in August.

Gil de Ferran, BAR Honda's Sporting Director, commented "We have now come from two consecutive races where we have shown that we are certainly competitive. Between the two races we have again been testing in Jerez in an attempt to further improve the performance of our car. Hopefully, some of those upgrades will have a positive impact at the forthcoming German Grand Prix.

"It is also worth mentioning that the team has had a welcome break this weekend after a very busy phase of our calendar and everyone is recharged and looking forward to the German Grand Prix, a long-established and extremely popular event with everyone."

Shuhei Nakamoto, Honda Racing Development's Engineering Director, added "We now have some momentum after two points scoring races, and the task now is to close the gap to the top two teams as we aim for BAR Honda's first win. We made some more progress on the engine at the test in Jerez, and will continue development throughout the season. Jenson had a great drive here last year, when both drivers were in the points. We'll be looking for similar strong performances this time around."