PREVIEW
The Formula One season returns to Europe next week with Round Eight of the 2007 FIA Formula One World Championship, the French Grand Prix, held in the heart of France at the Circuit de Nevers in Magny Cours.
Before arriving in France, the Honda Racing F1 Team will be appearing at the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend with Jenson Button and Christian Klien taking the RA107 car up the famous hill climb. One of the most popular events on the UK motorsports calendar, Sporting Director Gil de Ferran will also be taking the wheel at Goodwood in a Williams Honda FW11 historic F1 car.
SHUHEI NAKAMOTO - Senior Technical Director "We made some good progress at the three-day test in Jerez this week where the excellent weather allowed us to fully complete our planned programme. We were therefore able to sign off various new mechanical parts and an aerodynamic upgrade for the RA107 as well as further improvements to the stability under braking. We expect a small improvement in performance in both qualifying and the race next weekend at Magny Cours."
JENSON BUTTON"The Circuit de Nevers is quite a tricky circuit to get your lap absolutely right however it is a lot of fun to drive and very fast. The start is particularly important, regardless of what side of the grid you are on, and you have to position yourself well for the first two corners to get a good run down the straight to the Adelaide hairpin. This is really the only place on the circuit where you can have a real chance of overtaking. The key to a really quick lap around here is getting the front end of the car working well, particularly for turns one and two. You can lose a lot of time at turn two if you have too much understeer in the car. You also need to have good car stability to make the most of the high speed chicanes."
RUBENS BARRICHELLO"I really enjoy racing at Magny Cours and it is a really flowing circuits which the drivers generally enjoy. The track has a mixture of high and slow speed turns, and although the track surface is smooth, it can be hard on the rear tyres. The high speed changes of direction between turns four and five, and also turns seven and eight, are particularly challenging. The weather conditions are usually very hot so the team will be well prepared for high track temperatures having spent three days testing in Jerez this week."
CIRCUIT DE NEVERS, MAGNY COURS
No of Laps 70 lapsCircuit Length 4.411 kmRace Distance 308.586 km
The Circuit de Nevers is located in Burgundy, the geographic heartland of France, and has been home to the French Grand Prix since 1991. The twelve-turn circuit is blessed with a smooth surface and boasts generous run-off areas, although its twisty layout means that overtaking possibilities are usually limited to the slow Adelaide hairpin. The race organisers tried to answer that criticism in 2004 by replacing the final chicane and increasing the run off area at the final Lycee turn, but the alterations have met with limited success.
Lap times vary noticeably at Magny Cours depending on the ambient temperature. In common with other tight circuits, Formula One cars are set up to race with high levels of downforce, without completely compromising straight-line speed.
HONDA IN FRANCE- Honda's operations in France began in May 1964 with the original documents being signed by Soichiro Honda- In 2006, Honda's car registrations in France grew by more than 30%, reaching more than 11,000 units- Honda Europe Power Equipment in Ormes, near Orléans, began operations in 1986 and is responsible for the import, manufacture and distribution of power products
