SUPER AGURI SA08 Honda

   The crisis that hit Honda in the 2007–2008 period inevitably had negative repercussions on its subsidiary, Super Aguri. The Japanese team, managed by Team Manager and owner Aguri Suzuki, depended heavily on Honda, which supplied the chassis, if not the complete car, from the previous season, as well as the engine and gearbox package for the new Super Aguri SA08. The team’s headquarters were in Tokyo, Japan, but its operational factory was located in Leafield, Oxfordshire, England, within the former Arrows Formula 1 team facility, owned by Menard Engineering.

SUPER AGURI SA08, Takuma Satō
Sakhir, Bahrain GP 2008

   A small group of people worked at the British facility, striving to achieve the impossible with a budget that was only a fraction of that of top teams. The team’s operations were overseen by Graham Taylor (Sports Director), who, together with Aguri Suzuki, managed to keep the mechanics united despite delayed salaries and trucks being stopped at circuit gates due to unpaid bills. The Technical Director was Mark Preston, the true engineering backbone of the team thanks to his past experience with McLaren and Arrows. Gerry Hughes (Chief Engineer) was responsible for trackside operations and development, acting as the link between the factory and race weekends. After the closure of Super Aguri, his career continued successfully as he became a key figure in Formula E. As in 2007, Daniele Audetto served as Managing Director, while Peter McCool was Chief Designer and Ben Wood Head of Aerodynamics, all capable of modifying the Honda RA107 chassis, on which the new Super Aguri SA08 was based, to comply with the 2008 regulations.

SUPER AGURI SA08, Takuma Satō
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian GP 2008 

   In 2008, Super Aguri’s technical staff was not entirely independent and functioned almost like a laboratory for Honda Racing F1, which assigned its young engineers to Leafield to gain experience. The team faced the challenge of integrating the new standard ECU into a car originally designed with Honda’s proprietary electronic control systems, rewriting much of the mapping and parameters for gearbox and differential management in a very short time and with very limited pre-season testing. The heart of the SA08 was the carbon-fiber honeycomb monocoque chassis from the previous year’s Honda RA107, with double wishbone suspension and push-rod systems at both the front and rear. Like all 2008 single-seaters, the SA08 featured the “aerodynamic excesses” typical of that era. The front wing was a complex three-element structure with highly elaborate endplates designed to direct airflow outward around the front wheels (outwash effect), reducing turbulence. The sidepods featured prominent chimneys for hot air extraction and complex flow diverters above the radiator inlets.

SUPER AGURI SA08, Anthony Davidson
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian GP 2008

   However, the car had cleaner lines compared to its Honda counterpart, as it did not use the iconic “Viking Wings” above the driver’s head nor the bridge wing as a third element of the front wing. The engine cover was also quite conventional, lacking the long fin connecting it to the rear wing, which was common among rival cars. Being derived from the previous season’s Honda, the Super Aguri did not receive constant wind tunnel-developed updates, unlike top teams that introduced new wing profiles at every race, gradually losing downforce compared to its rivals. Only thanks to the excellent Honda RA808E V8 engine, perhaps not the most powerful, but highly reliable and with excellent torque delivery at low and medium revs, was the SA08 able to remain somewhat competitive in the midfield, despite spending the winter almost entirely in the factory rather than on track. In fact, the team missed nearly all pre-season testing, arriving in Australia with a car that was practically “virgin” in terms of data.

SUPER AGURI SA08, Takuma Satō
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian GP 2008

   The two race drivers, Japan’s Takuma Satō and Britain’s Anthony Davidson, effectively only became familiar with the car during Friday practice at the Australian Grand Prix. Surprisingly, in Australia Satō set a lap time just a few tenths slower than the official Honda driven by Button. This was because, after handing over the old car to Super Aguri, Honda attempted an aerodynamic revolution that proved unsuccessful on track. The SA08 struggled greatly to warm up the front Bridgestone tires, causing chronic understeer that heavily penalized single-lap performance. Race pace improved slightly, thanks in part to Honda’s solid mechanical reliability. However, the team’s severe financial crisis, lacking a sponsor and with limited spare parts due to Honda’s withdrawal, led to its definitive closure after the Spanish Grand Prix, the fourth race of the season, despite continuous efforts by Audetto to secure the necessary funding to continue racing. Takuma Satō’s 13th-place finish in Spain remained the team’s best result of the season. In its three years in Formula 1, the small Japanese team managed to score only 4 points.