Surtees and the Honda RA301

John Surtees (picture-above) qualified his Honda RA301 Honda V12 in seventh but was forced to retire on lap 3 of the race with ignition problems, at the rain-soaked 1968 German Prix held at the Nürburgring.

The Honda RA301 was a Formula One racing car produced by Honda Racing for the 1968 Formula One season. It was introduced during the 1968 Spanish Grand Prix, the second round of the season. Like its predecessor (RA300), the car was co-developed by Lola Cars, and nicknamed the “Hondola”.

The car was an update of the previous season’s RA300, using the same RA273E engine. As Honda was also focused on developing the air-cooled RA302, the RA301’s development suffered and Surtees only managed a best of second place in the France. Poor reliability saw him managing to finish just two other races.

The RA301 was planned to be replaced by the RA302 at the 1968 French Grand Prix, but Surtees refused to drive the new car because of safety concerns. After the death of Jo Schlesser at that race, Surtees again refused to drive the RA302 at the 1968 Italian Grand Prix, and the RA301 was used until the end of the season.

With Honda’s withdrawal from Formula One at the end of the season, the RA301 was the last F1 car raced by Honda until the 2006 Formula One season’s Honda RA106.