Honda RA272 will return to the site of its first Grand Prix win 60 years ago

In 1965 Honda achieved something unthinkable. It won a Formula 1 Grand Prix just two years after it had begun producing its first car. As the famous story goes, when Soichiro Honda instructed his engineers to develop a car that could compete in this highest echelon of motorsports, they asked, “What is F1?” Yet the Honda RA272 not only competed, but won the Mexican Grand Prix and went into the history books.

On October 26, the historic racing machine will return to the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and set its tires on the same circuit where it made history six decades ago. Current Red Bull Racing driver Yuki Tsunoda will get behind the wheel fo a demo run.

The RA272’s simple livery, a red dot on a white body, represented its home nation’s flag and announced to the wold that Japan had arrived. In signature Honda style, its maximum output, 230 to 240 horsepower, came at stratospheric rpms. Its 1.5-liter V12 was a technological marvel for the era and we don’t know how far Tsunoda will push it, but if he gets anywhere near its 14,000 rpm redline the echoes off the stadium walls will be legendary.

“It is a tremendous pleasure that the RA272 will drive again in Mexico, at the same place Honda achieved its first victory, 60 years ago in 1965,” remarked Honda Racing Corp.’s president, Koji Watanabe.

For Tsunoda, who is only 25 years old and was born the same year as the S2000, it is a particularly big deal. “It is an honor to drive the RA272 at the special place where Honda achieved its first F1 victory. Driving on the track where the RA272 pioneered Japanese motorsports history 60 years ago is a particularly special and deeply moving experience,” he said.