Mugen Motorsports

M -TEC Co. Ltd.. , Formerly Mugen (无限Japanese, German " infinity " or " limitless " ), is a Japanese manufacturer and worldwide distributor of sporting equipment for Honda vehicles. The company works closely with the Honda Motor Co. Ltd.. together and presented some years Formula 1 engines on the basis of Honda engines forth. Hirotoshi Honda, the eldest son of Soichiro Honda founded in 1973 the company Mugen, regardless of his father's company. The company is based in Asaka.

In 2003, Mugen went to a tax scandal in bankruptcy. Since 2004 the company named M -TEC ("M" still stands for Mugen ), President Shin Nagaosa, the motorsport department is headed by Hiro Toyoda.

Motorsport

Formula 1

1991 Tyrrell

First time in 1991 was a second team in addition to access to McLaren Honda engines. The choice was mediated by Ron Dennis, the British tradition Team Tyrrell. Tyrrell was in the 1990 Formula 1 season can achieve some spectacular successes despite a losing Cosworth eight-cylinder engine; This was primarily the unconventional, but very effective chassis 019 by Harvey Postlethwaite.

The engines used by Tyrrell were called Honda RA 101E. These were basically the ten-cylinder engines with 72 -degree cylinder angle, which had been run in the 1990 Formula 1 season at McLaren, where replaced in 1992 by completely new twelve-cylinder. The ten-cylinder engines were prepared by Mugen.

For the 1991 season Postlethwaite designed the Tyrrell 020, of the 019 followed in the design, but overall earthy failed. In particular, the car turned out to be, given relatively high engine weight as difficult to control, so the advantage of the special agility been largely zunichtegemacht.

The alliance between Honda and Mugen and Tyrrell started promising, but ended up in the field of mediocrity. A highlight was the second launch site of Stefano Modena Grand Prix of Monaco. However, Modena fell after 42 laps due to engine from defect. At the Canadian Grand Prix three weeks later Modena could shine again. He finished the race in second. Then the team did not achieve remarkable results more and fell significantly. At the end of the season parted Tyrrell and Mugen. Tyrrell used the 020 chassis in Formula 1 1992 season with minor changes as 020B with an Ilmor engine and the start of the Formula 1 season in 1993 as 020C with an engine from Yamaha.

1992 and 1993: Arrows / Footwork

In the Formula 1 season 1992 Mugen equipped the British team Footwork with the now ten cylinders called MF 351H. Arrows designer Alan Jenkins designed for the season the Footwork FA13, a car that in many details its designed for a Porsche engine predecessor FA12 corresponded. Michele Alboreto drivers were and Aguri Suzuki. Alboreto was the most reliable driver of the year; he finished almost every race. He reached two fifth and two sixth Endplätze so Footwork was able to close the Formula 1 1992 season ultimately with 6 World Cup points in sixth place in the constructors' championship.

In the 1993 Formula 1 season, the alliance between Footwork Mugen and was continued. Drivers were Derek Warwick and Aguri Suzuki. Arrows sat in the first two races of the year, a last year's model under the name FA13B. Warwick thus reaching each goal, but remained outside the points. For the European Grand Prix at Donington debuted the successor model, the FA14. The car that had a bought- TAG active suspension was difficult and could hardly achieve success. The only results in the points were a fourth-place finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix and a sixth place at the Grand Prix of Great Britain, which reached each Warwick. After this season, Mugen separated from Footwork. The British team rode the following season with customer engines from Ford

1994: Lotus

For the 1994 season, Lotus was supplied with motors. The team located in financial difficulties initially used another version of which appeared in 1992 model 107 (designated 107C ). The Grand Prix of Spain, a revised car called 109, the first only Johnny Herbert was available appeared; from the Grand Prix of France then had Alessandro Zanardi as the second driver access to a Lotus 109 Mugen presented the known from the previous year engine available. For the Grand Prix of Italy, there was a revised version called ZA 5 -C, which was lighter and slightly more potent. Nevertheless, was to win with the combination of Lotus and Mugen in 1994 nothing. None of the six drivers who drove for Lotus this year could reach a championship point. End of 1994, Lotus was dissolved.

1995 and 1996: Ligier

For the Formula 1 1995 season was Mugen engine partner for Minardi in conversation. There have been related press releases from Italy, and in Faenza Aldo Costa had designed a car that was tailored to the Japanese engine. In November 1994, however, declared Mugen, instead of trying Minardi supply exclusively to the French team Ligier. Ligier was reached during the year 1994 in the possession of Benetton Formula. Background of this acquisition were the coveted ten-cylinder engines from Renault, which should be delivered for the 1995 season at Williams and at Ligier. By Benetton F1 took over the Ligier team, the Renault engines could be redirected to the Benetton team, where they would be an important step on Michael Schumacher's way to winning his second drivers' championship. To then equip Ligier for 1995 with adequate engines, Benetton F1 ultimately took over the Mugen engines, which were initially provided for Minardi. The question of how binding the agreement between Minardi and Mugen had been in the fall of 1994, employed during the 1995 season, the lawyers. In the end, Minardi was held after some back and forth, which included the use of a bailiff against the Italian team, compared ways financially harmless. Notwithstanding had Minardi but sporty cut back because alternatively used eight-cylinder customer Ford engines were far less potent than the engines of Mugen and their car was very hastily converted from the Mugen engines on the Ford engines.

In the Ligier Mugen ten-cylinder powered car called a JS41. This car corresponded technically and optically very largely to the Benetton B195 of the same year; actually the car had been largely developed in the Benetton factory. This did not change the inscription " Fabriqué en France " nothing that drove ostentatiously around the car on his rear wing. As a driver Olivier Panis has been committed to the second car Aguri Suzuki and Martin Brundle were divided in regular alternation.

Overall, the alliance of Ligier Mugen and was quite successful. Olivier Panis was the Grand Prix of Australia came second and in six other races in the points. Martin Brundle once was third and even fourth, and Aguri Suzuki once reached a sixth place.

In the Formula 1 season 1996, the compound of Ligier Mugen and continued, although the former team boss Tom Walkinshaw already left the team at the beginning of the year and the British Arrows team competition took over. Driver of the Ligier JS43 were modified Pedro Paolo Diniz, who had come from Forti and numerous Brazilian donors brought, and Olivier Panis, who won the Grand Prix of Monaco spectacular. It was the ninth win for Ligier, the first for the French team since 1981 and the first ever for a Mugen engine.

1997: Cheers

In 1997, the four -time Formula 1 World Champion Alain Prost, the Ligier team and led it in the future under the name of Prost Grand Prix. His goal was to build a purely French team, namely using Peugeot engines. Peugeot, however, was tied for the Formula 1 season in 1997 to Jordan, so cheers again used the Mugen engines for this year. For 1998 was then exchanged with Jordan.

1998-2000: Jordan

In the Formula 1 season 1998 Mugen equipped the British team Jordan, where in 1998 at Spa- Francorchamps scored a double victory with Damon Hill and Ralf Schumacher. 1999 won two races for Heinz -Harald Frentzen in the Jordan - Mugen. End of the season announced Honda, re-enter with their own engines and the BAR team in Formula 1 the following year. In the 2000 season, Jordan was again Japanese ten-cylinder from Mugen, after the company withdrew from Formula 1. As of the 2001 season, Jordan received his engines directly from Honda.

Japanese GT Championship

From 1997 Mugen partly in collaboration with the builder of racing cars Dome developing a Honda NSX for the Japanese Super GT championship and continued from 1998, an advanced 3.5 -liter displacement version of the new 3.2-liter engine series, which over 600 bhp. This ensured an NSX in 2000, the GT500 drivers championship, but without being able to win a race. 2002 succeeded Mugen / Dome with the two used NSX winning the championship team standings. According to the regulation changes for 2003, a further engine variant was based on the 3.0-liter engine is no longer used in the series. This was (instead of the standard transverse) installed along and forced ventilated by two turbochargers. Mugen had chosen this solution because the naturally aspirated engines used up to 2002 had lost in the sometimes higher Japanese racetracks lack of oxygen too much power. The more successful competition cars Toyota Supra and Nissan Skyline GTR were opposed equipped from the start with turbo engines and have not had this problem.

Largely seriennah the NSX used mainly by private teams were in the class GT300. Here are and were both the modification options as well as the engine power is limited ( to 300 hp ). Cup successes not get the NSX in this class for a long time. Only when the newly established M -TEC in the 2004 season, moved the previous Mugen activities of the GT500 to the GT300 class and a professionally prepared and driven NSX began, the first GT300 Championship was celebrated. This success came rather unexpected since Mugen had planned to use mainly as a training program for young Japanese driver in preparation for later GT500 inserts.