Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) will auction off a significant piece of Formula One history next month — the final Honda V10 engine used in competition by legendary driver Ayrton Senna.
The unit, engine number V805 of the RA100E series, powered Senna’s McLaren Honda MP4/5B during the 1990 FIA Formula One World Championship. It will go on sale at the Bonhams Cars Quail Auction in Carmel, California, on August 15 as part of the prestigious Monterey Car Week.
HRC announced earlier this year it would launch a motorsport memorabilia programme aimed at offering collectors and enthusiasts access to authentic race cars, engines and components. The V805 engine is the first item in this initiative and it’s an important one.
Disassembled and preserved by HRC’s own technicians, the engine will be auctioned in a custom-built display case containing all its original parts. It also comes with an HRC-issued certificate of authenticity.
According to the company, Senna used this exact engine during warm up at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka in October 1990 and again in the race at the season-ending Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide on November 4.
Back in the day, Honda’s F1 power units were typically returned to Japan for inspection and dismantling, with most parts eventually discarded. But with the firm shifting its focus to V12 development for the 1991 season, engine V805 was spared, thus making it the last Honda F1 V10 driven in competition by Senna.
Monterey Car Week is a mecca for classic car collectors, where high-profile sales, concours events and historic races attract global attention.
HRC has confirmed it plans to expand its memorabilia business in future, including in Japan, with more auctions of historically significant machines and components.
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