HondaJet Elite races into Red Bull’s F1 Racing teams

A special business aircraft delivery took place last week when Formula 1 representatives from Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri took delivery of a HondaJet Elite at Rheinland Air Service RAS’ HQ at Mönchengladbach Airport in Germany.

The aircraft will be used by both teams, which are owned by Red Bull GmbH. Fittingly, their racing cars are powered by Honda engines.

The HondaJet Elite is the latest version of the HA-420, with an increased 1,650 mile range, upgraded Garmin 3000 avionics and an enhanced, quieter cabin.

Helmut Marko, Red Bull Motorsport Consultant

The transaction was handled by RAS, HondaJet’s exclusive European dealer, authorized service center and approved pilot training centre. RAS instructors also provided the Red Bull flying crew with HondaJet pilot base training.  Following the handover, the aircraft flew directly to its new base, Red Bull’s famous Hangar-7 in Salzburg, home to a prized collection of unique fixed wing aircraft and helicopters – some of the greatest aircraft in aviation history.

“It was an exciting time, watching the Flying Bulls welcome this custom-painted aircraft – another impressive jet joining the growing European fleet of new HondaJets,” said Johannes Graf von Schaesberg, CEO of RAS.

“We are pleased to welcome a new member to the Flying Bulls’ aircraft fleet with the HondaJet HA-420 Elite,” Red Bull commented during the official handover. The success of this global partnership between Honda and Red Bull has been shown in MotoGP for many years.”

Jet turbine engineers from Honda Aircraft collaborated on turbocharger improvements in the latest Spec 3 engine upgrade to Red Bull’s F1 race car. Both the car and jet share engineering similarities, including advanced aerodynamics, carbon composite construction, and fuel efficiency.

As HondaJet Europe, RAS offers HondaJet sales, and approved pilot training, as well as EASA and FAA certified HondaJet service.

BlueSky Business Aviation News | 3rd September 2020 | Issue #571