Honda must start winning, says Willis

With the team now being owned completely by Honda, and having had some encouraging results from winter testing, Willis is adamant that there are no excuses for them not to score their maiden victory in 2006.

"We've certainly started preparing for 2006 in exactly the right way with a quick car in testing and a very successful running of the new Honda V8 engine," he told Honda Racing's official website following a series of meetings at Honda's R&D facility in Japan.

"Next year's car certainly looks pretty good in terms of wind-tunnel numbers and we've still got another four or five weeks before it starts to run.

"Winning is clearly very important for us... we really must win races in 2006. We must learn not only to win but to win regularly. I think we're putting everything together in the right way: we've got a very strong driver line-up, another big step on the car and engine as well as a very well integrated team both here in Brackley and in Tochigi over in Japan.

"We came away from last week's meetings in Japan with a very good sense of a 'one team' spirit. Of course, it's not going to be easy and everyone is mindful of the challenge ahead but, at the same time, there is certainly an underlying current of confidence and a sense that 2006 will be a good year for us."

Willis's confidence about the new season is based on his belief that the team are in the best shape they have ever been heading into the 2006 season.

The team have been focusing their testing work on a V8-powered Concept Car and Willis is upbeat about the progress they have made prior to the launch of their new car in January.

"It's gone very well indeed," he added. "In fact, it's probably been the best start to pre-season testing that we've ever had.

"We've had very good reliability and performance and we've been able to get through a lot of work in the first two tests. I believe it's a sign of just how well we're learning year-on-year that we can deal with such a major engine regulation change so smoothly.

"So it's been a very good start and we're now building up some positive momentum towards getting the new car out in January."

Willis claims that the work currently being undertaken at Honda Racing's wind-tunnel on the RA106 will result in a very different looking car from last season's BAR007.