BAR extends relationship with Koni.

The Lucky Strike BAR Honda team has announced that it has renewed its supplier agreement with Koni, which has provided the team with dampers since its debut in Formula One in 1999.

As in previous seasons, Koni will supply racing dampers for use on the suspension systems of the BAR-Honda 006 in 2004. BAR and Koni will also be working together on a race technology research and development project.

"We have enjoyed an excellent relationship with Koni for quite some time now and they provide us with a very reliable system of custom dampers to meet our chassis requirements," technical director Geoffrey Willis commented, "We look forward to working with them in 2004, which promises to be a very exciting year for the team."

Frits Altorf, Koni's Product Operations Manager, is delighted that the successful partnership is entering a new phase.

"We have been very impressed by both the organisational restructuring and the technical progressive enhancements over the last few months at BAR," he said, "We have every confidence in achieving good results for the coming race season and we are proud to be a valuable part of this ever-improving team."

Koni has an illustrious 46-year history in Formula One, with 226 grand prix victories and 13 world championships to its name. In fact, it can lay claim to being the most successful racing shock absorber on the market. In addition to Formula One, Koni also supply dampers to a variety of motorsport disciplines, including F3, F3000, GT Racing, IRL and Touring Cars.