2008 Honda Civic in Metairie

So there I was, sitting under a giant Honda tent at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. It was the morning, I was eating breakfast, and I was staring off into the distance, idly wondering why I couldn't remember any of my high-school Japanese. (Ok, I didn't take Japanese in high school, but I'd like to pretend that I did, because the smart kids all took Japanese. I took Spanish, a language that has helped me exactly zero times in my professional life but nevertheless allowed me to insult all of my mexican college friends in their native tongue. Y tu mama tambien, bastardo!)

Why was I wishing I had learned Japanese at some point? Simple: I was at a table surrounded by a bunch of Japanese engineers, none of whom spoke much English. Few things make you feel more like an stark raving idiot than being around well-dressed, impeccably groomed foreigners -- with you in your jeans and sneakers -- and being reduced to smiles and nods. And so I asked simple questions, they humored me and answered them as best they could in English, and I tried to bury the awkwardness.

It was during this burying of said awkwardness that I noticed something a bit odd. (Staring around politely and trying not to make an ass of yourself tends to help you notice small details, don't ya know.) A small pack of journalists had come to Mid-Ohio to drive the Honda S2000 CR -- the "club racer" version of the standard S2000. A bunch of Honda motorsport people (hey, that dude looks like Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon -- oh wait, it is Dan Wheldon) and PR folk were scattered around as well. Everyone fit in. Everyone, that is, except the Mugen guys.

Mugen: Honda F1 folks.... Read full article