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Honda Racing has begun streaming a four-part docuseries titled 241.428, a project built around one of the most unusual numbers in motorsport history. The series, available on the HRC US YouTube channel, retraces the lap that Gil de Ferran completed at California Speedway in Fontana in 2000, when his Honda-powered Reynard 01I averaged 241.428 mph around a closed course.
That lap remains the official world closed-course speed record for a race car. More than a quarter-century later, no driver in IndyCar, Formula 1, NASCAR, or any other major racing series has been able to better it.
De Ferran was already one of the most respected drivers of his generation when he set the mark during the 2000 CART season finale. A two-time CART champion and future Indianapolis 500 winner, he combined technical precision with uncommon smoothness behind the wheel. When he died in 2023, the series he now receives from Honda is less a memorial and more an explanation of how that number came to exist.
The docuseries gathers voices from across de Ferran's career. Roger Penske, Zak Brown, Rick Mears, Helio Castroneves, Dario Franchitti, and Tony Kanaan all appear, offering perspectives from owners, teammates, rivals, and friends. Their collective presence is a reminder that de Ferran's legend reached far beyond the cockpit.
Kelvin Fu, president of HRC US, said in Honda's announcement that the project was personal rather than promotional. “Gil de Ferran was a big part of the Honda racing family, and he holds a special place in our hearts beyond his major championships and race victories, but 241.428 was an extraordinary achievement,” Fu said. That framing puts the emphasis on a single moment of speed instead of a standard championship retrospective.
The car de Ferran used that day is just as central to the story as the driver. The Reynard 01I-Honda is now owned by Zak Brown, the CEO of McLaren Racing. Honda's Heritage Racing Program oversaw its restoration, returning the machine to running condition rather than leaving it preserved as a static display. That restoration effort is part of a larger Honda initiative that was introduced during Monterey Car Week, a sign of how seriously the manufacturer treats its racing history.
Honda's approach to historic race cars sets it apart from the usual museum mentality. The company regularly uses cars like this to keep its high-performance engineering lineage alive, and the restored Reynard is now capable of demonstrating the same kind of speed that made it famous. For the docuseries, that working connection adds a layer of authenticity that archival footage alone could not provide.
There is also a practical reason why the record still matters. A closed-course speed record is fundamentally different from a straight-line land speed record. De Ferran's lap required turning, cornering load, and sustained speed through a complete circuit, not just a single run on a long straight road. Tires, aerodynamics, chassis balance, and driver bravery all had to align perfectly.
The conditions that allowed that lap have faded with time. Racing regulations have since placed limits on turbo boost, downforce levels, and tire operating windows. Safety improvements and cost controls have pushed teams toward tighter performance bands, making it difficult for any single car to chase a record so extreme. The same engineering logic that kept racing competitive also closed the door on another attempt at 241 mph.
In that sense, the docuseries captures a unique moment in motorsport history. At the turn of the millennium, CART rules gave teams enough room to develop high-downforce, high-horsepower packages for ovals. Honda's CART-era engine program was in full stride, and Reynard's chassis design matched the demands of Fontana's wide, fast corners. De Ferran was the driver who made the most of it.
Honda's decision to revisit that achievement now also fits into a broader narrative about how racing knowledge moves into production cars. The manufacturer has long said that its IndyCar program supplies engineering lessons to its road car development, from engine responsiveness to hybrid systems. By retelling the Fontana story, Honda connects one of its most memorable track successes to that larger technical philosophy.
The release of the series comes at a time when Honda is also emphasizing the safety side of motorsport engineering. The manufacturer became the first company in the automotive industry to receive the highest FIA Road Safety Index rating, a three-star ranking announced earlier in 2026. That milestone underlines the same point made throughout the docuseries: speed and control are never far apart in racing.
All four episodes of 241.428 are now streaming for free on the HRC US YouTube channel. The series does not simply replay the record lap from a single camera angle. Instead, it turns the number into a documentary throughline, using conversations, archival footage, and the restored car to reconstruct a time when racing technology briefly burst past every conventional speed limit.
What makes the story so durable is that it has not been repeated. Nearly 26 years after the lap, the number 241.428 still defines the outer limit of closed-course racing. Honda preserving that story is an admission that the goalposts have moved, but that this particular marker deserves to stay untouched.
For newer fans, the docuseries offers a direct line into a period when oval racing felt limitless. For those who watched de Ferran race, it is a chance to hear how his peers describe a performance that turned a statistical record into a lasting piece of motorsport folklore.
