After an initial shakedown last week, Acura Motorsports has successfully completed two days of testing of the new, electrified Acura ARX-06 LMDh prototype, which will race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship hybrid-powered GTP category beginning in 2023.
“Of course, it is still early days, but I would have to say we’re quite pleased with the results of both the initial shake-down runs last week at Paul Ricard; followed by two days this weekend, which ran into the night both on Saturday and Sunday,” said David Salters, HPD President and Technical Director. Everyone on our team from ORECA, HPD, the Wayne Taylor and Meyer Shank organizations – worked together extraordinarily well in preparing for and conducting these initial runs. Now the truly hard work begins!”
Driving duties during this these testing runs was performed by HPD engineer Matt McMurry, and Wayne Taylor Racing driver Ricky Taylor.
McMurry, an HPD Vehicle Performance engineer, led development work on several software control systems utilized on the ARX-06 and also is a successful racing driver – having competed in three Le Mans 24 Hour races and winner of the IMSA GTD Drivers’ Championship with Meyer Shank Racing in 2020.
Taylor, an HPD development driver, is a two-time IMSA DPi champion, Rolex 24 winner for Acura and eight-time Le Mans competitor.
The Acura ARX-06 [Acura Racing eXperimental, generation 6] is the latest in a successful line of endurance prototypes fielded by the brand, beginning in 1991. Exterior styling of the newest prototype race car was led by the Acura Design Studio in Los Angeles, Calif., in conjunction with Honda Performance Development, the racing arm for Acura Motorsports and Honda Racing in North America, and chassis-supplier ORECA [ORganisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles]. Acura will continue its partnerships with the proven, race- and championship-winning Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing organizations to campaign the hybrid-powered Acura entries in 2023.
In addition to sweeping all three major IMSA DPi championships in both 2019 and 2020 – for Manufacturers, Drivers and Teams – Acura has won the Rolex 24 at Daytona in both 2021 and ’22, including a 1-2 finish for the manufacturer at this year’s twice-around-the-clock endurance classic. Additional podium finishes at Sebring, Watkins Glen and the Petit Le Mans in 2021 resulted in a sweep of IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup titles for Acura and partner Wayne Taylor Racing.
After eight of 10 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races in 2022, Acura’s partner teams Meyer Shank Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing are currently ranked first and second in both the Teams’ and Drivers’ championships.
