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The Captain's Return

Wednesday, 25 October 2017


By Marshall Pruett


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When Acura called on Roger Penske's legendary team to run its 2018 DPi program, it was a return to the Captain's roots.

Honda's reasoning for returning to the top level of North American prototype racing through its Acura brand is an honest reflection of its enduring self image.
"We're a racing company that also sells cars," says Honda Performance Development CEO Art St. Cyr.
The echoes of Soichiro Honda can be heard when HPD's towering leader speaks to the passion that fuels its business. Considering its active involvement in the Verizon IndyCar Series, the IMSA WeatherTech Championship's GT Daytona category, Pirelli World Challenge, Global Rallycross and USF4, as well as extensive grassroots support with the SCCA and NASA, the need to commission an expensive, multi-year IMSA Prototype effort merely reconfirms its racing-centric culture.
"We have a rich history in prototypes with Acura, starting in 2007 when we won the [LMP2 class] first time out at Sebring," St. Cyr continues, as he attempts to explain the delightful compulsion that birthed the new ARX-05. "And when the world turned upside down in '08 with the recession, we didn't want to get out, so we continued with customer programs, won more championships, won the LMP2 class at Le Mans, and kept looking for the timing to be right to get back in as a manufacturer. IMSA's DPi rules gave us that chance."
Finding a Daytona Prototype international dance partner to take on the likes of Cadillac, Mazda and Nissan was the next step for Acura and HPD. And a legendary team got the nod.
"This was a six-, seven-, eight-month discussion," says Roger Penske, whose decades of success and countless championships should arouse fear in IMSA's paddock. "It wasn't something overnight."
Familiarity certainly helped as the Captain and HPD came to terms. Team Penske's Honda-powered Indy cars won many races and titles, but there's also the niggling fact that since 2012, Team Penske and Chevy have been Honda's arch nemesis in open-wheel racing.
"Because of our [past] relationship with Honda, they've seen our performances," Penske continues. "Art says, 'I don't like you on Sunday for two hours [in IndyCar].' I said, 'you're going to love us when we go to the races with this car.' I think it's a perfect marriage for us."
The last piece of the puzzle arrived in the shape of ORECA, the French racecar constructor responsible for the 2017 Le Mans-winning 07 LMP2 chassis. Within the complex array of intra program responsibilities, Team Penske president Tim Cindric says the final choice of Hugues de Chaunac's firm was down to HPD.
"We felt Acura should take the lead on the engine, and the chassis homologation," he explains. "We're the ones empowered to compete on race weekends, with areas of expertise on chassis setup to make them perform. From the car standpoint, we were a sounding board, but ultimately, it was Acura's responsibility to feel out the various suppliers."
Once connected with HPD and Acura's road-car division designers, 07 underwent its transformation into the ARX-05.
"The two main topics were the engine installation and the aero with the Acura bodywork styling," says ORECA technical director David Floury. "We did many exercises working with Acura to create the brand identity, while also making our targets for downforce and drag.
"Then it was time for the motor, and this twin-turbo V6 [HPD's 3.5-liter AR35TT, based on the production J35 series] has been in prototypes before, so it was not a big challenge to fit it in the 07 and make the cooling work as we wanted. The package we came up with, together with Acura and HPD, is advanced, but also uncomplicated. This is always the preference."