Filed under: Motorsports, New York Auto Show, Acura
Acura is going to Le Mans
The American Le Mans Series got a huge boost Wednesday with the announcement in New York by the Acura division of American Honda Motor that it plans to enter the ALMS series in 2007 - with the ultimate goal of racing in the premier LMP1 class at Le Mans! The announcement marks the first factory motorsports program for the Acura brand in its 20-year history.
In the words of John Mendel, senior VP of Auto Operations for Acura, "Our entry as a full factory team in the American Le Mans Series will accurately reflect Acura's position as a leader in automotive performance and technology."
The Acura ALMS program features the first race engine developed from scratch by Honda Performance Development in California, which also supplies engines to the Indy Racing League.
By the sounds of it, Acura is in sports car competition for the long haul. In 2007, Acura powerplants will power multiple LMP2 chassis from Lola and Courage, as a prelude to development of a complete Acura LMP1 chassis and engine package to compete in the ALMS and ultimately at Le Mans. Acura's LMP2s will debut at the 2007 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March, and testing will begin this summer.
Acura has competed in the upper echelons of sports car racing before, although never as a full factory effort. Acura engines powered Spice cars in the IMSA Camel Lights series to three consecutive championships in the early '90s.
More pictures of Acura's ALMS concept after the jump!
[Sources: Honda, American Le Mans Series]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
peyay 4:41PM (4/12/2006)
FIRST POST!!!
sweet now they can take over lemans too
honda that is
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chewy 4:42PM (4/12/2006)
I see a lot of the R10 in this concept. A lot. The front the rear wing the double solid roll hoops. I see a copy of the R10, but it will make the racing more interesting with three factory backed teams in Le Mans in 2007, Audi, Pegout and Acura.
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Louis Duran 4:50PM (4/12/2006)
This is great news. Even though I really like what Audi has done for the ALMS and I like Audi's cars I think they need a little more competition from factory sponsored teams. Hell, they need more competition full stop. It was getting a bit tiring watching the 1,2 and 1,2,3 finishes from the R8 team and it looks like Audi is set to do that again with the R10 if they can get all their cars to finish (which I am sure they will soon).
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Simon Speichert 5:10PM (4/12/2006)
One has to wonder - with the engine from the Audi R8 being used in its upcoming namesake road car, will this Acura engine show up in the next-gen NSX, or whatever Honda/Acura call it?
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Whydrive 5:47PM (4/12/2006)
It was a bit tiring watching Toyota go round and round and then choke at the end.
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chewy 5:54PM (4/12/2006)
Actuallly the R8 production car will not use the racing engine as that is impossible. A racing engine is so different from street engines that it does not make sense both economically and technacally to adapt it to street use. However, the sucess of the R8 in le mans probably led to approval of the road going car.
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Geoff 8:55PM (4/12/2006)
Man, I am such a tool. Now I want to buy an Acura. Does anyone know when the redesigned RSX is coming out?
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pedantic 9:31PM (4/12/2006)
#1 - LMP1 and LMP2 cars all pretty much look a like. Although, it does look a lot like the R8/R10. Check out the photogallery from 12 Hours of Sebring from this past March. http://www.americanlemans.com/Gallery/Photos.aspx?ID=61&GalleryID=5
#2 - LMP1 gets very expensive, and Audi has been the only manufacturer to consistently put up the money to finish on top. It's good to see Honda/Acura try and compete.
Le Mans is not necessarily about going fast. It's about how reliable, and how fast you can fix your car. I'm curious who will be driving -- they need to keep the car out of trouble, and pass the slower traffic safely.
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330R 12:00AM (4/13/2006)
#1, the chassis you see is either a Lola, or a Courage; it is not an Acura-made chassis. Lola and Courage currently supply chassis in the LMP2 category of ALMS.
Just want to point that out since it sounds like you think Acura copied Audi.
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Tom Design 8:55AM (4/13/2006)
This is great news! I wonder if they'll be using a Ford engine?
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Bert 9:03AM (4/13/2006)
There is as much R10 in the design as there is R10 in the Courage or the Pescarolo.
The R10 has an open design for the front suspension. The side pods are much wider where they meet the splitter.
As for the double hoops, I think it's a regulation for 2006 cars, 2005 cars being able to get around it.
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tbyron 12:44PM (4/13/2006)
This is great for ALMS, really great.
This is also at the expense of America's open wheel racing scene. It is also proof of the idiocy of the CART/IRL split (thank you Tony) and their repeated failures to reunify (thank you Tony again, and everyone else since).
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RayRay 1:16PM (4/13/2006)
#9, why would they consider or even need a Ford engine when Honda/Acura makes some of the most efficient engines in the world, where as Ford...
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Christian J 7:52PM (4/13/2006)
Is that a Honda V8? Wow. What a revelation. Le Mans does not have any V6 or 4-cyl winners. Suck it up Honda. No doubt this is in preparation for the V8 requirement for F1 next year.
Hey "Ray Ray". Get a Clue. Honda's so called high specific output (~100hp/L) 'efficient' engines you speak of all run on PREMIUM. HAHAHA. Useless. Anybody can have high compression. Have a look at what Ford can do with 87 octane and 3 litres.
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Brian 8:51PM (4/13/2006)
Uh...Christian...you're a year late there buddy. F1 made the switch to V8's this year. And this is solely a Honda North America effort and therefore totally unrelated to their F1 team. To think Honda couldn't produce a V8 is laughable given their engine expertise. Failure to acknowledge that is pretty pathetic.
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Steve C 3:22PM (4/19/2006)
The engine looks like the Honda IRL engine. Likely increased displacement to 3.4 liters or so and "converted" (modified) to run on gasoline rather than on IRL methanol.
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Cameron 9:03PM (4/20/2006)
a 99-00 Civic Si makes 100hp per liter and runs on 87 octane, thank you very much. Near perfect rod ratio (1.73), and amazing volumetric efficiency. AND it gets 30 mpg. WHAT A CONCEPT! Sorry to burst your bubble Christian.
When the president of Honda was asked what American car companies should do to compete with Japan, he said, "they should try harder."
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