Honda's HPD transforms into HRC US, will aid F1 development

Honda and Acura enthusiasts are likely familiar with Honda Performance Development, or HPD for short. Well, say goodbye to HPD, because it’s now going to be HRC US. HRC stands for Honda Racing Corporation, and because HRC Japan already exists, this will be its sister group called HRC US.

It’s big deal news for the folks HPD right now, because HRC Japan is the team responsible for Honda’s Formula One program efforts with Red Bull Powertrains at the moment. Now that HRC is going to be one giant entity, it means that HRC US will contribute to the F1 program, too, starting with the Aston Martin engine supplier deal that will see cars on the track in 2026. Maybe all that sounds a little too much in the ether, but practically speaking, Honda employees in the U.S. will be working on F1 technology. Honda says that it sees the growth of the sport here in North America, now with three races in the U.S., and wants its American team involved with power unit development and race support in the future.

“Our goal is to increase the HRC brand and sustain the success of our racing activities and we believe that uniting Honda motorsports globally as one racing organization will help achieve that,” said Koji Watanabe, the president of HRC Japan. “Our race engineers in the U.S. and Japan will be stronger together and I am so happy to welcome our U.S. associates to the HRC team.”

Of course, HRC US will be responsible for far more than just lending a helping hand to Honda’s F1 efforts. It will continue the efforts of HPD into the future, and the first, official HRC US-backed racing will take place at next year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. The Acura ARX-06 prototypes will race wearing a brand-new HRC livery that you can see at the top of this post. The red, white and blue color scheme for HRC America is obviously no mistake. When queried about the possibility of a Le Mans entry, Honda didn’t rule it out, but made no commitments in the affirmative either.

Those less concerned with racing might point to Honda’s wide-ranging series of HPD parts available from the factory or as accessories for a number of Honda models. The Ridgeline HPD Package is perhaps the most outwardly aggressive example you could select, and Honda says that the HPD name will continue to be used for vehicles like this one. In the future, we could see the branding change, but HPD packages and accessories won’t be disappearing overnight now that this re-shuffling of Honda’s motorsports teams is official.

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