Honda Racing

RealTime Racing Acuras Bring New Driver Lineup To Mid-Ohio Race

RealTime Racing Acuras Bring New Driver Lineup To Mid-Ohio Race

• Acura earned its first two victories of 2016 with pair of Road America wins
• Seven-time series champion Peter Cunningham to focus on NSX GT3 development
• Spencer Pumpelly to compete in next two races in Acura TLX GT
• Ryan Eversley vaults to seventh in drivers’ championship with Road America victories

MARYSVILLE, Ohio – (July 28, 2016) – When Acura announced Wednesday that it was moving ahead with its racing plans with the new NSX GT3, it stood to reason that the manufacturer would bring some of its most experienced and successful assets to aid with the program.

To that end, Acura’s long-time partner RealTime Racing has made plans for team owner, and seven-time series champion, Peter Cunningham, to step out of the Acura TLX GT that competes in the Pirelli World Challenge in order to assist with the development of the NSX GT3.

“To be a part of this progression of the NSX GT3 is a tremendous opportunity. Having been the test driver in North America for the first generation NSX race car, I feel a deep connection to this project,” said Cunningham, who won 14 races for RealTime with the first iteration of the NSX. “With the new NSX coming on line, it is a very important program for Acura and I’m honored to be able to contribute. As I focus my energies on the NSX, we knew that we needed to find a top-notch driver for the TLX to bring Acura the best possible result.”

But while the NSX may be the future, this weekend’s events at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course are the team’s primary focus after Ryan Eversley carried the #43 Acura TLX to a weekend sweep of World Challenge events at Road America. Eversley and new teammate Spencer Pumpelly will look to continue the team’s momentum at the road course that is located just an hour from Honda’s original North American manufacturing plant.

“It is always exciting for me to have a chance to race in front of so many Honda associates and we always want to put on a great show for them,” said Eversley. “We had a productive test [at Mid-Ohio] last week, and I felt like the car was much better than it was last year. I think we’ll be able to race pretty well and we are looking forward to it.”

Pumpelly will get behind the wheel of the #43 Acura TLX GT for the next two events, including Mid-Ohio and the August 27-28 event at Utah Motorsports Campus in Tooele, Utah. He has an extensive road racing and sports car background that includes two GT class wins in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, as well as two victories at Mid-Ohio. The Virginia native also took part in the team’s test at Mid-Ohio last week and is ready for his latest challenge.

“I am thrilled to be joining RealTime Racing this weekend in Ohio and excited to become part of the Acura family,” Pumpelly enthused. “The team and brand have achieved tremendous success in the series and it’s an honor to be able to work with all the people involved. The Acura TLX is an amazing car which should do well around the tight turns of Mid-Ohio. The team has been a huge help in getting me comfortable in the car and I’m eager to get on track with it.”

The RealTime squad has amassed seven wins at Mid-Ohio in its storied history, with all seven of them coming in Acura vehicles. The Road America wins propelled Acura into sixth place in the series’ manufacturers’ standings, and the team is looking to continue that climb this weekend.

“Acura has been gaining momentum after three strong weekends in Pirelli World Challenge. Of course, this culminated with the best possible weekend at Road America,” said Senior Program Engineer Lee Niffenegger of Honda Performance Development. “Now, we head to Acura’s ’home’ track at Mid-Ohio. It is quite a different circuit that will challenge the TLX GT with its twists and turns.

“However, we have shown some great versatility in gaining positive results of late, so we expect another strong showing. I’m also excited to welcome Spencer Pumpelly to the program this weekend. I am positive he will be an asset to everyone at RealTime and Acura Motorsports as the program moves forward.”

Pirelli World Challenge qualifying takes place Saturday at noon ET with Round 14 getting underway at 4:35 p.m. Round 15 takes place Sunday morning at 11:15 a.m. ET. The 50-minute race broadcasts can be viewed live on the Internet at www.world-challengeTV.com. The tape-delayed race broadcast can be seen August 7 at 4 p.m. ET on the CBS Sports Network.

Developed from the production Acura TLX by HPD and RealTime Racing, the Acura TLX GT features HPD chassis and aerodynamic performance parts approved for Pirelli World Challenge competition. It is powered by a direct-injected, twin-turbocharged V6 engine, developed by HPD from the production Acura TLX.

Video News Releases from this weekend’s Pirelli World Challenge event at Mid-Ohio are being posted on a specially created “Honda Racing/HPD Trackside” YouTube channel produced by the Carolinas Production Group. CPG will be providing video highlights packages following Honda Racing/HPD events during 2016. The video packages can be found at https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV.