RealTime Racing Acuras Fight Through Adversity in Alabama
• Peter Cunningham claims Hard Charger Award in Saturday’s opener
• Acuras finish in top 13 in both events at Barber Motorsports Park

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (April 24, 2016) – The RealTime Racing Team Acuras fought through some adversity this weekend, but kept battling to the end of Rounds Six and Seven of the Pirelli World Challenge at Barber Motorsports Park. Continue reading Honda Racing– RealTime Racing Acuras Fight Through Adversity in Alabama →

Late Race Contact Costs Rahal Victory at Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
• Charge to the front ends after front wing damage
• Hinchcliffe continues rebound with sixth-place finish
• Rossi recovers to lead rookie field

For the second year in a row, Graham Rahal was the star of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, as the Honda driver charged to the front of the Verizon IndyCar Series field in the closing laps of Sunday’s 90-lap contest, only to suffer front wing damage while lapping Jack Hawksworth and then having to nurse his wounded machine to the checkers as runner-up to race winner Simon Pagenaud. Continue reading Honda Racing–Late Race Contact Costs Rahal Victory at Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama →

Rahal Leads Honda Qualifiers at Barber Motorsports Park
• Best qualifying effort of 2015 for Rahal
• Hinchcliffe, Filippi also advance through two qualifying rounds
• Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama runs Sunday

In his first Firestone Fast Six appearance of 2016, Graham Rahal led the Honda contingent Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park and will start sixth in Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. In addition to being his best qualifying result of the season, today’s performance is also Rahal’s strongest qualifying effort in seven starts at the scenic road course just outside of Birmingham, Alabama. In his best previous race at Barber, in 2015, Rahal started eighth and went on to finish second.

James Hinchcliffe continued to show good form on the road and street circuits of the Verizon IndyCar Series, qualifying eighth today for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, with Luca Filippi also making it to the second round of “knockout” Indy car qualifying to start 12th for Dale Coyne Racing.

Sunday’s 90-lap Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama starts at 3 p.m. EDT, with live network television coverage on the NBC Sports Network.

Graham Rahal (#15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda): “It will make life a little easier, being this far forward [for the race start]. It’s always an interesting race around this place but we’ll just have to see how it plays out tomorrow. For us to get into the Fast Six, I did was about as good of a lap as I think I have ever put together here. From comments I’ve heard, others are struggling with the rear tires going off a lot in the long run and I don’t really have that problem. We’re going to keep our heads down, keep focused and just out race them a little bit. And if we can keep the rear tires under us, and save some fuel hopefully to make the end of the race easier so we can attack hard, I think it will put us in a good spot.”

Sato Shines for Honda at Long Beach
• Late-race charge nets fifth for Sato, Honda and A.J. Foyt Racing
• Hinchcliffe rebounds from early-season disappointment to run eighth
• Caution-free race leads to record event

A late-race charge from Takuma Sato netted Honda and the A.J. Foyt Racing veteran fifth place Sunday at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, as a caution-free race around the Southern California street circuit resulted in a record race pace and negatively affected the race strategies of several Honda teams.

The race would run caution-free for the first time since 1989 and only the fourth time in Long Beach history, resulting in a record race pace of just over 100 mph. It also was the first caution-free Indy car race anywhere since Mid-Ohio in 2013. Continue reading Sato Shines for Honda at Long Beach →

Sato Shines for Honda at Long Beach
• Late-race charge nets fifth for Sato, Honda and A.J. Foyt Racing
• Hinchcliffe rebounds from early-season disappointment to run eighth
• Caution-free race leads to record event

A late-race charge from Takuma Sato netted Honda and the A.J. Foyt Racing veteran fifth place Sunday at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, as a caution-free race around the Southern California street circuit resulted in a record race pace and negatively affected the race strategies of several Honda teams.

The race would run caution-free for the first time since 1989 and only the fourth time in Long Beach history, resulting in a record race pace of just over 100 mph. It also was the first caution-free Indy car race anywhere since Mid-Ohio in 2013. Continue reading Sato Shines for Honda at Long Beach →

Honda Racing Report
Saturday, April 16, 2016

BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach
Circuit: Grand Prix of Long Beach (1.968-mile street circuit) Long Beach, CA
Weather: Sunny, warm, 83 degrees F

Honda, Michael Shank Racing Persevere at Long Beach
• Ozz Negri, John Pew pilot Ligier-Honda to seventh-place finish
• First street race of 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

Michael Shank Racing, with drivers Ozz Negri and John Pew, brought its Ligier-Honda home to a seventh-place finish Saturday on the streets of Long Beach, California, in the BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix of Long Beach, the first of two sprint format temporary street circuit events in the 2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Continue reading Honda Racing–Grand Prix at Long Beach →

Hinchcliffe Heads Honda Qualifiers at Long Beach
• Sato, Munoz also post top-10 times
• Daly again leads rookie field

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver James Hinchcliffe again led the Honda field in Verizon IndyCar Series action on Saturday on the streets of Long Beach, California, qualifying seventh for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Long Beach. The Canadian Indy car veteran, now fully recovered from serious injuries sustained last May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, is seeking his fifth career victory, and first at Long Beach.

Qualifying less than a tenth of a second slower, 2013 Long Beach winner Takuma Sato will start eighth, with 2015 Detroit victor Carlos Munoz leading the Andretti Autosport effort to round out the top-10 qualifiers. Munoz’s teammate, Ryan Hunter-Reay, will start 11th.

Luca Filippi capped a strong effort from Dale Coyne Racing to qualify 12th, while teammate Conor Daly again led the rookie field at Long Beach, and will start 13th. Sunday’s 80-lap race starts at 4 p.m. EDT, with live network television coverage on the NBC Sports Network.

James Hinchcliffe (#5 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda): “Today was a really good day. We rolled off the truck with a good car on Friday and I’m really proud of the Arrow Electronics guys for the prep that they did, because the car was a rocket right from the get-go. We’ve just been making little tweaks to it, trying to get into a position to be fighting for the Firestone Fast Six, and we did. We finished seventh. We kind of [lost out] a little bit with the way that the Timing and Scoring system failed, but it is what it is. We’re starting on the inside, which is great. It’s such a turnaround from the race in Phoenix two weeks ago. There are a lot of reasons to be happy today and I’m proud of the guys.”

Hinchcliffe, Honda Run Second in Opening Day Practice at Long Beach
• Rahal debuts new colors with third-quickest time
• Hawksworth, Munoz post top-10 times
• Daly leads rookies

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver James Hinchcliffe led the Honda field in Verizon IndyCar Series practice Friday for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Long Beach, posting the second-fastest time, only two-tenths of a second behind defending race winner Will Power. Graham Rahal continued his run of impressive street circuit performances, giving Honda two of the top-three positions on the time sheets, finishing the day just six-hundredths of a second off Hinchcliffe.

A.J. Foyt Racing continued to show strong form at Long Beach, with Jack Hawksworth posting the ninth-fastest time, with teammate and 2013 race winner Takuma Sato, 11th. Conor Daly led the three rookie drivers in the field with the 15th fastest time, still less than a second behind Power.

Activities on the Southern California temporary street circuit continue tomorrow, with final practice and qualifying. Sunday’s 80-lap race starts at 4 p.m. EDT, with live network television coverage on the NBC Sports Network.

James Hinchcliffe (#5 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda): “We’ve had a difficult start to the season, but not quite as difficult as the end to my last one [when a mechanical failure at Indianapolis resulting in serious leg injuries that ended his season]. So, it’s easy to sleep at night knowing that things could be worse. The car was quick off the truck [this morning], and we made very few changes over lunch, so it’s an encouraging start to our weekend. Long Beach has been nice to me in the past, so hopefully, we can have a solid weekend here and really kick off the season.”

RealTime Racing Acuras Carry Growing Momentum to Long Beach

• RTR Acura TLXs earned first top-10 results of 2016 at St. Petersburg
• Team returns to site of double top-10 finish in 2015
• RealTime Racing seeking first Long Beach win

TORRANCE, Calif, (April 13, 2016) – The RealTime Racing Acuras have a rare one-and-done weekend at this weekend’s Grand Prix of Long Beach, as the Pirelli World Challenge series contests just a single race, instead of the normal two, at the nation’s most famous street circuit.

The single race gives the RTR squad just one chance to build on the momentum earned with a pair of top-10 runs in St. Petersburg last month, including a season-best sixth-place effort by Ryan Eversley. But if the team performs like it did a year ago, one race should be all the team needs to continue improving its results. Continue reading Honda Racing–RealTime Racing Acuras Carry Growing Momentum to Long Beach →

Hunter-Reay, Rahal Shine for Honda at Phoenix
• Outstanding start, re-starts highlight Hunter-Reay’s run
• Rahal makes largest gain of the night to finish fifth
• Ill-timed caution flags cost Hunter-Reay, Andretti and Rossi

An inspiring drive from Ryan Hunter-Reay Saturday night at Phoenix International Raceway saw poor reward for his efforts at the Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix, while Graham Rahal capitalized on every opportunity to produce a top-five finish in the first oval race of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season.

A likely top-three finish for Hunter-Reay was stymied by caution flags that twice waved just after he had completed scheduled pit stops, dropping him well back in the field each time as his competitors took advantage of the yellows to make their own stops. The poorly-timed cautions negated an aggressive race start for Hunter-Reay that saw the Andretti Autosport driver gain five positions in the opening lap. Hunter-Reay continued to fight back throughout the 250-lap contest, making multiple passes for position on each succeeding re-start and surviving a late-race brush with the wall to finish 10th. Continue reading Honda Racing–Hunter-Reay, Rahal Shine for Honda at Phoenix →

Andretti Leads the Way for Honda in Phoenix Qualifying
• Disappointing day for Honda teams and drivers
• Crashes send Sato, Munoz and Hinchcliffe to the rear of the field
• First night oval race of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series on Saturday

A disappointing day for Honda drivers and teams on Friday at Phoenix International Raceway saw Marco Andretti lead the field for the manufacturer, qualifying 11th for Saturday night’s Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix.

Andretti and his Andretti Autosport teammate, Ryan Hunter-Reay, were the only Honda drivers to break into the top 12 in single-car qualifying on a warm, sunny day at PIR. The Honda effort was further hindered when Takuma Sato and James Hinchcliffe missed qualifying after single-car crashes in practice on Friday morning, while Carlos Munoz crashed during his qualifying run in the afternoon. All three drivers escaped serious injury and are expected to take part in the race.

Saturday night’s 250-lap race, the first oval round of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series, starts at 8:30 p.m. EDT, with live network television coverage on the NBC Sports Network.

Marco Andretti (#27 Andretti Autosport Honda): “That was a good [qualifying] run, and [yet] we’re 11th. Obviously, when we have the car wrung out for qualifying, we want to be running for the pole and not 11th… so I have to say it was disappointing. We have a lot of work to do tonight, but we have a direction that I think we can follow to improve the car. If we get the car good in race trim, the competition will be much closer tomorrow night.”

F4 LAUNCH ON PACE AS OFFICIAL TEST OF NEW CAR EXCEEDS EXPECTATIONS
Series and partners pleased with car’s debut

INDIANAPOLIS (March 28, 2016) – On the track for its first official test drive last week, the car for the new Formula 4 United States Championship powered by Honda exceeded all expectations as the series prepares for its debut in May.

The F4 U.S. Championship, organized and sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing, conducted the official test with two test drivers at Carolina Motorsports Park, a 2.23-mile road course in Kershaw, South Carolina.

The developmental test marked the first time the F4 U.S. Championship car took to the track. It featured a Honda Racing/HPD engine and Pirelli tires mounted onto a Crawford Composites chassis.

“After attending the first track test, I was very impressed with the car,” said Derrick Walker, President and CEO of SCCA Pro Racing. “This car is just what we needed as an entry-level formula car, and it was another milestone toward our first race on May 27 at Lime Rock Park.”

Over the course of the testing, adjustments were made to the ride height as well as wing, shock and spring adjustments, allowing the car to improve its performance each lap.

“The test was a howling success,” Crawford Composites President Max Crawford said. “The car ran flawlessly for two days and got better and better with each adjustment.”

The F4 series will consist of 15 races at five classic tracks when it kicks off at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut, on May 27-28 and is scheduled to wrap-up Oct. 8-10 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida.

Acura Unveils NSX GT3 Racecar in New York

• Twin turbocharged NSX supercar to campaign in North American competition starting 2017
• NSX slated to undergo homologation this fall as an FIA GT3 class racecar
• Racecar body to be built by the Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohio, the exclusive manufacturing home to the all-new Acura NSX supercar; engine to be produced in Anna, Ohio

NEW YORK, NY (Mar. 23, 2016) – Acura took the wraps off a NSX GT3 racecar today at the 2016 New York International Auto Show, announcing its intention to campaign the twin-turbocharged NSX supercar in North America starting in 2017. The NSX is currently undergoing testing and slated for homologation as an FIA GT3 class racecar this fall. Continue reading Acura Unveils NSX GT3 Racecar in New York →

Honda Debuts 2016 Civic Coupe Racing Livery to Compete
in 2016 Red Bull Global Rallycross Series

Will campaign the all-new Civic Coupe in partnership with Red Bull
and Olsbergs MSE

NEW YORK, March 22, 2016 – Today Honda unveiled the new racing livery for its Civic Red Bull Global Rallycross racecar, announcing plans to campaign the all-new turbocharged 2016 Civic Coupe in the 2016 series in partnership with Red Bull and championship-winning race team Olsbergs MSE. The Honda Civic Red Bull GRC team will begin racing on May 21 in Phoenix at the first event of the season.
Developed from a production-model 2016 Civic Coupe chassis by renowned builders and racers Olsbergs MSE (OMSE) with technical assistance from Honda Performance Development (HPD), the all-new Civic Red Bull GRC car is built to withstand the rigorous demands of racing in a series that emphasizes repeated aggressive acceleration and varied terrain. The car will boast more than 600 horsepower, turn in a 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds and is designed to handle the 70 foot table-top jumps featured on each racetrack. Continue reading Honda Debuts 2016 Civic Coupe Racing Livery to Compete in 2016 Red Bull Global Rallycross Series →

Honda Sweeps North American Endurance Classics
• Honda, Tequila Patron ESM score a dramatic victory at the Twelve Hours of Sebring
• Win follows triumph in January at the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway
• First Honda overall victories in both American endurance racing classics

In an endurance racing contest that saw everything from sunny skies to pouring rain; long green-flag runs as well as a two-hour race stoppage due to heavy rain and lightning; Honda and the Tequila Patron ESM team once again proved to be an unstoppable force in the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, winning the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in a thrilling multi-car battle that featured more than 30 lead changes and raged right to the checkered flags. Continue reading Honda Sweeps North American Endurance Classics →

Honda Sweeps Front Row in Sebring Qualifying
• Olivier Pla, Michael Shank Racing claim first pole of 2016 for Honda
• Pipo Derani, Tequila Patron ESM to start on the outside front row
• Pole-winning team rebounds from crash the previous night

In a stirring duel between two Honda-powered drivers, Olivier Pla and Michael Shank Racing edged the similar Tequila Patron ESM machine of Luis Felipe “Pipo” Derani at Sebring International Raceway on Friday to claim the pole for Saturday’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring endurance sports car race.

Pla and Derani battled fiercely throughout the 15-minute prototype qualifying session, both drivers extracting maximum performance from their Ligier JS P2 Hondas, with Pla finally prevailing by just 18 hundredths of a second. It was Pla’s third career IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship pole and second consecutive pole at Sebring. Continue reading Honda Sweeps Front Row in Sebring Qualifying →

Pirelli World Challenge Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
1.8-mile temporary street circuit – St. Petersburg, FL
Weather: Sunny, mild, 80 degrees F

Ryan Eversley Paces Acura Results in St. Petersburg with Pair of Top-10 Runs
• Eversley earns third top-10 finish in first four races of 2016 season
• Peter Cunningham earns season-best results with strong late-race efforts
• Sixth-place run on Sunday is best of Pirelli World Challenge Season for Acura TLX-GT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – (March 13, 2016) – The RealTime Racing Team used a pair of powerful Acura TLX-GT machines to overcome some bad luck and post its best results of the young Pirelli World Challenge season Sunday in St. Petersburg, FL.

Ryan Eversley found the key to the race weekend early in qualifying for Saturday’s race. Unfortunately, that key was lodged in his tire, causing a flat that dropped him to 16th on the grid. Driver/owner Peter Cunningham gridded 18th on the tight 1.8-mile St. Petersburg course, but the pair of Acuras was able to take advantage of long green-flag runs to move up to 10th and 13th, respectively, at the finish. More importantly, Eversley posted the sixth-fastest lap time of the race, which enabled him to start Sunday’s race in the top three rows.

“I’m not normally excited to finish 10th in a race, but we started on the second-to-last row and worked our way up through guys that were on the podium at the last event,” said Eversley. “Our car was easy to drive and I didn’t feel like I was abusing the tires or the brakes. I was catching Nissans and Porsches toward the end of the race, and they looked like they were struggling.” Continue reading Honda Racing– Pirelli World Challenge Grand Prix of St. Petersburg →

Hunter-Reay, Honda Produce Podium Finish at St. Petersburg
• Hunter-Reay scores third-place finish in IndyCar season opener
• Young guns Daly, Rossi star in rookie runs
• Aleshin, Sato also record top-six finishing positions; contact costs Rahal

Ryan Hunter-Reay opened the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series for Honda with a third-place finish Sunday at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, as the 2012 series champion briefly led, hung tough with the leaders through the 110-lap temporary street circuit contest and avoided dramas that delayed other potential Honda contenders.

Series rookie Conor Daly also starred, as clever pit strategy from his Dale Coyne Racing team moved the young American driver to the front of the field for 15 laps mid-race, then he continued to battle with eventual race winner Juan Pablo Montoya until the final round of scheduled pit stops. Just after exiting the pits, Daly was forced up onto the curbing, damaging a front wing and leading to an unscheduled, additional pit stop for repairs, dropping him off the lead lap and to an unrepresentative 13th-place finish.

Series returnee James Hinchcliffe, Takuma Sato and Graham Rahal were all victims of contact from other competitors to spoil their respective races. Hinchcliffe and Sato were hit from behind on the opening lap, and while Sato was able to recover to finish sixth, Hinchcliffe was caught up in a multi-car collision on Lap 57 that ended his chances of a top-10 result.

Hunter-Reay, Honda To Start Sixth at St. Petersburg
• Rahal qualifies seventh, seeks second St. Petersburg victory
• Hinchcliffe returns with top-10 qualifying run
• A.J. Foyt Racing teammates Hawksworth, Sato advance to second round

Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay led the Honda field Saturday in qualifying for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, advancing to the “Fast Six” final qualifying round to post the sixth-fastest time in preparation for the opening round of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Continue reading Honda Racing–Hunter-Reay, Honda To Start Sixth at St. Petersburg →

Rahal Leads Honda in Opening Day Practice at St. Petersburg
• Two-time 2015 race winner runs fourth as 2016 season opens
• Honda drivers claim four of top eight, six of top 12 positions
• Rossi bests rookies with 13th fastest time

Graham Rahal picked up where he left off at the end of the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series, leading the Honda field in “opening day” practice to officially start the 2016 season in advance of Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Rahal’s best lap of 1:10.2924 was fourth on the day, just ahead of three fellow Honda drivers as no fewer than 10 drivers in the 22-car field bettered the quickest time recorded on Friday in last year’s event. Takuma Sato, James Hinchcliffe, Carlos Munoz and Jack Hawksworth ended the day fifth through eighth, respectively, with Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay also placing in the top 12.

Activities on the temporary street circuit continue tomorrow, with final practice and qualifying. Sunday’s 110-lap season-opening round of the Verizon IndyCar Series starts at 12:30 p.m. EDT, with live network television coverage on ABC.

Graham Rahal (#15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda): “I’m pleased with the performance of the Steak ‘n Shake car there at the end [of the session]. The guys did a great job getting the changes we needed done over the lunch break and putting us in a pretty good spot. We’ve got a little bit of work to do but all in all we are closing the gap.”