SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (Sept. 30, 2013) – Honda and Acura racers won five Sports Car Club of America national titles, including a second consecutive Formula title and the closest finish in SCCA transponder-era history, in the SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Road America.

A total of 61 Honda and Acura racers, the largest participation in recent history, traveled to the classic Road America road course in Wisconsin September 16-22 for this year’s celebratory 50thAnniversary Runoffs, taking part in 11 of the 28 classes.

Twelve Formula F drivers, exactly half of the 24-car starting field, used the HPD L15A7 engine at this year’s Runoffs, a record for the manufacturer in this open-wheel, training-ground category.  Tim Kautz, who made history in 2012 as the first Honda-powered Formula F National Champion, successfully defended his title after a race-long battle with Reid Hazelton. 

“It was a great race, the whole race,” Kautz said. “We [Kautz and Hazelton] were battling a little harder than we should have at the start. Then, I could see Reid decide ‘Hey, there’s too many people coming out to play, let’s pull away a little.’ So, we worked together, and the last couple of laps the gloves came off. I think the last lap I went from first to second to first to second to first. So that’s a fun race, a real fun race.”

Behind the lead pair, Jeffrey Bartz finished third in his Honda-powered Van Diemen, with former national champion Scott Rubenzer fourth in his Spectrum-Honda and Cliff Johnson fifth in another Piper-Honda. 

In Touring 3, Chad Gilsinger took his Acura TL SH-AWD to victory, despite final lap drama that saw his relatively comfortable lead of more than eight seconds nearly wiped out when he encountered a slower car – and yellow flags for a separate incident at Turn 12 – less than a mile from the finish. 

“I was basically in cruise mode at that point, but came up on a lapped car.  He was going overly slow and was pointing me by,” Gilsinger recounted.  “But as I got alongside him, I noticed a yellow flag [for the incident at Turn 12].  I didn’t want [a penalty for passing under yellow] to screw up the win, so I almost stopped to let him back by, until we could get past the incident and I could [legally] pass him.  It was almost a bad situation, but luckily it turned out okay.” 

Gilsinger’s victory was his second Touring 3 national championship.  He also won the category in 2010, driving a Honda S2000.

In the production categories, Acura Integra drivers finished first and third in F Production after an exciting race-long battle that also included the Mazda Miata of Eric Prill.  Mark Carpenter took his 2nd Runoffs championship in the class, with Kevin Ruck finishing third in his Integra.

Officially, Carpenter led all 13 laps around the four-mile Road America circuit in his first Runoffs appearance since winning in 2009, but Prill pulled along side several times, and Ruck was never far behind. 

“Our decision to go racing didn’t happen until June of this year,” Carpenter said. “It’s a little different feeling this time around. In such a short period of time, my guys did a great job getting the car together, even on the trailer, to get it out of the garage. I was tripping over it in my garage for two years. Even though I’ve been out of the driver’s seat, I’ve still been at the track,working in pro racing [as an engineer] for the last couple of years. I’ve learned a lot of things that have helped my driving. There’s a lot I’ve picked up on. It’s different this time around, but it feels just as sweet as 2009, for sure.”

The fourth Honda championship of the weekend came in H Production, where Lawrence Loshak won his fourth title – and second with Honda after winning E Production in 2006.  Loshak startedfrom the pole and was ahead of a multi-car, first-lap crash that briefly stopped the race. 

On the restart, a missed shift dropped Losak’s Honda CRX down to fourth.  But by mid-race, Loshak reclaimed a lead he would maintain to the finish.  Jay Griffin finished third in his CRX to add to Honda’s podium total for the weekend, with 2011 champion Greg Gauper taking fourth in his Honda Civic.

“You know, sometimes when you get a run, you gotta go,” Loshak said of his recovery to retake the lead. “You follow them around, kind of get a judge of character of who you’re racing with, and these guys have been awesome. You gotta do it, especially at the National Championships. It worked out.”

The weekend closed out with one of the most exciting races of the weekend and, with a seven-thousandths-of-a-second margin of victory, the closest Runoffs finish since the SCCA began using transponders, as Chris Bovis took his Honda CRX Si to victory lane for the second time in his career in GT Lite. 

Bovis, who previously won GT Lite in 2007, started this year’s race from fifth on the grid, and spent the first nine laps battling multi-time champion Kent Prather for second place.  With three laps remaining in the 13-lap contest, Bovis finally had Prather in is rear-view mirror, and set fastest race lap as he chased down the Nissan of race leader Bobby Lentz.

On Lap 12, the pair was running nose-to-tail, and sometimes side-by-side, as they fought for the lead.  Coming out of Turn 12, they again ran side-by-side, rubbing fenders, through the fast right-hand Turn 13.  Lentz nosed ahead after the contact, but Bovis “squared-up” the final Turn 14 and pulled alongside Lentz as they exited the left-hander, setting up a drag race to the finish where Bovis prevailed, literally, by inches. 

“The difference between Bobby’s laps and mine was just a matter of a few feet here and there. I was trying to figure out where I was quicker. I was just marginally quicker,” Bovis said. “The best turn I had was [Turn] 13, which is a terrible place to do anything. I’d love to tell you I had a plan, but I consciously thought going into [Turn] 3, this is just going to happen somewhere. Road America is a very important place for me. I grew up here. I’ve seen a lot of drivers run here. I just know sometimes here, if somebody is diving really hard into the corner, you can square the corner up, cut back, and just lengthen the straightaway up, and sometimes it works. That’s honestly the only option I had. It was the [last turn of the] last lap.”

Honda Performance Development [HPD], through the Honda Racing Line, offered contingency awards of up to $2,500, along with additional support to help offset travel costs for the racers.  HPD also hosted catered, trackside hospitality exclusively for Honda/Acura competitors and their team members, providing buffet lunches September 17-21 and a Friday night ice cream social in celebration of the Runoff’s 50th Anniversary.

Founded in 1993, Honda Performance Development (HPD) is the technical operations center for high-performance Honda racing cars and engines, and operates at race circuits around the world from its headquarters in Santa Clarita, California.HPD offers a line of race engines for track applications from prototype sports cars to karting; and showcases “fun” products for professional, amateur and entry-level efforts.

Launched in 2009, the Honda Racing Line is a program targeted at licensed participants in sanctioned amateur and entry-level professional racing.  The Honda Racing Line was formed to provide its members with a direct connection to Honda Performance Development and its unparalleled record of success at the highest levels of motorsport. 

Honda Performance Development continued its streak of victories in the 2013 American Le Mans Series Saturday at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, clinching its second consecutive LMP1 engine manufacturers’ championshipas Muscle Milk Pickett Racing’s Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr led all 83 laps in their HPD ARX-03c Honda to post their record-extending seventh consecutive victory of the season.HPD is also on course to repeat as LMP1 chassis manufacturer champion with a successful race finish in the next event, at Virginia International Raceway. 

In the LMP2 category, the duo of IndyCar veteran Ryan Briscoe and team owner/driver Scott Tuckerfinished third overall and first in class, heading a 1-2 LMP2 class finish for Level 5 Motorsports in itspair of HPD ARX-03b Hondas. Teammates Guy Cosmo and Marino Franchitti were just over five seconds behind at the checkers. 

Starting from the pole,Luhr briefly surrendered the lead to the Dyson Racing Lola-Mazda of Tony Burgess, but re-passed his rival later in the lap.  The Muscle Milk HPD-Honda continued to lead every lap of the two-hour, forty-five minute contest, even through the two scheduled pit stops, and finished two laps ahead of its closest competitor in a caution-free contest.  For Luhr, the win extended his own record of American Le Mans Series victories to 48, with two races remaining in the 2013 season, while Graf scored his 21st series win.

In LMP2, the two Level 5 HPD-Hondas traded the lead several times, with Cosmo in the class pole-starting #552 leading through the first round of pit stops.  Teammate Briscoe took over at the front in the #551 ARX-03b Honda, until Franchitti regained the advantage for the #552 following the second and final pit stop. Franchitti went on to set the fastest LMP2 race lap, but was called to the pits for a suspected tire puncture in the final half hour, once again reversing the running order.  Briscoe took the checkers for his first LMP2 win since the season-opening 12 Hours of Sebring, while co-driver Tucker won for the fifth time this year.

Behind the Level 5 entries, championship rivals Extreme Speed Motorsports started at the rear of the 33-car field, when drivers Scott Sharp and Ed Brown failed to meet the minimum practice time requirements due to heavy rain at the circuit on Friday.  The #02 HPD-Honda of Brown and Johannes van Overbeek had a relatively trouble-free run to finish third in LMP2, and fifth overall, one lap behind the Level 5 entries.  Sharp and Anthony Lazzaro lost time mid-race in their #01 ARX-03b when Lazzaro was punted into a spin by a GT-class entry, but the pair recovered to finish fourth in LMP2, just over 12 seconds behind their teammates

HPD, the most successful competitor in the LMP Green X Challenge since the award for “fast, clean and efficient” performance was established in 2008, received a record-extending 23rdprototype Green X Challenge award today.  Muscle Milk Pickett Racing claimed Green X prototype honors after a race-winning performance, with the LMP2 ARX-03b entries of Level 5 Motorsports taking second and third. 

The 2013 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron next travels to historic Virginia International Raceway for the October 5 Oak Tree Grand Prix, the penultimate race prior to the merger of the series with Grand-Am to form the Tudor United Sports Car Championship in 2014.

Klaus Graf (#6 Muscle Milk Pickett Racing HPD ARX-03c Honda) 1st overall and in LMP1 with co-driver Lucas Luhr; ALMS series record 7th consecutive win for Muscle Milk Pickett Racing and Honda in 2013; clinched the 2013 LMP1 engine manufacturers’ championship for Honda:  “Another great day for Muscle Milk Pickett Racing.  Lucas [Luhr] did a great job at the start, regaining the lead after the start and then just pulling away.  We’ve really put together a great package with our partners at HPD and Michelin.  With the latest updates from HPD on the car, I believe if you look at the times you will see we are on a par with the [World Endurance Championship] cars.  Lucas now has 48 race wins, so our goal is to get him to 50 by the end of this season.”

Ryan Briscoe (#551 Level 5 Motorsports HPD ARX-03b Honda) 1st in LMP2 and 3rd overall with co-driver Scott Tucker; 6th class victory of the season for the team:  “After being taken out at the start in Baltimore, this was kind of a ‘comeback’ race for us.  Scott [Tucker] did an awesome job in the first stintand the team performed flawlessly.  This was a brand new car, and our mechanics, engineers, the HPD chassis and Honda engine all worked perfectly.  When I first got in the car in testing earlier this week, I couldn’t believe how good it felt, and that feeling continued right through today.  It was a picture-perfect weekend, I’m really proud of our team.”

Steve Eriksen(Vice President and COO, Honda Performance Development) on Saturday’s championship-clinching victory for HPD:  “Having an all green race was a welcome departure from the challenges of the previous race at Baltimore.  The Muscle Milk Pickett Racing team put on a commanding performance and was the class of the field, finishing two laps ahead of everyone in their trouble-free run.  Congratulations to all of the Honda associates at HPD on our repeat win of the LMP1 engine manufacturers’ championship in the final year of the ALMS.  The LMP2 battle between Level 5 and Extreme Speed was entertaining for the fans, and we were pleased to again have the reliability and speed of the HPD ARX-03b Hondas demonstrated for the world to see.  We’re very pleased to win the inaugural sports car race at this world-class Circuit of the Americas facility.  We look forward to helping our teams continue to set records in the remainder of the season.”

In an incident-filled 75-lap battle on the downtown streets of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, Simon Pagenaud came through the carnage to score his second IZOD IndyCar Series win of 2013 in Sunday’s Grand Prix of Baltimore, aboard his Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports Honda Dallara.  The win, Honda’s eighth of the season, ties it with rival Chevrolet for Manufacturers’ Championship honors with only three races remaining.  Josef Newgarden drove an inspired race to finish second for Honda and Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, a career-best for the sophomore Indy car driver.

After starting third, Pagenaud produced a strong run in the opening laps, running in formation with early leaders Will Power and Scott Dixon.  But, in what would become a pattern for the event, the caution flag waved for the first time after just 12 laps, as car-to-car contact and crashes became the order of the day, which resulted in 25 laps of the 75-lap distance being run under caution.  The early yellows resulted in several different pit strategies being employed, with the Schmidt team being one of the few to “split” itscars, running a standard schedule for Pagenaud while trying an off-sequence pit strategy for teammate Tristan Vautier.

As the race neared its mid-point, it appeared to be a contest between Power and Dixon among the drivers on a normal two-stop strategy, and Sebastien Bourdais and Vautier among those running an “alternate strategy”.  Honda drivers delayed or eliminated by contact included Vautier, Charlie Kimball – who was forced to a full stop on track several times by crashes directly in front of him – and Dixon, whose Target Chip Gansssi Racing Honda was hit by Power while attempting to pass on Lap 52.

As the cautions continued, all without injury to the drivers involved, the strategies converged to set up a 10-lap sprint to the finish among the survivors.  When the field took the green flag for the final time on Lap 65, Pagenaud stalked leader Marco Andretti for several laps, then made his move under braking for the hairpin on Lap 69 to claim a lead he would not surrender.

Once in front, Pagenaud held off several passing attempts by first Bourdais, then Newgarden, who had moved into second on Lap 70.  Fading brakes then ended Newgarden’s challenge, and Pagenaud stretched his advantage to just over four seconds at the checkers.

Scott Dixon led the way for Honda in IZOD IndyCar Series qualifying Saturday during preparation for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Baltimore, taking his second pole of 2013 in the strongest qualifying performance for the manufacturer this season.  Five Honda-powered drivers made the final “Fast Six” round of knockout Indy car qualifying, and Honda took eight of the top 12 starting positions overall.

Recording its strongest qualifying effort of 2013, the Sam Schmidt Motorsports operation claimed two of the top six starting positions, with Simon Pagenaud third in his Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports machine – his best qualifying result this year – and rookie teammate Tristan Vautier escaping from a minor collision at the end of second-round qualifying to make his fourth “Fast Six” appearance of the season in the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda Dallara.

Veteran Justin Wilson will start from the second row, fourth, in his best qualifying performance of the yea. Josef Newgarden was another Honda driver to produce his best qualifying run of 2013, and will start fifth for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing.Graham Rahal crashed in the second round and was penalized his two quickest lap times for bringing out the red flag, preventing him from advancing to the Fast Six.  Rahal has been cleared to drive and will start 12th for Rahal Lettterman Lanigan Racing.

Scott Dixon(#9 Target Chip Ganassi RacingHonda Dallara) pole qualifier, his 2nd pole of 2013 and 20th career Indy car pole; Honda’s 7th pole of the season:  “It was an interesting day.  The first [qualifying] round was pretty straightforward, but in ‘Q2’ we tried getting tricky, then had a sensor fail and that cost us time in Pit Lane.  Luckily, the team was able to repair the sensor and the [Rahal] penalty advanced us to the Fast Six.  I actually lost a couple of tenths [of a second] on my quick lap, but I guess it was still a good one as it got us the pole!”

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ Tristan Vautier led a Honda-powered sweep of the top five positions in IZOD IndyCar Series practice Friday on the 2.04-mile Camden Yards temporary street circuit in downtown Baltimore, in preparation for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Baltimore. 

Vautier is an IndyCar rookie this season, but won the Indy Lights race here last year en route to the 2012 Indy Lights championship.  Graham Rahal, who qualified second and finished 10th here in 2012, recorded the second-quickest overall time for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

Josef Newgarden posted the third-quickest time in his first IndyCar appearance in Baltimore.  The second-year driver missed last year’s event after breaking a finger in a crash at the previous weekend’s race in Sonoma, California.  Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon and Vautier’s teammate, Simon Pagenaud, rounded out the top five for Honda.

Tristan Vautier(#55 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda Dallara) quickest in practice Friday:  “The weekend has started very well for us.   It’s been very special; it just keeps going faster and faster for us.  I don’t know, I just love this place.  But I think it’s going to be about continuing to improve, because everyone else is going to keep improving, and it’s always very hard to put everything together at just the right time.  So, I have to keep focused and keep executing really well to stay up front.”

Scott Dixon and his Honda-powered Dallara led the 25-car IZOD IndyCar Series field during practice Friday in preparation for Sunday’s GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, heading the time sheets in the second and quicker of two practice sessions on the challenging Raceway at Sonoma.

Dixon’s Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Dario Franchitti, was fifth-quickest on Friday, despite limiting his on-track runs in an effort to conserve his tires for Sunday’s race.  Justin Wilson finished the day sixth, with Graham Rahal eighth and Simon Pagenaud 10th,as Honda-powered drivers claimed five of the top ten times in practice.

Activities at the Raceway at Sonoma continue tomorrow with final practice, followed by qualifying at 5:30 p.m. EDT.  Sunday’s 85-lap race, the 15th round in the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series, starts at 4:30 p.m. EDT, with live television coverage on the NBC Sports Network. 

Scott Dixon(#9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda Dallara) quickest in practice Friday:  “It’s different here this year.  The window [for the best tire performance] is really quite small.  After just three or four laps, you can feel the car go off a bit [lose handling], so it’s all about keeping it together and getting the most out of those first few laps with new tires.  That should make for a very interesting race on Sunday, where anything can happen as everyone’s handling changes as the race progresses.”

Honda Performance Development chassis and Honda engines continued their run of victories in the 2013 American Le Mans Series Sunday at Road America, with the Muscle Milk Pickett Racing duo of Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr claiming the overall and LMP1 victory at the Orion Energy Systems 245, while Scott Tucker and Simon Pagenaud paired to win LMP2 for Level 5 Motorsports.

The overall win for Muscle Milk Pickett Racing was the fifth consecutive LMP1 victory for the team in sixraces this season, a streak that began at the Grand Prix of Long Beach in April.  For Level 5 team owner/driver Tucker, his fourth class win of the season moved him to the top of the LMP2 driver’s championship over teammate Marino Franchitti, with four races remaining.

Light, but steady rain in the morning hours resulted in a wet racing surface when the two-hour, 45-minute contest began just after 2 p.m. local time.  Starting from the pole, Luhr led the 33-car field throughout the first leg of the contest on rain tires, with conditions changing constantly as the 4.0-mile circuit gradually began to dry. 

But the Muscle Milk Pickett team, its drivers and HPD ARX-03c Honda were up to the challenge.  Luhr and Graf led throughout the day – except for routine pit-stop exchanges – despite a challenge from the Lola Mazda of Dyson Racing and the most competitive outing to date from the unique Delta Wing.  Both led at different times during the opening hour, but by the time the last round of pit stops for all three LMP1 contenders was complete, Graf was able to steadily build his advantage, and was holding a lead of more than 30 seconds when the yellow flag waved for a single-car GT category crash in Turn 1 that resulted in the race finishing under caution.

In the companion LMP2 category, it was another close-fought battle between the HPD ARX-03b Hondateams of Level 5 Motorsports and Extreme Speed Motorsports.  Several pre-race decisions by the Level 5 team – including running pole qualifier Marino Franchitti and co-driver Ricardo Gonzalez on an alternate fuel strategy, and teaming Tucker with Honda IndyCar driver Simon Pagenaud –proved to be the difference.

In LMP2, Scott Sharp took the early class lead at the start for Extreme Speed after Gonzales spun without damage in Turn 3 on the opening lap, and dropped to third behind team leader Tucker.  A two-stop pit strategy for the Tucker/Pagenaud Level 5 Honda resulted in the class lead being traded by the three contenders, while the second Extreme Speed HPD of Ed Brown and Johannes van Overbeek dropped out after 29 laps with an apparent mechanical failure.

The two-stop strategy proved decisive for Tucker and Pagenaud, but second place remained in dispute between Guy Cosmo and Franchitti as the pair ran nose-to-tail in the closing laps.  With just 12 minutes remaining, Cosmo was the first to pit for a final splash of fuel.  Franchitti was able to stay out for one additional lap, but a quick out-lap by Cosmo saw him sweep into second place as Franchitti exited pit lane.  The final caution froze the positions, preventing any more drama in the closing laps.

Lucas Luhr(#6 Muscle Milk Pickett Racing HPD ARX-03c Honda) 1st overall and in LMP1 with co-driver Klaus Graf;5th consecutive win for Muscle Milk Pickett Racing and Honda in 2013:  “Of course, conditions were very tricky at the start, and throughout the first hour as the circuit dried, but the team prepared a great car and it was very strong right from the beginning.  I just tried to maintain my speed and make no mistakes before handing over to Klaus [Graf].  This is turning out to be a very special year for all of us, but there still is a lot of racing remaining this season, and we have to keep up all of our efforts to continue this success.”

Simon Pagenaud(#551 Level 5 Motorsports HPD ARX-03b Honda) 1st in LMP2 with co-driver Scott Tucker:  “It has been awhile since I’ve driven one of these cars [the 12 Hours of Sebring earlier this year, also with Level 5 Motorsports], and you don’t just jump in and go quickly straight away.  But it always is a pleasure to work with Level 5, they are a top team and gave me a great car.  It was really fast; I just had to push.  The car’s balance stayed the same throughout the race, even with the changing [track and weather] conditions.  I was just here to replace Ryan [Briscoe, regular team driver sidelined with a broken wrist], but I was very happy to assist Scott [Tucker] in his championship effort.”

Steve Eriksen (Vice President and COO, Honda Performance Development) on Sunday’s double victory for HPD at Road America:  “Congratulations to Muscle Milk Pickett Racing onanother overall win this year, and to drivers Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf, who continue to impress us with their speed and professionalism in the race today, especially early on, when it was very easy to make a mistake.  Our LMP2 teams, Level 5 and Extreme Speed Motorsports, once again put on an exciting battle for class honors. These teams are making LMP2 an exciting, season-long contest in 2013.  Obviously, we are disappointed with the early retirement of the #02 Extreme Speed entry, and will thoroughly investigate the reason for the failure in an effort to ensure it does not happen again.  Congratulations to Scott Tucker for his fourth victory of the year, and for the excellent strategic calls made by the team in today’s race.”

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (August 7, 2013) – Honda Performance Development, the racing arm of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., is continuing its commitment to customer LMP1 endurance sports-car racing with the 2014 introduction of an all-new,turbocharged V6 engine, to befollowed in 2015 by a range of bespoke energy recovery options, for FIA World Endurance Championship competition.

After several successful seasons supplying the normally aspirated Honda LM-V8 engine toprivate teams in both the WEC and American Le Mans Series, HPD engineers and designers made the decision to offer their partner teams access to updated technology which the company believes will be necessary to successfully compete on the world stage,under the ACO’s new LMP1 energy-based power train regulations. 

The new engine, to be designated the HondaHR22T, is based on the same architecture used in the Indianapolis 500-winning, 2.2-literdirect injection turbocharged V6 engine used in IZOD IndyCar Series competition since 2012, designed to be coupled with a new energy recovery system developed in concert with HPD technical partner Magneti Marelli.

 “This is an exciting new program for HPD and our customer teams in the World Endurance Championship, as it brings manufacturer-level engine technology to privateer teams,” said Steve Eriksen, HPD Vice President and COO.  “A small-displacement, direct injection, turbocharged engine with a range of energy recovery options will provide private teams with the technical sophistication they need to compete under the challenging new LMP1 regulations.”

A completely revised rules package being introduced for the WEC in 2014 opens the door for HPD to introduce this new powertrain system, specifically tailored to meet the needs of private teams engaged in top-level endurance sports-car racing competition. 

Starting in 2014, rather than any set engine displacement or air inlet restrictor limits, the technical regulations for the series will specify a maximum fuel-flow rate into the engine, with or without energy recovery systems. 

“The new rules say that if you are a private team, you can either run without energy recovery systems or choose to add the level of energy recovery that best suits your needs. This will allow our customers to choose the ERS solution that meets their needs– everything from no energy recovery up to the full eight Megajoule maximum,” Eriksen said.  “This new regulation direction that is more conscious of environmental technologies will encourage HPD to participate from the perspectives of both developing future technologies and nurturing engineers.”

HPD’s highly successful LMP2 program – which has recorded multiple ALMS championships, won its class title in the inaugural 2012 WEC and has twice won at the 24 Hours of Le Mans –will likewise continue in 2013 with the cost-capped ARX-03b chassis and production-based Honda HR28TT twin-turbocharged direct injection V6 engine, the only engine in its class to feature such production-relevant technology.  The engine/chassis package remains eligible tocompete in both the WEC and the newly combined United SportsCar Racing series in North America.

One of the most successful prototype chassis designs in recent years, the HPD ARX series has posted 58 victories and six endurance-racing championships since its introduction – and debut LMP2 victory – at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2007.  At the 2013 Strakka Racing took its HPD ARX-03c Honda to victory in the LMP1 Privateer category; and HPD-equipped teams have won the LMP2 class at Le Mans twice in the last four years (2010 and 2012). 

The most recent wins for the ARX came in last weekend’s American Le Mans Series event at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, where Muscle Milk Pickett Racing won overall in an LMP1 ARX-03c, while Level 5 Motorsports claimed the LMP2 class with an ARX-03b.

 In addition to the new engine and its energy recovery system, HPD and chassis technical partner Wirth Research are also developing a coupe version of the successful ARX chassis series that will provide a fully integrated solution for the new V6 Honda powerplant and ERS. 

Taking advantage of a multi-car team’s ability to run different race strategies, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Charlie Kimball played the role of “hare” to perfection Sunday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, leading a race-high 46 laps between three pit stops to score his first IZOD IndyCar Series race victory in the Honda Indy 200.

Many other front-running efforts, including those of teammates Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti, Team Penske’s Will Power and pole qualifier Ryan Hunter-Reay, went into fuel-conservation mode early in the race, attempting to run the 90-lap distance on just two pit stops.  But Kimball and eventual second-place finisher Simon Pagenaud elected to run flat-out from the green flag to the checkers, and that proved to be the winning strategy for Honda’s seventh race win of 2013, tying it with Chevrolet in the season-long battle for the Manufacturers’ Championship.

Kimball’s win was the fourth in a row for Honda this season, and the fifth consecutive victory at Mid-Ohio for both Honda and the Chip Ganassi Racing organization.  Honda has been undefeated at its mid-western “home” circuit since Indy car racing returned to Mid-Ohio in 2007 after a four-year absence.  Kimball also made history as the first driver with diabetes to win an Indy car race.  The 28-year-old Californian was diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes six years ago while racing in Europe.

Kimball’s strongest competition came from Detroit race winner Pagenaud, who ran an identical strategy and led 14 laps in another exceptional effort from the Schmidt Hamilton HP Racing team.  The move of the race came on Lap 73, as Pagenaud exited the pits after his final stop with a narrow advantage over his rival.  But Kimball used his “push-to-pass” button to regain the lead, executing the decisive pass of Pagenaud as the pair entered Turn 5, at the end of the long Mid-Ohio back straight.  Once in front, Kimball gradually extended his advantage to just over five seconds at the checkers.

Scott Dixon led the Honda-powered field Saturday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, qualifying third for Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 in his Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda.  All three Chip Ganassi Racing teammates made it through the first two rounds of “knockout” qualifying to take part in the “Fast Six” final shootout, with Charlie Kimball qualifying fifth – a career best for him at Mid-Ohio – and Dario Franchitti, winner of the 2011 race here, rounding out the top six.

Honda-powered second-round qualifiers included Dale Coyne Racing’s Justin Wilson, who just missed out on advancing to the final round when a last-lap flyer from Marco Andretti pushed him down to seventh; and Simon Pagenaud, who will start eighth for Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports.  James Jakes will start 10th for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, his best start at Mid-Ohio, with Tristan Vautier heading the rookie contingent in 11th for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

Sunday’s 90-lap Honda Indy 200, the 14th round in the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series, starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT, with live television coverage on the NBC Sports Network. 

Scott Dixon(#9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda Dallara) qualified 3rd, won in 2009 after starting 3rd, won in 2012 after starting 4th:  “Qualifying was a lot tougher than I expected.  Even getting through Q1 [the first round of qualifying] was difficult.  We had to make some ‘on the spot’ changes [chassis adjustments] just to get through to Q3 [the third and final qualifying round].  But it’s a good starting spot for us.  I’ve won from the second row of the grid twice before, and we’re in good shape for the race tomorrow.”

Scott Dixon, the unofficial “Master of Mid-Ohio” with four career IndyCar race victories – including wins in three of the last four years – led the first of two IZOD IndyCar Series practice sessionsFriday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and appeared headed to a sweep of the day, until a last-lap effort by Will Power in the final moments of the second session dropped Dixon to second overall, by the narrow margin of just over one-thousandth of a second. 

Dixon’s Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Dario Franchitti, was second-quickest in the morning practice, and finished the day fourth overall; while series rookie Luca Filippi made an impressive debut for Honda and Barracuda Racing, finishing fifth on the day.  Also driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, Charlie Kimball posted the sixth-fastest time in practice, with Detroit race winner Simon Pagenaud ninth for Schmidt Hamilton HP Racing.  Justin Wilson was sixth quickest in the morning, but had his afternoon practice halted by fuel pressure failure and dropped to 19th overall, while the A.J. Foyt Racing effort of Takuma Sato saw its track time limited by transmission issues.

Activities at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course continue tomorrow with final practice, followed by qualifying at 2 p.m. EDT.  Sunday’s 90-lap race, the 14th round in the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series, starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT, with live television coverage on the NBC Sports Network. 

Scott Dixon(#9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda Dallara) 2nd quickest in practice Friday:  “It was a pretty decent day.  Both cars [Dixon’s and teammate Dario Franchitti’s] rolled out of the trailer and were fast this morning [running 1-2 in the first practice session], but I think we need to do a bit more tuning for the race on Sunday.  It’s going to be super tight out there this weekend; you’re already seeing guys fighting to find hundredths and thousandths of a second, and I think that trend will continue.  This is a track that’s been good to us, but you can’t rely on that, just like you can’t rely on the good run [of race victories] we’ve been having lately.  You still have to work hard for everything you gain.”

Honda Performance Development chassis and Honda engines swept the top five finishing positions Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, as Muscle Milk Pickett Racing continued to reign supreme in the 2013 American Le Mans Series; while Level 5 Motorsports edged fellow HPD-equipped team Extreme Speed Motorsports for LMP2 honors in the two-hour, 45-minute Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix. 

The overall win for Muscle Milk Pickett was the fourth consecutive LMP1 victory for the team in five races this year, a streak that began at the Grand Prix of Long Beach in April.  It also was the fourth consecutive win at the track formerly known as Mosport for the HPD ARX-03c Honda team, at an event which once again fell on the respective birthdays of winning drivers Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr.

The pole qualifying Muscle Milk HPD dominated the 32-car field, with starting driver Graf quickly establishing his superiority and building an advantage before handing off to co-driver Luhr at the second and final pit stop.  By then, Muscle Milk had a three-lap lead over the field, and a massive five-lap lead over its nearest LMP1 challenger.  Luhr continued to extend that advantage to score his record-extending 45th career American Le Mans Series victory, and the 18th for co-driver Graf.

In the companion LMP2 category, it was another close-fought battle between the two-car teams of Level 5 Motorsports and Extreme Speed Motorsports, both utilizing turbocharged V6-powered HPD ARX-03b Hondas.  A strategic decision by the Level 5 team, bringing in third-running Marino Franchitti for a fresh set of Michelin tires during a final-hour caution period, proved to be the difference.

The additional stop cost Franchitti track position, but equipped with the newer tires, he was turning the fastest LMP2 lap times of the race, and quickly closed on Scott Sharp’s Extreme Speed HPD for second place, making an outside pass in the fast right-hand Turn 8 to take the position with just over 20 minutes remaining in the contest.  Almost immediately afterward, Franchitti passed teammate Scott Tucker for the lead coming on to the start/finish straight.

Sharp also was soon past Tucker, and battled with Franchitti throughout the closing laps, as both worked their way through GT traffic.  With just one lap remaining, the pair ran nose-to-tail in search of the class victory, but Franchitti sliced through lapped traffic while also staying just ahead of overall leader Luhr to take his third LMP2 victory of the season and extend his lead in the drivers’ championship.

Continuing his strong form on the streets of Exhibition Place, where he has scored five previous poles and two victories, Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Dario Franchitti captured the pole Friday during IZOD IndyCar Series qualifying for the first of two Honda Indy Toronto races this weekend around the 1.755-mile street circuit in central Toronto.

As in Detroit last month, the most recent street-circuit event prior to Toronto, Franchitti rebounded from a crash in morning practice, which damaged the suspension of his Dallara chassis, to claim his sixth pole at Toronto and fourth in the last five years, all with Honda power.  Another Honda driver who starred in Detroit, James Jakes, qualified fifth for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing; while Franchitti’s teammate Scott Dixon, the winner last weekend at Pocono Raceway, also advanced to the final round of qualifying and will start Saturday’s race from sixth. 

Activities continue tomorrow with qualifying for Sunday’s race at 10:35 a.m. EDT.  Saturday’s 85-lap race, the 12th round in the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series, is the first of the double-header race weekend in Toronto. A second 85-lap contest, the 13th round in the championship, is set for Sunday.  Both races start at 3:30 p.m. EDT, with live television coverage on the NBC Sports Network. 

Dario Franchitti (#10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda Dallara) pole qualifier, his 3rd pole of the season and 32ndcareer IndyCar pole; Honda’s 4th pole of 2103:  “Luckily enough, the car feels equally good on both [the primary] blacks [tires] and [softer] reds [option tires].  I have to thank the boys for fixing it after my little incident this morning [when Franchitti brushed the barriers in practice].  We put ourselves in a pretty big hole at the start of the season, but you just keep fighting every week, looking for that first win of the season.”

Scott Dixon Scores Honda’s 200th IndyCar Victory,       Leads 1-2-3 Honda Sweep at Pocono RacewayTarget Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon led a Honda-powered sweep Sunday at Pocono Raceway, taking his first victory of 2013 – and Honda’s milestone 200th Indy car win – as he led teammates Charlie Kimball and Dario Franchitti to the checkers in Sunday’s Pocono INDYCAR 400.

Honda’s first Indy car win, posted by Andre Ribeiro and Tasman Motorsports in 1995, also came on an oval:  the one-mile New Hampshire International Speedway.  But today’s 200th came at the fast, challenging 2.5-mile Pocono speedway, in the second round in the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series “Triple Crown”, which also includes the Indianapolis 500 and the season-ending MAV TV 500 at Auto Club Speedway in California.

Running the latest specification Honda Indy V6 Turbo engine, Dixon powered through the field from his 17th grid position during the first half of the 400-mile contest, then took advantage of superior fuel mileage to lead 38 of the final 50 laps and record his 30th career victory. 

Coupled with the finishes from teammates Kimball and Franchitti, the result marked the first team 1-2-3 Triple Crown race sweep since Bobby Unser, Rick Mears and Mario Andretti scored a 1-2-3 for Team Penske at Ontario Motor Speedway in 1979.  In addition to being Honda’s 200th Indy car triumph, it also was the 100th Indy car victory for Dixon’s Target Chip Ganassi team.

Behind the lead trio, second-year IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden scored a career-best fifth for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, passing fellow Honda driver Simon Pagenaud on the last lap, when the Detroit race winner was briefly delayed by lapped traffic.  Justin Wilson made it six Honda-powered cars in the top seven finishing positions with his best oval track result since finishing fifth at Indianapolis in May.

Scott Dixon (#9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Racing Honda Dallara) started 17th, finished 1st; his 30thIndyCar win – Honda’s 200th– and the 100th victory for Target Chip Ganassi Racing:  “To say the least, it [winning] was a little bit of a shock.  I knew the car was good, we just weren’t sure about our pace.  But the team never gave up, and you’ve got to hand it to Honda as well.  I think fuel mileage was the key today, and we still had speed up front without having to save [fuel] all the time.  It’s the 200th win for Honda, the 100th win for Target, which is just fantastic.  I’m just so happy.  I love this place.  Pocono, the fans, just everyone has been fantastic.  It’s been a long drought, almost a year, so it’s fantastic to be back in the Winner’s Circle.”

Charlie Kimball (#83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing Honda Dallara) started 12th, finished 2nd; equaled his career best (a 2nd at Toronto in 2012) and his best oval-track result:  “Both Thursday at the [pre-race] test and again yesterday, we really focused on our race car [setup].  As evidenced by today’s 1-2-3 finish, focusing on the race day, knowing when it mattered, made the difference.  Throughout the race, the guys made the car better at every pit stop, and the car just got quicker and quicker.  A lot of credit goes to Honda, they gave us both fuel mileage and speed today.

Roger Griffiths (Technical Director, Honda Performance Development) on today’s race and Honda’s 200th IndyCar victory:  “It’s just such an incredible day for Honda and everyone at Honda Performance Development.  I’m so pleased for every one of our associates who have been involved in our 200 race wins, for the Target Chip Ganassi organization on scoring their 100th and Scott [Dixon’s] 30th wins – just a great day all-around.  I think the key for us was the exceptional fuel mileage we were able to achieve today. It set us up for a strong finish when many of our competitors were having to conserve.  I really enjoyed racing at the circuit, and it seemed to be designed with Scott in mind!  In addition, it was great to see Dario [Franchitti] back on form, and I believe this was Charlie [Kimball’s] strongest performance of the year.  Takuma [Sato] also was very strong early in the race, until his unfortunate pit incident, and Simon [Pagenaud] was very quick as well.  All-in-all, just a memorable day for us.  Now we go on to Toronto, which is a Honda event, and full of enthusiastic fans.”

Scott Dixon’s triumph Sunday at Pocono Raceway was a milestone event for American Honda and its Honda Performance Development racing arm:  the 200th Indy car race win for the manufacturer since entering the sport in 1994.

“I’d like to congratulate all of our associates at HPD, who have worked incredibly hard and made personal sacrifices to make the success of our racing programs their top priority,” said Art St.Cyr, President of Honda Performance Development. “This is a milestone event for HPD and the Honda Indy car racing program.  It’s also a tribute to American Honda’s long-term commitment to the sport of Indy car racing, and our desire to see it grow and prosper.”

“I’d also like to thank Honda R&D for the continued assistance and support throughout our CART and IRL racing programs, and our technical partners at Ilmor for their contributions to our IRL program.”

Honda’s Indy car racing debut was inauspicious: an eighth-place run in Surfers Paradise, Australia in March 1994.  But the company’s North American open-wheel racing heritage beganthat day, including nine seasons of Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) competition; and another 11to date in the Indy Racing League and INDYCAR.  All of them leading to Honda’s 200th Indy car win by Dixon Sunday at Pocono Raceway, highlighting a 1-2-3 sweep for Honda and Dixon’s Chip Ganassi Racing team. 

Honda’s first Indy car win, byAndre Ribeiro at New Hampshire International Speedway, didn’t come until August 20, 1995 –almost 18 months after that Surfers Paradise debut.  It was the first of 65 CART race victories, resulting in four manufacturers’ championships between 1996 and 2002, and six consecutive drivers’ titles.  “Thinking back to 1995, when we won our first race after two years of testing, development and racing – and knowing the effort and hardship that went into achieving that milestone – it seems incredible that we’ve already reached our 200th win,” said Steve Eriksen, Vice President of Honda Performance Development (HPD), who was present for both landmark events.“At the time of that first win, 200 wins would have seemed like a pure fantasy to us, not to mention all the titles, and additional racing programs that have followed.”

“Thinking back to 1995, when we won our first race after two years of testing, development and racing – and knowing the effort and hardship that went into achieving that milestone – it seems incredible that we’ve already reached our 200th win,” said Steve Eriksen, Vice President of Honda Performance Development (HPD), who was present for both landmark events.

“At the time of that first win, 200 wins would have seemed like a pure fantasy to us, not to mention all the titles, and additional racing programs that have followed.” 

Indy car win Number 10 came less than a year later, as Ribeiro posted his third career CART win at Michigan International Speedway.  The 25th victory was a thrilling come-from-behind effort by eventual two-time CART champion Alex Zanardi at Cleveland in 1998; while the 50thwin, in 2000 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, also marked the arrival of future three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves. 

Honda moved to the Indy Racing League in 2003, and the winning continued.  Honda’s most successful driver, Dario Franchitti– with 31 wins to date – scored the company’s 75th open-wheel race win at The Milwaukee Mile in 2004.

Team Penske’s Sam Hornish Jr. posted Honda’s landmark 100th Indy car win at Richmond International Raceway in 2006, as Honda embarked on a six-year run as single engine supplier in Indy car competition following consecutive IRL manufacturers’ championships in 2004-05.  Victory number 150 came at Watkins Glen International Raceway with Justin Wilson, and was additionally significant as the first win for the Dale Coyne Racing team. 

Prior to Pocono, Honda’s win at Detroitmarked another first in Indy car for both driver Simon Pagenaud and his Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports team.  It was Honda’s 199th Indy car race win, and the 100th with manufacturer competition. 

Founded in 1993, HPD is the technical operations center for high-performance Honda racing cars and engines and operates at race circuits around the world from its headquarters in Santa Clarita, California. 

The company scored its first of nine consecutive Indianapolis 500 victories in 2004 with Buddy Rice; and became engine supplier to the entire IZOD IndyCar Series in 2006.  Honda supplied racing engines to the full, 33-car Indianapolis 500 field every year from 2006-2011, and for a record-six consecutive years, the ‘500’ ran without a single engine failure.

In addition to its efforts in Indy car racing, HPD spearheaded championship-winning efforts in the 2009, 2010 and 2012 American Le Mans Series; 2010 Le Mans Series; and triumphed in the LMP2 category at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in both 2010 and 2012.  HPD offers a line of race engines for track applications from prototype sports cars to karting; and showcases “fun-to-drive” products for professional, amateur and entry-level efforts.

Scott Dixon Scores Honda’s 200th IndyCar Victory,       Leads 1-2-3 Honda Sweep at Pocono RacewayTarget Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon led a Honda-powered sweep Sunday at Pocono Raceway, taking his first victory of 2013 – and Honda’s milestone 200th Indy car win – as he led teammates Charlie Kimball and Dario Franchitti to the checkers in Sunday’s Pocono INDYCAR 400.

Honda’s first Indy car win, posted by Andre Ribeiro and Tasman Motorsports in 1995, also came on an oval:  the one-mile New Hampshire International Speedway.  But today’s 200th came at the fast, challenging 2.5-mile Pocono speedway, in the second round in the 2013 IZOD IndyCar Series “Triple Crown”, which also includes the Indianapolis 500 and the season-ending MAV TV 500 at Auto Club Speedway in California.

Running the latest specification Honda Indy V6 Turbo engine, Dixon powered through the field from his 17th grid position during the first half of the 400-mile contest, then took advantage of superior fuel mileage to lead 38 of the final 50 laps and record his 30th career victory. 

Coupled with the finishes from teammates Kimball and Franchitti, the result marked the first team 1-2-3 Triple Crown race sweep since Bobby Unser, Rick Mears and Mario Andretti scored a 1-2-3 for Team Penske at Ontario Motor Speedway in 1979.  In addition to being Honda’s 200th Indy car triumph, it also was the 100th Indy car victory for Dixon’s Target Chip Ganassi team.

Behind the lead trio, second-year IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden scored a career-best fifth for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, passing fellow Honda driver Simon Pagenaud on the last lap, when the Detroit race winner was briefly delayed by lapped traffic.  Justin Wilson made it six Honda-powered cars in the top seven finishing positions with his best oval track result since finishing fifth at Indianapolis in May.

Scott Dixon (#9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Racing Honda Dallara) started 17th, finished 1st; his 30thIndyCar win – Honda’s 200th– and the 100th victory for Target Chip Ganassi Racing:  “To say the least, it [winning] was a little bit of a shock.  I knew the car was good, we just weren’t sure about our pace.  But the team never gave up, and you’ve got to hand it to Honda as well.  I think fuel mileage was the key today, and we still had speed up front without having to save [fuel] all the time.  It’s the 200th win for Honda, the 100th win for Target, which is just fantastic.  I’m just so happy.  I love this place.  Pocono, the fans, just everyone has been fantastic.  It’s been a long drought, almost a year, so it’s fantastic to be back in the Winner’s Circle.”

Charlie Kimball (#83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing Honda Dallara) started 12th, finished 2nd; equaled his career best (a 2nd at Toronto in 2012) and his best oval-track result:  “Both Thursday at the [pre-race] test and again yesterday, we really focused on our race car [setup].  As evidenced by today’s 1-2-3 finish, focusing on the race day, knowing when it mattered, made the difference.  Throughout the race, the guys made the car better at every pit stop, and the car just got quicker and quicker.  A lot of credit goes to Honda, they gave us both fuel mileage and speed today.

Roger Griffiths (Technical Director, Honda Performance Development) on today’s race and Honda’s 200th IndyCar victory:  “It’s just such an incredible day for Honda and everyone at Honda Performance Development.  I’m so pleased for every one of our associates who have been involved in our 200 race wins, for the Target Chip Ganassi organization on scoring their 100th and Scott [Dixon’s] 30th wins – just a great day all-around.  I think the key for us was the exceptional fuel mileage we were able to achieve today. It set us up for a strong finish when many of our competitors were having to conserve.  I really enjoyed racing at the circuit, and it seemed to be designed with Scott in mind!  In addition, it was great to see Dario [Franchitti] back on form, and I believe this was Charlie [Kimball’s] strongest performance of the year.  Takuma [Sato] also was very strong early in the race, until his unfortunate pit incident, and Simon [Pagenaud] was very quick as well.  All-in-all, just a memorable day for us.  Now we go on to Toronto, which is a Honda event, and full of enthusiastic fans.”

Battling oppressive heat and humidity – in addition to the strain of constant traffic – Muscle Milk Pickett Racing continues to be the team to beat in the American Le Mans Series, comfortably winning the Northeast Grand Prix Saturday afternoon at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut in the HPD ARX-03a Honda co-driven by Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr.

In the companion LMP2 category, it was another close-fought battle between the two-car teams of Level 5 Motorsports and Extreme Speed Motorsports, both equipped with turbocharged V6-powered HPD ARX-03b Hondas.  In the end, the contest was decided by late-race contact between the leading Extreme Speed ARX of Guy Cosmo and the closely trailing similar Level 5 ARX driven by Ryan Briscoe.

At the front of the field, the overall win for Muscle Milk Pickett was the third consecutive LMP1 victory for the team in 2013, a streak begun at the Grand Prix of Long Beach in April and continuing through May’s race at Laguna Seca.  It also was the second consecutive win at Lime Rock for the HPD-equipped team, and third in the last four years.

In addition to the ever-present traffic around the short, but very fast, 1.474 mile road course, teams also had to contend with extreme heat and humidity, with several drivers and crew members requiring medical attention due to heat exhaustion and dehydration during the 2-hour, 45-minute event.

Losing the lead at the start to the Lola-Mazda of Chris Dyson, Luhr continued to battle the Dyson Racing car throughout the first 45 minutes, exchanging the lead twice before Luhr established an advantage he would not relinquish for the remainder of the race.  Luhr and co-driver Graf took advantage of a problematic initial Dyson pit stop, then continued to build a massive lead, taking advantage of the performance of their ARX-03a and smoothly making their way through traffic in the large, 33-car starting field to take the checkers with a massive, six-lap margin over the runner-up Dyson team.

In LMP2, Briscoe took the victory, but only after nose-to-tail contact with Cosmo on the penultimate lap sent the Extreme Speed Motorsports ARX-03b into a quick spin and contact with the barriers.  Cosmo recovered and resumed to finish second with co-driver Scott Sharp

As a result of the contact, Briscoe and co-driver Scott Tucker received a post-race penalty that relegated them to third-place championship points, while Sharp and Cosmo are credited with maximum points in their year-long battle for the LMP2 title.  The second Level 5 HPD, driven by Tucker and Marino Franchitti, finished third after a late-race unscheduled pit stop.

After a two-week break, the American Le Mans Series makes its annual trek north of the border for the July 21 Mobil-1 Grand Prix of Mosport at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Ontario, Canada.

Lucas Luhr (#6 Muscle Milk Pickett Racing HPD ARX-03c Honda) 1st in LMP2 with co-driver Klaus Graf, 2nd consecutive win for Muscle Milk Pickett Racing at Lime Rock Park and 3rd consecutive victory in 2013:  “I had fun fighting with Chris [Dyson].  But it’s very tough to overtake here, especially with our [LMP1] car, but in the end I managed to get around him and got a little bit of a gap, and then they had a problem [during a pit stop].  It was tough today, very hot in the car and obviously the traffic here is a little crazy.  You just have to say to yourself ‘calm down, it’s all OK’ because you are stuck in traffic all the time.  It’s almost like fighting against a 747, especially against the GTC cars because the speed difference is just amazing.  On a short track like Lime Rock, you are overtaking every two seconds!  However, we managed the traffic well and the boys did great in the pit stops, even with some of our mechanics suffering from the heat, so I have say a big ‘thanks’ to them.  I’m pretty sure they are exhausted and will get some well-deserved rest tonight.

Ryan Briscoe (#552 Level 5 Motorsports HPD ARX-03b Honda) 1st in LMP2 with co-driver Scott Tucker, but penalized with third-place championship points due to avoidable contact:  “Certainly what happened going up the hill [nose-to-tail contact with the #01 Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD ARX-03b of Guy Cosmo] wasn’t my intention at all.  It looked like he got on the curb a little bit and traction control may have come on or something.  It looks like my nose just tagged his rear.  Certainly not the way we wanted to go, I think it was going to be a good battle [for the class victory].”

Guy Cosmo (#01 Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD ARX-03b Honda) 2nd in LMP2 on track with co-driver Scott Sharp, awarded first-place championship points:  “We were really cruising there, we had a great car at the end of the day, and Scott [Sharp] did a great job in the beginning.  It was going well until the end of the day, [it’s unfortunate that] no decision was made for what was obviously intentional contact [before] the end of the race.  So, we’re collecting second-place trophies when we had that race won, [but] we will persevere.

”Steve Eriksen (Vice President and COO, Honda Performance Development) on Saturday’s double victory at Lime Rock Park:  “Congratulations to Muscle Milk Pickett Racing for another overall win at Lime Rock and to both of our LMP2 teams, Level 5 and Extreme Speed Motorsports, on their exciting battle for class honors.  It’s unfortunate that contact decided the outcome, but we’re certain these two teams will regroup and resume what is shaping up to be an enjoyable season-long contest in LMP2.  The heat was definitely a factor for both man and machine this weekend at Lime Rock, and we were very pleased to see how well our teams, our ARX chassis and Honda engines held up under the conditions.”

Target Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon led the Honda-powered field Saturday at Pocono Raceway in northeastern Pennsylvania in IZOD IndyCar Series qualifying in preparation for Sunday’s Pocono INDYCAR 400. 

Dixon’s two-lap average of 219.5 mph saw him qualify seventh, as local favorite Marco Andretti claimed the pole with a qualifying speed of 221.273 mph. All 21 cars posting qualifying speeds bettered the existing track record of 211.715 mph, set by Emerson Fittipaldi in 1989, the last previous visit of Indy cars to Pocono Raceway.

Continuing his strong form on ovals, Takuma Sato posted the eighth-fastest qualifying run for A.J. Foyt Racing.  Simon Pagenaud was fourth quickest in practice, then qualified ninth in his Schmidt Hamilton HP Motorsports Honda.  Charlie Kimball was an encouraging third fastest in morning practice, but a brief slide during his first qualifying lap spoiled his run, leaving him 13th overall.  Alex Tagliani crashed, without injury, during his qualifying run. 

Sunday’s 160-lap race, the second round in the 2013 IndyCar “Triple Crown” of long-distance oval events, starts at 12 p.m. EDT, with live network television coverage on ABC.

Scott Dixon (#9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda Dallara) qualified 7th, his sixth top-10 qualifying of 2013:  “I think the qualifying run was about what we thought it would be [after practice], which was a few miles per hour off.  We have a good car, and I love the balance of it.  We’re trimmed as much as we can be, but it’s not enough to be where we need to be right now.  This is such a cool place here in Pocono.  I really love driving this track.  The fans are amazing, and I’m looking forward to a competitive event tomorrow.  We hope to put on a great show for all these people.”

A record-setting effort from Honda’s North American R&D and motorsport companies – Honda R&D Americas and Honda Performance Development – resulted in one class victory and eight more top-five results Sunday in the 91st running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

A total of 11 Honda-entered drivers and riders in nine classes took part in the 2013 edition of the “Race to the Clouds”, including Honda-powered Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports Indy car driver Simon Pagenaud, driving a unique, competition-modified Honda “Pikes Peak Odyssey” minivan. 

With the exception of Pagenaud, all drivers and riders competing at Pikes Peak on Honda equipment were Honda associates. Honda also served as partnering sponsor of the Hill Climb, the first time the company has participated as a corporate sponsor of the legendary event.

In addition, Honda Power Equipment provided race operation support, including generators which supplied electricity and lights to the pit and staging areas.

Driving a highly-modified Honda Odyssey, Pagenaud was a crowd favorite in his Pikes Peak debut, powering up the 12.42-mile course to a second-place finish in the Exhibition Class.  Modifications to Pagenaud’s minivan included a 500+ horsepower, turbocharged and intercooled Honda V6 engine –similar to the engine used in LMP2 competition in the American Le Mans Series – competition suspension and brakes, high-performance tires and a full competition roll cage. 

Posting a new record time of 10 minutes, 32.964 seconds, Honda R&D’s Jeff Tigert won the Pikes Peak 450 category, the largest motorcycle class in this year’s race, featuring 17 entrants.  A Honda associate making his Pikes Peak debut, Erik Dunshee placed third in the Superbike 750 class, riding a Honda CRB600RR.  An otherwise exciting day for Honda was marred by a crash involving Honda R&D’s Alex Moreno, who went off course in his Exhibition Powersport class Honda CBR1000R in the second segment of his hill climb.  Moreno

Making his second appearance at the Hill Climb in his modified 1991 Acura NSX, James Robinson braved deteriorating weather conditions – including rain and heavy fog – to finish fourth in the Pikes Peak Open category.  Robinson’s NSX is also highly modified from its original form, including a twin-turbo LMP2-derived V6 engine, Le Mans-style wide-body kit, competition suspension and roll cage.

Jeff Tigert(Honda CRF450F) finished 1st in Pikes Peak 450 motorcycles, with a new class record of 10:32.964, a full 34 seconds under the previous mark: “Oh man, I can’t believe it!  I hope all the folks at home and everyone at Honda is proud, this was a total team effort.  The bike worked perfectly.  Looking at the tires, we might have been able to go even a little bit quicker.  It’s pretty unbelievable what Honda can do when they put their minds to it.  We also had a teammate [Erik Dunshee] finish third in his class [Pikes Peak Superbike 750] in his first run up the mountain, so I’m really happy for him, as well.”

Simon Pagenaud (Honda “Pikes Peak Odyssey”) finished 2nd in the Exhibition Class with a time of 12:54.325: “It was a win for all the ‘soccer moms’.  For me, it was amazing.  Pikes Peak was always a dream for me, ever since I was a kid in France.  There is a lot of interest in this event in Europe, and I think that’s why you saw so many French drivers this year.For me, it was a great opportunity to learn.  Honda prepared a great car. Really ‘unique’, I have to say.  I have to thank my [Indy car] team and everyone at Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports for allowing me to do this, and thank Honda for the huge effort they made for this year’s event.  With more than 500 horsepower, the conditions [rain, cold and fog] were tricky and kept me busy … very busy!  But I’m actually pretty happy.  I feel very blessed and very proud.I’d like to come back again next year, with something even more crazy!”

Erik Berkman(President, Honda R&D Americas) on Honda’s 11-vehicle, 9-class effort in the 91strunning of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb:  “First and foremost, our thoughts are with our injured associate, Alex Moreno, his family and friends.  As racers, we all understand and accept the risks involved in our sport, but that doesn’t lessen the dismay we feel when one of our own is hurt.I’d like to thank everyone at Honda R&D Americas – in both in Ohio and California – Honda Performance Development and American Honda who participated in this massive effort, including more than two dozen associates on the ground here in Colorado and many, many more back in Ohio and California.  Congratulations to Jeff Tigert on his winning run and new lap record in the Pikes Peak 450 motorcycle category, and to our special guest driver Simon Pagenaud, who gave a great demonstration of the performance capabilities of a Honda Odyssey with more than 500 horsepower!”

Winner of one of three IZOD IndyCar Series qualifying heat races on Saturday, Graham Rahal took his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara-Honda to the front of the field Sunday at Iowa Speedway, challenging repeatedly and briefly leading the Iowa Corn Indy 250, before fading slightly in the final laps to a fifth-place finish.

Starting sixth in today’s 250-lap feature, it was apparent by mid-race that Rahal had a good-handling car for the tight confines of Iowa Speedway, as he was able to consistently run a high line, yet pass either high or low as needed.  Simon Pagenaud, starting from eighth in the Schmidt Hamilton Racing Honda, also had a strong car, and the pair battled for position several times during the first 100 laps.

After the second round of pit stops on Lap 120, Rahal was solidly in second, running just behind eventual winner James Hinchcliffe, with Pagenaud in fourth and Honda-powered Scott Dixon, fifth.  Rahal and Marco Andretti fought for second place through the third and final round of pit stops.  But in the final 10 laps, the handling of Rahal’s Dallara appeared to deteriorate, leading to an eventual fifth-place finish.

Pagenaud frequently ran as high as fourth, and remained in the lead group for the duration of the contest, but lost two postions in the final laps to Tony Kanaan and Ed Carpenter, who pitted off-sequence earlier to have fresher tires for the final laps.  Honda-powered Justin Wilson used the same strategy to lead five laps before finishing 11th. Dixon was another driver to run in the lead group, reaching fifth place on Lap 140 before fading with mechanical problems on his Target Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Graham Rahal (#15 Midas/Big O Tires Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda Dallara) started 6th, finished 5th, led for the first time this season, second top-five result in 2013:  “The race was good. I didn’t quite have James’ [Hinchcliffe] speed today, but we were close. On the second set [of tires], the car came on for me and felt really, really magical. That’s when we went from 10th to second. I don’t know what happened at the end of the race; we just lost overall grip and struggled a little bit. Earlier in that stint, I was chasing Hinchcliffe down. But at the end of the race, I was losing a little bit of everything in the car, and Ed [Carpenter] got me.But I’m proud of my guys because, as I’ve said, the last few weeks haven’t been easy for us. I’m really proud of the engineering staff and everyone on the team. For everybody to keep coming back week after week with their chins up means a lot to me. I felt like I could have won the race today. I feel like I got robbed; I should have had a podium at least today, but we’ll take a fifth.

”Simon Pagenaud (#77 Schmidt Hamilton HP Racing Honda Dallara) started 8th, finished 6th:  “We’ve really improved our short-oval program in recent weeks.  We were really strong on restarts today, and the car was handling really well.  At the end of the race, I’m not sure what we were missing, because the car was really hooked up.  I had a blast today.  The restarts were fun, the racing was fun, and it was just a great day of competition.  From the cockpit, it was ‘back and forth, back and forth’ all the time, on the track.  Then, going as hard as you could into pit lane, and out just as fast.  Traffic played a big role in the race, but it was great to be up front on an oval today.

”Roger Griffiths (Technical Director, Honda Performance Development) on today’s race:  “Obviously we’re disappointed with the issues we had with the cars of Takuma Sato and Scott Dixon.  We need to work hard and fast to find a resolution to those problems.  We were very encouraged by the performances of both Graham [Rahal] and Simon [Pagenaud].  Graham drove a very strong race and looked like he could pass almost anyone for most of the day.  It’s been a long, hard stretch of races for both our trackside group and the staff at HPD.  Everyone has worked extremely hard for eight weeks solid.  We’re now looking forward to this brief chance to recharge before going on to Pocono.”