The HPD sports prototype teams of Muscle Milk Pickett Racing and Level 5 Motorsports continue to be
the teams to beat in American Le Mans Series competition, once again claiming the LMP1 and LMP2
class wins Saturday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course; with the Muscle Milk driving team of Klaus Graf
and Lucas Luhr posting its fifth consecutive overall victory of 2012.

Starting from the pole after heading the field in both practice and qualifying, Luhr claimed the lead at the
green flag in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd that included thousands of associates from three
nearby Honda of America Manufacturing facilities, and the Ohio-based Honda R&D Americas. Luhr
extended his advantage throughout his stint, handing over the HPD ARX-03a to co-driver Graf with a little
over 90 minutes remaining in the two hour, 45-minute contest.

The Dyson Racing Lola Mazda of Chris Dyson and Guy Smith took over the lead when the team elected
to do a “fuel only” first pit stop, but Graf reclaimed an advantage he would not relinquish when the Dyson
team made its second scheduled stop and mandatory driver change.

Just prior to his final stop, Graf had built a one-lap lead over his rivals, and even after his final fuel-only pit
stop maintained his position at the front of the field to take the checkers and continue an unbeaten streak
that started at the Grand Prix of Long Beach in April.

In LMP2, Level 5 Motorsports returned to Victory Lane after a one-race absence, with Scott Tucker and
Christophe Bouchut taking their HPD ARX-03b to a seven-second class win over the Conquest
Endurance Racing Morgan Nissan of Martin Plowman and David Heinemeier Hansson.

Making his debut with the team, Ricardo Gonzalez was impressive in an opening double stint in the #95
Level 5 HPD, taking the class lead near the one-hour mark when Heinemeier Hansson received a stopand-
go penalty for blocking.

The final round of pit stops again shuffled the LMP2 running order, as Plowman reclaimed the lead with
less than an hour remaining. But Bouchut, driving the #055 HPD started by team owner/driver Tucker,
soon chased down Plowman and passed for a lead he would not relinquish, the fourth LMP2 win of the
season for Bouchut and Tucker.

Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti extended his streak of front-row qualifying runs to five consecutive races Saturday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Franchitti was one of four Honda- powered drivers to make the final “Fast Six” qualifying round, and will start second in Sunday’s Honda Indy 200.  Simon Pagenaud produced his best qualifying effort of 2012, and will start third on Sunday, behind Franchitti and pole qualifier Will Power. Alex Tagliani continues to impress since his Bryan Herta Autosport team switched to Honda power before the Indianapolis 500, and turned the fourth-fastest qualifying time in the “Fast Six” shootout.

After starting from the pole, Luhr took a lead the team would not relinquish in his HPD ARX-03a when
outside front-row starter Chris Dyson was penalized for jumping the green flag. Once in front, Luhr and
Graf were never headed, leading by nearly two laps until a penalty for having too many men over the wall
on a pit stop, followed by a late-race caution period, reduced their advantage to just over 10 seconds at
the finish.

The win was the third for the team at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, formerly known as Mosport
International Raceway, and the fourth consecutive this season for Muscle Milk Pickett Racing, continuing
a winning streak that began in April at the Grand Prix of Long Beach. It came on a weekend during which
Graf celebrated his 43rd birthday by claiming the pole on Saturday, while Luhr overcame pain from an
ankle injury, sustained in a fall on Saturday, to mark his 33rd birthday in Victory Circle on Sunday.
In LMP2, the long winning streak of Level 5 Motorsports came to an end, after a late-race penalty
dropped the HPD ARX-03b of Christophe Bouchut and Scott Tucker to second behind the Conquest
Racing machine of David Heinemeier Hansson and Martin Plowman.

Prior to the penalty, called when Bouchut was judged to have crossed the pit exit line as he challenged
for the lead during the final five minutes, the LMP2 battle was a highlight of the three-and-a-half hour
contest. The two rivals exchanged the class lead several times and, when the green flag waved for the
final time with 12 minutes to go after a full-course caution period, Plowman held a narrow lead for
Conquest over Bouchut in the Level 5 HPD.

The turning point came when Bouchut crossed over the yellow line separating the pit lane exit from the
racing surface, resulting in a stop-and-go penalty that determined the outcome.

Midway through the 10-race 2012 season, HPD and its partner teams and drivers continue to lead their
respective championships. In LMP1, Graf and Luhr hold a 12-point lead over the Dyson Racing duo of
Chris Dyson and Guy Smith; while in LMP2, Bouchut and Tucker own a 12-point lead over Hansson and
Plowman.
The series continues August 4 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the midwestern “home” for HPD’s
racing efforts, with thousands of associates from three nearby Honda of America Manufacturing facilities
and Ohio-based Honda R&D Americas expected to attend.

Klaus Graf (#6 Muscle Milk Racing HPD ARX-03a) Finished 1st overall, 1st in LMP1; fourth
consecutive win for HPD and Muscle Milk Pickett Racing in 2012: “You don’t want to lose
concentration and focus. It’s imperative that you stay ‘on it’, do the job you have to do, get in the groove
and turn competitive lap times. Sometimes a big lead is harder to manage than if you have to push all the
way. Winning here again, for the third time in a row and our fourth consecutive race win this year, means
a lot for Muscle Milk Pickett Racing and our partners HPD and Michelin. We couldn’t ask for more this
weekend, Canada has always been good to us.”

Lucas Luhr (#6 Muscle Milk Racing HPD ARX-03a) 1st overall, 1st in LMP1: “I think we were fully in
control of the race. We made a good strategy call in the beginning to save some fuel. That allowed us to
do the race on just two stops. The others had to stop three times, so it was a big advantage for us. It’s
great to win our fourth race in a row. The guys keep on doing an awesome job and it’s great to be able to
reward them with a win.”

Starting third, Sato joined early race leader Alex Tagliani and Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti in a
1-2-3 Honda train at the front of the 25-car field, through the first round of pit stops. By half-distance in
the 75-lap race, Castroneves had joined the lead pack, while Tagliani went on to lead a race-high 49 laps.
The final round of pit stops saw Castroneves, Tagliani and Sato all running nose-to-tail, but Tagliani
ultimately faded to a fifth-place finish. Over the final laps, it was Sato challenging Castroneves several
times during every tour of the 2.5-mile temporary airport circuit. But Castoneves, with a bit more of his
“push-to-pass” options in reserve for the finish, was able to hold off Sato’s advances by just over eighttenths
of a second at the checkers.

Graham Rahal came on strong in the second half of the contest to pass both fellow Chip Ganassi Racing
driver Franchitti and Tagliani in the closing laps and finish fourth, his third top-four result of the season.
Tagliani held on for fifth, his best result of the season as the Bryan Herta Autosport team continues to
improve after a mid-season switch to Honda power.

Starting 13th, Kimball gained two positions in the opening laps, and was up to eighth place on Lap 30.
Fifteen laps later he had climbed to sixth. After the final round of pit stops on Lap 55 became embroiled
in the battle of the race, fighting for what was then third place with fellow Honda-powered drivers Simon
Pagenaud, Justin Wilson and Josef Newgarden, along with Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe.

A brush with the wall sent Wilson to the pits on Lap 67, and five laps later Kimball was able to
successfully pass both Pagenaud and Tony Kanaan in a single move at the end of the Lakeshore Blvd.
straight to jump from fourth to second, where he finished behind race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay. Now in
his second season of IndyCar competition, the second-place finish is the best of Kimball’s career,
following a trio of eighth-place runs earlier this season.

In addition, Level 5 Motorsports continued its streak of American Le Mans Series LMP2 class victories,
and is now four-for-four on the season, as Christophe Bouchut and Scott Tucker teamed up for the win
aboard their HPD ARX-03b.

Starting on the outside of the front row, Luhr passed pole qualifier Chris Dyson’s Lola-Mazda just six laps
into the race, then edged away until a problem with the gearbox electronics resulted in a long stop 45
minutes into the contest. When repairs were complete, the Muscle Milk team found itself four laps behind
the leaders and 21st overall.

Once repairs were complete, a relentless charge by Luhr and Graf got the ARX-03a back into contention,
and the timing of yellows and pit stops meant that, with less than 30 minutes to go, the Muscle Milk
machine was back on the lead lap and nose-to-tail with the leading Dyson entry. When the green flag
waved for the final time, Graf was soon past Dyson’s co-driver Guy Smith and secured Muscle Milk’s third
win in succession when a late-race accident led to the race finishing under yellow.

Level 5’s LMP2 win also was the result of a drive through the field, as the team elected to withdraw its
#95 HPD ARX-03b and start the #055 car at the rear of the 29-car field in a strategic move to pair
Bouchut with Tucker.

Bouchut surged through the field and led overall for more than 30 minutes, then team owner/driver Tucker
held off the attacks of the Conquest Morgan-Nissan of Martin Plowman and David Heinemeier Hansson
late in the contest to finish third overall and first in LMP2. It marked the fourth consecutive class victory
for Level 5, which is undefeated in American Le Mans Series LMP2 competition this year.

HPD, Muscle Milk and Level 5 Motorsports will try to continue their winning streaks later this month, as
the American Le Mans Series heads north of the border for its annual Canadian round, the July 22 Mobil1
Presents the Grand Prix of Mosport, at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ontario.
Klaus Graf (#6 Muscle Milk Racing HPD ARX-03a) Finished 1st overall, 1st in LMP1: “I literally qualified
every lap. I couldn’t have gone any quicker. Until I had gotten into the lead, I wasn’t aware. I just pushed
like crazy in traffic, taking a lot of risks. I felt like I must have blacked out, [because] I was pushing so
hard.”

Christophe Bouchut (#055 Level 5 Motorsports HPD ARX-03b) Finished 3rd overall, 1st in LMP2:
“Scott [Tucker] said we had a chance to win today. But at Lime Rock this was going to be difficult. We
had to overtake so many cars and there are not a lot of places to do that. I was running really well and I
just kept pushing as hard as I could. It turned out that was enough to keep driving around and making
good passes.”

Scott Dixon led 76 laps of a rain-delayed Iowa Corn Indy 250 Saturday night at Iowa Speedway and appeared to be in contention for his second win for 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season. But Dixon slipped to a fourth-place finish in the closing laps after getting caught by eventual race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay and then held up by lapped traffic.

In just his fourth oval race, Simon Pagenaud starred in his Schmidt Hamilton Racing Honda Dallara, coming from 25th and last on the starting grid to a fifth-place finish, solidifying his hold on sixth place in the overall drivers’ championship and increasing his lead in the chase for series Rookie of the Year honors.

Dixon started eighth in tonight’s 250-lap contest, which was delayed approximately 40 minutes while workers dried the track after a series of mid-afternoon showers. He spent most of the first half of the race at the tail end of the lead pack. But his Target Chip Ganassi Racing team elected to take him “off sequence” with a pit stop on Lap 100. That moved him to the front when most of the remaining cars made their next scheduled stops, and put Dixon in contention for the victory.
However, an encounter with lapped traffic on Lap 237 cost him valuable momentum, and he quickly dropped to fourth place as Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti and Tony Kanaan quickly worked their way past.

Meanwhile Pagenaud, who had struggled mightily in Friday’s practice and qualifying heat races, suddenly found a great balance as the race wore on, and steadily moved through the field, reaching the top-10 by mid-race and climbing to fifth at the checkers.

Other Honda-powered drivers had less luck tonight. Polesitter Dario Franchitti was the first retirement when a sudden engine failure – the same engine that powered him to victory in last month’s Indianapolis 500 – ended his race as the field approached the green flag. Texas race winner Justin Wilson ran in the lead group several times, but lost ground during each pit stop. Josef Newgarden raced near the front of the field during the first 100 laps, but then lost ground and ended his race on Lap 178 as a result of contact with race leader Ryan Briscoe.

Indianapolis 500 champion Dario Franchitti gave Honda his second consecutive pole of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series season Friday night at Iowa Speedway, and his second short-oval pole in as many weeks, by winning the third of three heat races used to set the grid for Saturday night’s Iowa Corn Indy 250. Franchitti started on the outside of the front row, based on practice times, and moved around early-race leader Marco Andretti with an outside pass exiting Turn 4 on the eighth lap. He led the remaining 22 laps of the 30-lap heat to win by 1.6 seconds over Helio Castroneves. Franchitti has won two of the five
IndyCar races previously run in Iowa, including the 2007 debut race and again in 2009.

Honda-powered drivers won two of the three heat races tonight, with Graham Rahal winning the first heat in his Service Central Honda Dallara. Rahal started from the pole and led for the entire distance, with fellow Honda-powered driver Josef Newgarden taking second for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing.

In the second heat, Alex Tagliani worked his way into an early lead, but was caught and passed by Tony Kanaan on Lap 20. Tagliani held on to finish second in the heat, with Justin Wilson fourth and Charlie Kimball fifth.

Television coverage for Saturday night’s final short-oval race of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar
Series will air on the NBC Sports Network, starting at 7:30 p.m. EDT.

• Saturday night’s race at Iowa Speedway will be the fifth consecutive week of IZOD IndyCar Series racing, and Honda-powered drivers have claimed the top two finishing positions at three of the four races contested during that run. Iowa is the second and final short oval on the 2012 schedule, and the first to feature three, 30-lap heat races, which will be run on Friday night to set the field for Saturday night’s 250-lap feature event.

• The Honda winning streak started May 27 at the 96th running of the Indianapolis 500, won by Dario Franchitti ahead of his Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon in a thrilling race.

• The following week, Dixon dominated the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, qualifying on the pole and leading every lap for his first victory of 2012, followed by Franchitti. Simon Pagenaud of Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports completed a podium sweep for Honda by finishing third.

• For the third consecutive race, Honda-powered drivers finished 1-2 on June 9 at Texas Motor Speedway. Justin Wilson came from 17th on the starting grid to chase down late race leader Graham Rahal, claiming the lead and the victory after Rahal brushed the Turn 4 wall with just two laps remaining. Despite sustaining rear suspension damage, Rahal held on to finish second for Honda’s third consecutive 1-2 result.

• The 2012 season marks the return of manufacturer competition to the IZOD IndyCar Series after six years of Honda serving as single engine supplier. Chevrolet and Lotus now join Honda in providing engines to the 25-car starting field.

• Honda comes to this weekend’s race second in the Manufacturers’ Championship, with 57 points, to 63 for Chevrolet. Lotus is third, with 32 points.

• Dixon has led an IZOD IndyCar Series-high 329 laps this season, more than double the laps-led total of any other driver. Dixon led all 60 laps at Detroit, and race-high totals of 133 at Texas, 37 at St. Petersburg and 38 at Barber Motorsports Park. Will Power is ranked second with 135 laps led.

• Honda-powered drivers have led a total of 584 laps this season, while Chevrolet drivers have led 325 laps. Race lap leaders for Honda include Dixon (329), Franchitti (92) Takuma Sato (58), Rahal (28), Pagenaud (26), Wilson (26), Alex Tagliani (22) and Charlie Kimball (3). Dixon has led more race laps by himself than all Chevy drivers combined.

• Honda’s popular “Fastest Seat in Sports” sweepstakes makes its eighth stop of the 2012 season at Iowa Speedway this weekend. Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Arie Luyendyk will take Alfred Arlic of Roanoke, Indiana, for the ride of a lifetime around the high-banked 1.5-mile oval in a two-seater IndyCar, in advance of the green flag for Saturday night’s race. Interested fans can find out more information on the “Fastest Seat in Sports” at shophonda.com.

HONDA AT IOWA SPEEDWAY
• As the single engine supplier to the IZOD IndyCar Series from 2006-2011, Honda has powered all five previous winners at Iowa Speedway. The 2012 race will be the first with manufacturer competition from Honda, Chevrolet and Lotus.

• Previous Honda-powered race winners at Iowa include Franchitti, at the inaugural 2007 event and again in 2009; the late Dan Wheldon in 2008; Tony Kanaan in 2010 and Marco Andretti in 2011, the first night event here.

HONDA CIVIC Si PACE AND SAFETY CARS
• A fleet of new 2012 Honda Civic Si coupes and sedans is being utilized for Safety Car and Pace Car duties in the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series. The Civic Si Coupe made its debut as an IZOD IndyCar Series Safety Car at last year’s Honda Indy Toronto. That first Civic has now been joined by additional coupes and sedans, replacing the Honda Accords formerly used by the series.

• Cars start out as standard Civic Si models, and one coupe has been developed into an IndyCar Series Safety Car by Honda Performance Development in Santa Clarita, Calif.

For the second time in three attempts, Honda Performance Development has won the LMP2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the American-based Starworks Racing claiming the category victory in its first Le Mans start.

Starworks, which earlier this year won LMP2 at the 12 Hours of Sebring, made it’s 24 Hours of Le Mans debut in the most impressive way possible, with drivers Ryan Dalziel, Tom Kimber-Smith and Enzo Potolicchio piloting their HPD ARX-03b to a seventh overall finish, one lap ahead of the next LMP2 entry. In 2010, HPD’s first attempt at Le Mans, it was British-based Strakka Racing winning LMP2 in its HPD ARX-01c with a commanding margin of seven laps and LMP2 record fifth overall finish. This year’s race was far more dramatic, but just as rewarding for HPD.

Starting ninth in LMP2 and 22nd overall after electing to focus on race preparation rather than making an outright qualifying run, the Starworks trio also made a conservative start to the 24-hour endurance racing classic. But by the six-hour mark, the team had moved into the top-10 overall and third in LMP2. As night settled over the Circuit de la Sarthe, LMP2 settled into a multi-car battle between the HPD and several Nissan-powered teams.  But three hours later, at midnight, the Starworks HPD ARX-03b chassis and HPD HR28TT twin-turbo V6 engine combination was in the LMP2 lead and – although challenged for the remaining 12 hours by several Nissan-powered teams – Starworks was more than capable of defending it’s hard-won advantage, and maintained a steady, if narrow lead for the remaining 12 hours to take the LMP2 victory
over TDS Racing.

For the first time, HPD also fielded a pair of entries in the headline LMP1 class, utilizing the new ARX-03a chassis and normally aspirated HR-LM V8 engine. Strakka Racing moved up from LMP2 for 2012 and driver Danny Watts qualified the new combination seventh overall on Thursday, fastest of the “privateer” teams doing battle with the full manufacturer-supported teams from Audi and Toyota. Another British team, JRM Motorsports, started 11th in their ARX-03a.

JRM had a steady run in their first Le Mans attempt, after winning the FIA GT1 World Championship in 2011. The driving trio of David Brabham, Karun Chandhok and Peter Dumbreck moved into the top-10 in the opening hours, and seventh overall at the 16-hour mark. Other than a few minor delays, JRM pressed on for an excellent sixth-place finish, behind only the four “works” entries from the winning Audi effort and the first of two Rebellion entries.

Meanwhile, for Strakka, it was a drama-filled 24 hours. A transmission oil leak discovered shortly before the race start left drivers Jonny Kane, Nick Leventis and Watts still in their garage area as the green flag waved, with Kane finally starting 22 minutes later, six laps down on the leaders. The team rapidly went to work making up that deficit, climbing through the GT field, making up 35 positions in the first six hours.

At the 18-hour mark, Strakka was up to 10th overall, behind JRM and the Lolas of Rebellion Racing in the battle for independent team honors. But overheating issues slowed Strakka’s pace in the final hours, and the team settled for an eighth-place finish in LMP1.

HPD’s second LMP2 entry, the Level 5 Motorsports HPD effort of Christophe Bouchut, Luis Diaz and Scott Tucker, suffered early disappointment in its effort to build on a third-place class finish in 2011. Communication problems during the night led to the car missing its scheduled pit stop, and running out of fuel midway around the eight-mile circuit. Unable to make it back to pit lane, the ARX-03b was retired.

Pole-qualifier and Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti dominated the opening segment of today’s 225-lap contest, leading until the first round of pit stops on Lap 63. But an ill-timed caution flag took away Franchitti’s advantage, leaving him running fourth, with a car that did not work as well in traffic as when he had been at the front of the field. On Lap 192, Franchitti and Ryan Briscoe made side-to-side contact, and one lap later a rear suspension failure sent him crashing into the Turn 4 wall. Franchitti was uninjured, but out of the race as a result of the crash.

Starting 21st after taking a 10-position grid penalty for an unapproved engine change, Detroit race winner Scott Dixon battled his way through the field to fourth place at mid-race, but was given a “drive-through” [pit lane] penalty by race officials when he was judged to have jumped a Lap 121 restart. The penalty dropped Dixon to 16th, the last car on the lead lap, and he was merely able to recover to 11th by the finish.

After a disappointing qualifying run on Friday that left him 13th on the starting grid, Tagliani found his Honda Dallara to be working much better in today’s race, and he quickly moved into the top 10 in the opening laps. Tagliani continued to advance during the middle stages of the contest, reaching third place on Lap 100. But the Canadian driver was caught out by lapped traffic on the final two restarts, dropping him to a seventh-place result.

Franchitti won last year’s Milwaukee race from the pole, leading a race-high 161 of 225 race laps. He also won here in 2004, and has finished sixth or better in his last six starts at “The Mile”. Previous Honda-powered poles this year include Scott Dixon at Detroit; and Alex Tagliani at Texas Motor Speedway.

Justin Wilson posted the second-fastest qualifying run in his Dale Coyne Racing Honda-Dallara. It is his best qualifying effort of 2012, and follows his victory last week in Texas. Josef Newgarden led the rookie field today at Milwaukee, qualifying seventh for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing.

Television coverage for Saturday’s first short oval race of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series will air on ABC, starting at 1 p.m. EDT.

In LMP2, both HPD teams elected to focus on race preparation, rather than making outright qualifying runs. The Starworks team will start ninth in LMP2 and 22nd overall in the ARX-03b co-driven by Ryan Dalziel, Tom Kimber-Smith and Enzo Potolicchio. The Level 5 Motorsports HPD will start 14th in LMP2, and 27th overall in the hands of Christophe Bouchut, Luis Diaz and Scott Tucker.

Live television coverage of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be provided in the United States on the SPEED Network, with a pre-race show at 7:30 a.m. EDT and the race broadcast starting at 8:30 a.m.  Danny Watts (#21 Strakka Racing HPD ARX-03a) on Le Mans qualifying: “I’m delighted for the whole team, because to get privateer pole after all their hard work is very rewarding. Qualifying is only a small part of the race, but it’s nice to know that our car is fast. I really enjoyed my fastest lap. I was thoroughly ‘in the zone’, focused and concentrated. We’re fairly confident for the race. We’ve ticked a lot of boxes in terms of car set-up and tire management, and we’ve had some good night-running, which is always
important here.”

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (June 12, 2012) – Honda Performance Development, the racing arm of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., is increasing its support of quarter-midget racing with a contingency award program for participants in the Quarter Midget Association Grand Nationals. Both Honda GX120 and GX160 engines can be used in quarter midgets, one of this country’s most popular entry-level racing categories. These engines, along with parts and technical support, are all available through HPD’s Honda Racing Line program.

Contingency support, in the form of “HPD Bucks” purchase credits, will be offered to racers taking part in the 2012 QMA Grand Nationals in the Junior Honda, Senior Honda, Heavy Honda, Light 160 and Heavy 160 classes.

The program takes effect with the 2012 Eastern Grand Nationals June 26 – July 1 in Clarkston, MI; and includes the July 21-29 Western Grand Nationals In Portland, OR, and the August 4-12 Dirt Grand Nationals in Rio Linda, CA. A first-place finish in a race with five or more starters will earn $200 HPD Bucks. Third place will earn $150 HPD Bucks, and sixth place will earn $100 HPD Bucks.

In addition to the contingency program, HPD will be conducting a raffle for a free GX120 engine to all non-A Main racers at each Grand National.

The Honda Racing Line, the racers’ direct connection to HPD, complements Honda Power Equipment in expanding sales and product support to quarter-midget racers. HPD provides a variety of engines and parts utilized by quarter-midget competitors, including complete “crate”GX120 and GX160 engines; individual engine parts, such as cylinder heads and pistons; and technical support via e-mail and phone.

Through the Honda Racing Line, quarter-midget and other racers can arrange direct, door-todoor delivery of parts and complete engines. The HPD sales staff can also provide technical support. Independent race shops and engine builders may continue to purchase their parts through traditional Honda Power Equipment channels, and also purchase parts from HPD
through the Honda Racing Line.

“Historically, quarter-midget racing has been one of the earliest forms of motorsport available to youth with an interest in racing,” said Marc Sours, general manager of HPD. “Our first CART champion, Jimmy Vasser, got his start in quarter midgets while still in grade school.

“One of the goals of the Honda Racing Line is to support these novice racers. Through our quarter-midget program, we hope to make it easier for these young racers and their families to discover the fun of our sport.”

To join the Honda Racing Line, a racer must simply provide proof of current membership in a nationally-recognized sanctioning body; provide official race results from at least two events in the past year; complete and submit the registration form; and be a resident of the U.S. or Canada.

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.

A “never-give-up” performance from Justin Wilson saw the popular veteran come from behind to win Saturday night’s Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway, the third consecutive IZOD IndyCar Series race victory and 1-2 finish for Honda in 2012.

Wilson, whose Honda-powered Dale Coyne Racing IndyCar ran faster and faster as the night wore on, was closing the gap to race leader Graham Rahal in the final laps of the 228-lap contest, then took the lead for the second and final time when Rahal brushed the wall exiting Turn 4 with just two laps remaining. Wilson powered by for his eighth career IndyCar victory and first oval track win.

After contact, Rahal was able to continue and nurse his damaged Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a second-place finish, for Honda’s third consecutive 1-2 result this season. Honda drivers finished first and second (Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon) at the Indianapolis 500 two weeks ago, and 1-2-3 (Dixon, Franchitti and Simon Pagenaud) at last Sunday’s Belle Isle Detroit Grand Prix.

Tagliani Repeats Texas Pole Run

In repeat performances of their 2011 efforts, Honda-powered Alex Tagliani and Dario Franchitti qualified 1-2 Friday at Texas Motor Speedway, in preparation for Saturday night’s Firestone 550 IZOD IndyCar Series race. Last year, the pair also qualified first and second, with Franchitti going on to win the first race of a unique twin-event format used here in 2011, and Tagliani finishing fourth.

This year’s race marks a return to the traditional single, 228-lap format. Graham Rahal and Scott Dixon gave Honda a lock on the first four starting positions. For Rahal, the third starting position is his best of 2012, while Dixon continued his run of strong qualifying performances this year. The two-time series champion has qualified sixth or better at six of seven events in 2012.

Mike Conway qualified eighth for A.J. Foyt Racing, his fourth top-10 qualifying effort of the season, and Indianapolis 500 star Takuma Sato will start 10th for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Rookie points leader Simon Pagenaud just missed a top-10 start, qualifying 11th for Schmidt Hamilton Racing.

Television coverage for the first Saturday night race of the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series will air on the NBC Sports Network, starting at 8 p.m. EDT.

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (June 7, 2012) – It was a very happy birthday for California Race & Rally driver Gavin Skilton, who drove his Honda Performance Development Desert Pilot to the Class 6 [Unlimited 6-cylinder] Trophy Truck victory in Saturday’s 44th running of the Baja 500.

Co-developed by the engineers at Honda Performance Development and California Race & Rally, the HPD Desert Pilot is a single-seat, tube-framed racer powered by a mid-engine, production-based Honda V-6 engine and featuring replica Honda Pilot bodywork. Developed for off-road racing, the HPD Desert Pilot made its competition debut at the 2011 Pikes Peak
Hillclimb.

Last weekend, driving solo on his 42nd birthday in the second-oldest desert race in the world, Skilton left Ensenada, Mexico on Saturday morning, traversing a rugged, 450-mile course that ran east to Ojos Negros, south to near San Felipe, and west to the Pacific Ocean before returning to Ensenada for the finish.  The clockwise course included elevations ranging from sea level to the 4,155-foot summit at Mile 110, temperatures from the low 50s to more than 100-degrees Fahrenheit, and a wide
variety of terrain. The class victory was the first for the veteran Skilton in 2012, and the first for the Desert Pilot in the five-race SCORE Desert Series.

“I drove the whole race. I got into the truck at Staging this morning and only got out at the finish,” Skilton said at the conclusion of the grueling event. “We had some minor issues during the run, but nothing major – just some small adjustments here and there. The crew guys were all where they needed to be, so we could make those adjustments [during scheduled stops] pretty quickly. The hardest part was being in the dust at night, and not having [a co-driver] navigating off the GPS. When you’re in a [truck with a co-driver], you have someone calling out ‘hard right-hand turn coming up.’ But when you’re driving solo, you have to keep one eye on the road and the other on the GPS. You can’t drive too fast or you’re going to hit something.”

In November, Skilton and his California Race & Rally team will campaign the HPD Desert Pilot in the Baja 1000, the desert racing classic that caps the SCORE race season.

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. Honda has been a fixture in North American open-wheel racing since 1994, and has played an active role in the growth of the IZOD IndyCar Series – as both a Manufacturers’ Championship competitor and single engine
supplier – since joining the series in 2003.