At the end of last year, the Japanese manufacturer brought the Honda Performance Development (HPD) arm under its global motorsport portfolio, renaming the division as Honda Racing Corporation US.
This opened up the possibility of Honda taking its Acura ARX-06 across the Atlantic and competing at Le Mans, a race in which it has had no presence since 2012.
Acura is the only GTP marque in the IMSA SportsCar Championship that doesn’t simultaneously compete in the World Endurance Championship, with BMW, Cadillac, Lamborghini and Porsche all running concurrent programmes in both series with their respective LMDh contenders.
Acura's IMSA team Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti has long expressed a desire to compete in the French endurance classic, while the erstwhile HPD arm has also shown interest in proving the capabilities of its ARX-06 outside of North America.
But such a programme requires the blessing of the wider HRC operation and the Honda board, something that hadn’t been forthcoming despite Acura winning last year’s Daytona 24 Hours at its first attempt with an LMDh car.
Source: Autosport