Acura ARX-06 “quite ready” to race at Le Mans, but no plans yet
Honda’s US motorsport arm believes that its Acura ARX-06 is “quite ready” to race at the Le Mans 24 Hours, but there are no plans yet to take it there.
The ORECA-chassised Acura has been the standout car in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, although crashes have blunted its race results since scoring a 1-2 finish in the Daytona 24 Hours.
Built to LMDh regulations, it has regularly outpaced rivals Cadillac and Porsche that will race at this year’s centenary Le Mans 24 Hours in June.
But the situation is clouded by Acura being an American-only brand, and although the US-based Honda Performance Development concern has strong ties to its Japanese parent company, only Honda Motor Co can sign-off any international activity at F1, MotoGP or Le Mans level.
When asked if he was frustrated by not taking the ARX-06 to Le Mans this year, HPD president David Salters replied: “Yes and no. I think we’re quite ready. It [Le Mans] is a different animal, so we’d need to learn that. You never know where you’re going to be.
“Of course, we’d all love to go, who wouldn’t? But we’re here to look after the US so let’s do a reasonable job of that first. It’s what pays the bills! We’ve got to get to grips with these cars.
“We speak with our Honda Motor colleagues in Japan, they’re quite interested – they love what we are doing – but because it’s global, it’s out of our remit.
“So, it’s what works for Honda Motor, it’s got to be coherent, but it’s in discussion. It’s a big picture thing, it’s up to them to sort out.”
Acura won the 2023 Daytona 24 Hours with Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian
Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images
Salters says that the car’s strong showing at Daytona and Sebring – which makes up over half of the IMSA season’s race-running time – gives him confidence that the ARX-06 would be well suited to the arduous challenges of Le Mans.
“This car can do 24 hours, which is point number one for endurance racing,” he said. “And it’s not slow – we’ve made a good car, because we put a lot of effort into it.
“One of the things I’m most proud about that car is that it sailed through 24 hours at the first attempt. Brand new powertrain, chassis, electronics and hybrid system. As an engineer, that’s what gives me the most satisfaction. It wasn’t a case of touring around, and look at the first hour of Sebring, that was like a sprint race!
“You want to go and do well, we’ve built knowledge with this car, but who knows? We haven’t quite got that far. We need to do it at the right time, when we’re ready to do a good job for Honda or Acura. Part of me wants to go, but the engineer in me sees that we’ve still got a lot to do here.
“If we go, we do it properly.”
#6 Porsche Penske Motorsports Porsche 963: Mathieu Jaminet, Nick Tandy, Dane Cameron, #10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 Acura ARX-06: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Louis Deletraz, Brendon Hartley
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
When asked if he envied Porsche Penske Motorsport, which runs two 963s in WEC along with a pair of cars in IMSA, Salters replied: “Right now, I don’t envy them. Hats off to them, they’re doing a good job because just getting the cars to the grid was not easy with the supply chain issues [that all teams suffered with the LMDh common components].
“Any new car is hard and these are like an LMP1 car underneath. It just doesn’t cost $100million any more. And they’re trying to make a fleet of them, which is quite hard.”
Archive: When Le Mans made its most controversial change
Porsche reveals special livery for Le Mans 24 Hours
Dixon: IndyCar Detroit GP winner could be “last man standing”
Dixon: IndyCar Detroit GP winner could be “last man standing” Dixon: IndyCar Detroit GP winner could be “last man standing”
McLaughlin: IndyCar drivers criticising new Detroit track “need to relax”
McLaughlin: IndyCar drivers criticising new Detroit track “need to relax” McLaughlin: IndyCar drivers criticising new Detroit track “need to relax”
How Porsche's Daytona hiccups evoked the premiere of its Group C king
How Porsche's Daytona hiccups evoked the premiere of its Group C king How Porsche's Daytona hiccups evoked the premiere of its Group C king
Dixon: IndyCar Detroit GP winner could be “last man standing”
Dixon: IndyCar Detroit GP winner could be “last man standing” Dixon: IndyCar Detroit GP winner could be “last man standing”
McLaughlin: IndyCar drivers criticising new Detroit track “need to relax”
McLaughlin: IndyCar drivers criticising new Detroit track “need to relax” McLaughlin: IndyCar drivers criticising new Detroit track “need to relax”
Palou: “Crazy” Detroit track is too tight, too short for IndyCars
Palou: “Crazy” Detroit track is too tight, too short for IndyCars Palou: “Crazy” Detroit track is too tight, too short for IndyCars
Ogier attributes WRC Sardinia crash to muddy boot slipping off brake pedal
Ogier attributes WRC Sardinia crash to muddy boot slipping off brake pedal Ogier attributes WRC Sardinia crash to muddy boot slipping off brake pedal
How NASCAR is aiming to thrill on its Le Mans return
How NASCAR is aiming to thrill on its Le Mans return How NASCAR is aiming to thrill on its Le Mans return
How a British privateer hopes its customer Porsche can become a Le Mans icon
How a British privateer hopes its customer Porsche can become a Le Mans icon How a British privateer hopes its customer Porsche can become a Le Mans icon
Can Peugeot turn its style into substance at Le Mans?
Can Peugeot turn its style into substance at Le Mans? Can Peugeot turn its style into substance at Le Mans?
Why Cadillac can make amends for its previous Le Mans failures
Why Cadillac can make amends for its previous Le Mans failures Why Cadillac can make amends for its previous Le Mans failures
The plug in and play stand-ins who got their timing just right
The plug in and play stand-ins who got their timing just right The plug in and play stand-ins who got their timing just right
The lesser-remembered sportscar exploits of BMW's two-trick pony
The lesser-remembered sportscar exploits of BMW's two-trick pony The lesser-remembered sportscar exploits of BMW's two-trick pony
Porsche’s hopeful Le Mans future meets its illustrious past
Porsche’s hopeful Le Mans future meets its illustrious past Porsche’s hopeful Le Mans future meets its illustrious past
How Porsche's Le Mans legend changed the game
How Porsche's Le Mans legend changed the game How Porsche's Le Mans legend changed the game
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.