Acura on Friday launched a teaser of its next-generation prototype race automobile for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The Acura ARX-06 (brief for Acura Racing Experimental, era 6) LMDh racer will debut for the 2023 season because the substitute for the ARX-05. The place the ARX-05 was constructed to the present Daytona Prototype Worldwide (DPi) guidelines, the ARX-06 will compete within the new LMDh (Le Mans Daytona Hybrid) class. That class shall be branded GTP in reference to the prototype class from IMSA’s Eighties heyday.
The LMDh class was designed to overlap with the Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) class of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), permitting vehicles to compete in each collection and making IMSA vehicles eligible for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Whereas some producers have confirmed plans to run in each the IMSA collection and at Le Mans, it seems Acura will restrict its marketing campaign to IMSA for now.
Acura ARX-06 LMDh teaser
Just like the ARX-05, the ARX-06 is predicated on a chassis from race-car agency Oreca, however may have an Acura-developed powertrain and bodywork, in response to an Acura press launch. That bodywork is formed by the identical Los Angeles-based studio that handles the automaker’s highway vehicles. Teaser pictures present an evolution of the ARX-05’s styling.
The ARX-05 has had a very good run. Launched for the 2018 season with Workforce Penske, it delivered group, producer, and driver championships in 2019 and 2020. The partnership with Penske dissolved after 2020, so Acura break up the 2 ARX-05 chassis between Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing. These groups delivered back-to-back 24 Hours of Daytona victories for Acura in 2021 and 2022.
The LMDh period ought to deliver much more competitors to IMSA racing. Defending DPi producer champion Cadillac is switching to the brand new class. BMW is about to return to top-level prototype racing with a automobile scheduled to debut on June 6. Porsche and Lamborghini are dedicated to LMDh as effectively, however the latter will not enter the fray till 2024, a yr after the debut of LMDh on the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona.
