IMSA: Acura Confirms LMDh Chassis, Team Partners for 2023
- Acura to continue championship-winning partnership with ORECA
- Sixth generation Acura Prototype, ARX-06, to compete in 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
- Wayne Taylor Racing, Meyer Shank Racing to run ORECA-based Acura ARX-06 LMDh prototypes
Acura Motorsports today confirmed it will collaborate with ORECA [ORganisation Exploitation Course Automobiles] to design and develop the new, electrified Acura ARX-06 LMDh prototype.
Acura also will continue its partnerships with the proven, race- and championship-winning Meyer Shank Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing organizations to campaign hybrid-powered Acura entries in the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
“It is a pleasure to announce we will continue our association with ORECA into the new, electrified LMDh era,” said David Salters, president and technical director of Honda Performance Development, the North American racing arm of Acura Motorsports. “We’ve enjoyed a very successful partnership with ORECA in the current Acura ARX-05 program, including winning the IMSA DPi Manufacturers’ Championship in both 2019 and 2020; and IMSA’s Michelin Endurance this season.”
In addition to sweeping all three major IMSA DPi championships in both 2019 and 2020 – for Manufacturers, Drivers and Teams – Acura scored its first overall win at the Rolex 24 at Daytona this year with Wayne Taylor Racing. Additional podium finishes for MSR and WTR at Sebring, Watkins Glen and the Petit Le Mans in 2021 resulted in a sweep of IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup titles for the manufacturer and WTR.
“We expect the technical challenges of LMDh to be great, and competition among all of the manufacturers and teams to be intense. But that’s why Acura and HPD are involved in motorsport. Together with ORECA and our excellent partner teams, we’re truly excited to be a part of IMSA at the dawn of the LMDh era.”
The Acura ARX-06 will be the latest in a line of endurance prototypes to be fielded by the company dating back to 1991, just five years after the 1986 launch of the Acura brand. Based on the ORECA LMDh chassis, the ARX-06 will feature Acura-specific bodywork, aerodynamics and internal combustion power unit.