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Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Honda warming to idea of Acura FIA WEC Hypercar entry and customer programs
Could we see the Acura ARX-06 competing in the hands of private teams and/or in the FIA World Endurance Championship's Hypercar class in the future? Honda's new-look two-car IMSA GTP effort in lockstep with Meyer Shank Racing made its debut at last month's Rolex 24 At Daytona. The likelihood of an ARX-06 entering the WEC seemed slim when RACER asked HRC US President David Salters about it a year ago, but now it appears that its position on Hypercars is starting to shift. 'First, you've got to balance LMH and LMDh, which seems to be happening,' Salters told RACER 12 months ago when asked if it was viable for Honda to enter the FIA WEC. 'You have to make sure you can compete, then it has to make business and budgetary sense to Honda. Sometimes they line up, sometimes they don't. If in the future they could, we could be interested. 'There is already a rude reality of priorities in the company, and you'd imagine that at the moment, F1 is pretty high priority. We already do global motorsport at the highest level, and we sort of dominate!' A year later, though, it appears Honda is taking a closer look at the WEC's top class, which currently features 18 cars and is poised to swell to more than 20 in the next two years when Genesis, Ford and – as RACER expects – McLaren join in. Salters confirmed that an active evaluation is ongoing. 'Are we interested? Yes, we have an amazing car. The series is growing. Le Mans is Le Mans. Of course, we're interested,' Salters said. 'We've just got to figure out, does it make sense to Honda? And then the economics of it, all that sort of stuff. 'So we are interested, and we are working on it in the background, shall we say. But like all these things, it has to make sense looking forward. 'WEC is doing an amazing job. The series is in very rude health. Super rude health. We have a car that I think will be good. As we've always said, we keep evaluating it, and we are seriously evaluating it, and we see how it makes sense, and does it fit. 'Aside from that, I think IMSA is doing a really, really good job. This is growing here. And when I look over the ocean, ACO/ WEC is doing a really, really good job. The proof is in the pudding. It's growing!' As for the appetite from HRC US to offer customer ARX-06s, there's interest in this area, too. If there's one element of the current convergence era that's failed to take off, it's in the customer ranks, in part due to cost and the availability of cars. So far, Porsche is the only brand that has offered true customer cars to private teams with its 963 platform. But to this point just three teams have found a way to make the sums work, and with JOTA headed to Cadillac to run its WEC factory team this year, just JDC-Miller and Proton remain in 2025. Interestingly, though, there appears to be movement from some of the manufacturers involved in Hypercar and GTP to find a way to make customer programs work in the future. Lamborghini, for instance, is planning a customer-focused future for its SC63 project, and Salters has now confirmed to RACER that HRC US is now interested in supplying cars, should a credible party come forward. 'I think the cars are very complex, so it could have been a lot at the start for someone to get hold of a customer's car and just use it,' he explained. 'I think we're all getting smarter on how we could do that. That may be something that was prohibitive and now is OK, but then there have to be discussions about how we get the cost more under control. 'I'd quite like to have a couple of customers, and we support them, but it needs to be customer stuff. They also need to find the business case that works, because it has to be sustainable in that sense too. I have a budget. My peers have budgets. We can't just give out cash or cars. 'There's active discussion on how to make it cheaper. We need to carry on with the active discussion. It needs to become sustainable, but I'm not opposed to customers. I'd love some, but it's got to be done the right way. 'We are open to customers. We've had some interesting conversations. We're very happy to have more, but it needs to be done on an economically sustainable business basis. But also we want our customers to be able to win. 'It's an Acura. I don't care which Acura wins — the No. 60, the No. 93, or a customer. It's Acura and having more out there in endurance racing is a good thing.' Story originally appeared on Racer
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Aston Martin THOR reveals 2025 Valkyrie liveries, line-ups
Aston Martin THOR Team has revealed the liveries and driver line-ups for its forthcoming 2025 FIA WEC Hypercar and IMSA GTP campaigns with the brand new, non-hybrid, V12-powered Valkyrie AMR-LMH prototype. Starting with its drivers, in the FIA WEC, Harry Tincknell, Aston Martin's most recent British 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner, will be joined by fellow countryman Tom Gamble, who announced his departure from McLaren last week, in the No. 007 for the full season. 'Harry Tincknell was heavily involved in the development of the Valkyrie, so we wanted to incorporate him early on into the test program, he has other GTP experience (with Proton Competition). He very quickly identified himself as a good team player, and his track record speaks for itself,' team principal Ian James said. 'And I rate Tom (Gamble) very highly as a natural talent and he deserves a chance in the spotlight at the highest level of sports car racing.' The sister No. 009 Valkyrie for the globe-trotting will see longtime Aston Martin factory driver Marco Sorensen and Heart of Racing regular Alex Riberas team up. 'Marco (Sorensen) is among the most experienced and successful drivers to ever race for Aston Martin and he's waited a long time for his chance at the top class,' added James. 'Having worked with him, having seen his ability and how cool he is under pressure, I think he's a perfect fit for this program. 'Alex Riberas has been proving himself in GTD Pro in IMSA the past couple of years, is an established race winner in IMSA and WEC, and excelled throughout the whole of WEC with us last year. He's definitely part of the fabric of The Heart of Racing and deserves his seat.' Over in North America, for Aston Martin THOR's single-car effort in GTP run out of the team's new base in Phoenix Arizona, the driver pairing has been finalized, too. 28-year-old British racer Ross Gunn and 2022 GTD class champion Roman De Angelis will drive the No. 23 entry. The pair will make their IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP debuts next month at Sebring. There, the Valkyrie AMR-LMH will also become the first LMH-spec prototype to compete in the championship alongside LMDh entries from Acura, BMW, Cadillac, Lamborghini and Porsche. 'Ross has been with us for the past four years and has become, without doubt, one of the best GT drivers in the world,' James expressed. 'He proved it last year in the GTD Pro title race, just narrowly missing out. He's a team player, is naturally gifted and has a feel for a race car that not many drivers have. 'As for Roman, I first drove with him in 2018 and he's gone from strength to strength. He's won the AMR Academy and the GTD championship, which is a unique achievement, and he's become an out-and-out performer. He's also a key ingredient in our sim program in Phoenix.' For the Le Mans 24 Hours in June, both Gunn and De Angelis will join the FIA WEC team to complete the driver trios in both cars. Gunn will make it it an all-British line-up in the No. 007 while De Angelis will add to the No. 009's crew. Third drivers will be utilized for some of the other longer races too. Speaking with reporters ahead of today's reveal, Aston Martin's endurance racing boss Adam Carter confirmed that Gunn and De Angelis will compete in the WEC opener in Qatar and Bahrain. The IMSA team will also be bolstered by a member of the WEC line-up for some of the Endurance Cup rounds, though there is no confirmation yet of which driver has been given the nod. The livery designs for the trio of Valkyrie AMR-LMHs that will compete around the world were also revealed. The WEC cars will compete in British Racing Green, while the IMSA Valkyrie will sport Heart of Racing's familiar navy blue and yellow color scheme. Story originally appeared on Racer
