This latest move will see its American motorsports team contribute to the wider Honda F1 program.
Honda has always had a rather interesting structure when it comes to its motorsports endeavours. The automaker after all had its main Japanese team which ran most of its international motorcycle and later F1 program, while it simultaneously also had a totally distinct outfit State-side that focused only on automotive championships in the North American continent.
Rather surprisingly though for this disparate organisational structure, both the Japanese-based Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) and American Honda Performance Development (HPD) have been rather successful at their respective motorsports endeavours. It is after all the engine that is perfected at HRC which brought Max Verstappen to his two (and perhaps soon to be even three) F1 World Championship titles. HPD too has been rather successful with the Acura brand, leading it to three consecutive wins in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and three IMSA Manufacturers’, Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships since 2018.
Though likely in a bid to further their F1 development program, the head-honchos at the Japanese automaker has nevertheless finally decided that the time was ripe to bring these two distinct organisations together. So from the 2024 motorsports season, HPD will henceforth formally become Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US) and will be better integrated into the Honda’s single international motorsports organisation.
According to Honda, the newly formed HRC US will be involved alongside the original HRC Sakura team in the development of its F1 power unit and race support starting in 2026. A move that is likely to be welcomed by the Aston Martin team to which the Japanese automaker will be providing engines for from that time, especially when considering that HPD has previously claimed overall victory at Daytona earlier this year with a similar hybrid V6 setup in its Acura ARX-06.
Though on the topic of said Acura, what is perhaps the bigger question for racing fans is whether or not this newly restructured global organisation might see the Japanese automaker finally give the World Endurance Championship (WEC) a go. HPD’s limited remit inside North America was always the biggest barrier to Honda racing in WEC, but now with that gone, there might be a chance yet for a successor to the ARX-06 (which already runs in the GTP class in IMSA) to possibly transition in becoming a Le Mans racer some time in the near future too.
“Our goal is to increase the HRC brand and sustain the success of our racing activities and we believe that uniting Honda motorsports globally as one racing organisation will help achieve that,” said Koji Watanabe, the president of HRC Japan, of this merger. “Our race engineers in the U.S. and Japan will be stronger together and I am so happy to welcome our U.S. associates to the HRC team.”
“Honda’s racing heritage is unparalleled and over the last 30 years and the talented men and women of HPD have contributed to that success in the U.S,” said David Salters, president of HPD, who will become president of the new HRC US. “We are thrilled and very proud to join forces with our friends and colleagues in HRC Japan and represent Honda Racing as a global racing organisation. We will continue to challenge ourselves in U.S. motorsports activities even as we develop our people and technology to compete on a rapidly changing global motorsports stage.”
PRESS RELEASE: Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) in Sakura, Japan, and Honda Performance Development (HPD) in Santa Clarita, CA, jointly announced today that HPD will formally become Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US) starting with the 2024 motorsports season. With this change, HRC US will play an integral role in Honda’s global motorsports activities, which includes contributing to the company’s Formula One (F1) program.
Collaborating as one global HRC entity, the two independent racing arms of Honda will combine their unique expertise and resources to strengthen Honda’s overall motorsports capabilities.
HRC was established in Japan in 1982 as Honda’s motorcycle racing arm, and is recognized for more than 40 years of championship racing heritage in pinnacle global racing categories such as WGP/MotoGP, Superbike, Motocross, World Trial and the Paris Dakar rally. In 2022, HRC added auto racing including Honda’s F1 program to its responsibilities, with the Sakura Center dedicated for auto racing and Asaka Center focused on motorcycle racing.
HPD was established by American Honda Motor Co., Inc. in 1993, as a separate racing arm to compete in the IndyCar series. For 30 years, HPD has competed in various racing series including IndyCar, IMSA, Baja Off-Road, Touring Cars, and Formula Regional America. Through HPD, Honda has 280 wins from 510 races in IndyCar competition, including 180 wins from 410 events with multi-manufacturer competitions. At the Indianapolis 500, Honda has won 15 times, nine with multi-manufacturer competition. Honda has won 13 Drivers’ Championships and 10 Manufacturers’ Championships in years with multi-manufacturer competition. HPD also has led the Acura brand to three consecutive wins in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and three IMSA Manufacturers’, Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships since 2018.
HRC’s auto racing development center in Japan currently supports Red Bull Powertrains for F1 power units and contribute to world championship victories. Starting in 2026, HRC will partner with the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 team as the official engine supplier. With three F1 races now in the U.S. (Austin, Miami, Las Vegas), the new HRC US will be involved in Formula One power unit development and race support starting in 2026.
“Our goal is to increase the HRC brand and sustain the success of our racing activities and we believe that uniting Honda motorsports globally as one racing organization will help achieve that,” said Koji Watanabe, the president of HRC Japan. “Our race engineers in the U.S. and Japan will be stronger together and I am so happy to welcome our U.S. associates to the HRC team.”
“Honda’s racing heritage is unparalleled and over the last 30 years and the talented men and women of HPD have contributed to that success in the U.S.,” said David Salters, president of HPD, who will become president of the new HRC US. “We are thrilled and very proud to join forces with our friends and colleagues in HRC Japan and represent Honda Racing as a global racing organization. We will continue to challenge ourselves in U.S. motorsports activities even as we develop our people and technology to compete on a rapidly changing global motorsports stage.”
The 2024 Rolex 24 at Daytona, scheduled for January 27-28, will mark the inaugural race for the new HRC US, with the defending champion Acura ARX-06 prototypes to sport HRC logos on their racing liveries.
