cars, Acura
having celebrated its 20th birthday just last year. Starting in 1986 with the sporty Integra two- and four-door compact coupe and sedan and its V-6-powered Legend four-door mid-sized sedan, Honda's upscale arm has blossomed into a key player in the U.S. automotive landscape.
In addition, as most motorsports aficionados know, Acuras have also emerged as a force on the sports car racing scene. Privateers have been campaigning Integras, NSXs, and RSXs to racing championships for years, although Acura has officially stayed at arm's length, preferring to leave factory-backed efforts to Honda, a worldwide brand.
Fernandez Racing's entry makes its way around Long Beach's fountain chicane.
But times are changing. Acura-badged vehicles began hitting China's shores last year, and Honda will finally introduce the brand to its Japanese home market in 2008 (Acuras are sold as Hondas in Japan at present). So partly to promote Acura as an international brand, party to make Acura's sporting pretensions known, and partly out of a natural desire for competition, Acura has made the jump into big-time motorsports competition.
The automaker is officially backing three LMP2 class cars for this season's American Le Mans Series (ALMS) campaign, and is supplying the chassis work to two of them. The ALMS opener at the 12 Hours of Sebring proved a fruitful one for the budding effort - the Acura Andretti Racing team scored a class win and placed second overall behind Audi's all-conquering LMP1 car (despite giving up about 100 horsepower to the higher-classed Audi). The two other Acura-powered teams, Fernandez Racing and Highcroft Racing, also fared well, placing second and fourth in the LMP2 class, respectively plus an excellent Acura Tl Steering Rack,etc.
