http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140220/unitedsportscar/140229974Honda unveils 3.5-liter prototype engine to be used in United SportsCar Championship
The new engine will debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring eventHonda Performance Development Thursday announced a new, 3.5-liter racing application for the versatile, production based Honda V6 engine found in a wide range of Honda/Acura passenger cars and light trucks and now raced in multiple categories worldwide.
The Honda HR35TT twin-turbocharged V6 is expected to make its United SportsCar Championship debut at the 2014 Mobil1 12 Hours of Sebring, mounted in a Riley Gen3 prototype chassis campaigned by Starworks Motorsport.
Previously, Starworks partnered with HPD to win the LMP2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and World Endurance Championship in 2012, using HPD’s ARX-03b chassis and Honda HR28TT twin-turbocharged V6, which also is derived from Honda’s J35 series of engines.
Starworks becomes the second team to utilize Honda power for the new United SportsCar Championship. Extreme Speed Motorsports campaigns a pair of prototype class HPD ARX-03b Hondas, after a successful initial season with the same package in the 2013 American Le Mans Series.
“This is an exciting program for HPD and our customer teams in the United SportsCar Championship,” said Steve Eriksen, HPD Vice President and COO. “Adding Starworks, a team that achieved great success with us in 2012, in a prototype machine alongside the proven HPD-Honda combination run by Extreme Speed Motorsports provides HPD with a strong, balanced attack in the inaugural United SportsCar Championship.”
“It’s a fantastic feeling to be partnering with Honda once again,” said Starworks team owner Peter Baron. “No doubt we had amazing success with HPD in 2012, but unfortunately it was only a one-year program. We have had numerous conversations over the past two years about building a Daytona Prototype motor, and we’re thrilled to see it come to fruition. We absolutely love working with HPD and have been in collaboration to find a new opportunity to partner with them again. We will have our work cut out with the steep learning curve to get us to victory lane, but HPD brings determination and success to every program it touches. Although HPD already competes in the Prototype class, we feel this is huge step for the United SportsCar Championship series, and Starworks is thrilled to be part of it.”