Yahoo Autos Honda Will Field a Daytona Prototype With Team Penske Next Year
As if this year's IMSA Weathertech Championship wasn't promising enough already, it looks as if a couple of big new names are jumping into America's premiere endurance racing series. Team Penske has confirmed it will be fielding a Daytona Prototype International car in the IMSA series next year, supplied by Honda.
Shown above, Gil de Ferran in the #66 Acura ARX-02a at the ALMS Monterey Sports Car Championships in 2009, a Le Mans Prototype that wore the Acura badge from 2007-2010 and the Honda badge in 2011.
RACER spoke to Penske president Tim Cindric regarding the team's foray into the top-spec IMSA class for 2018. "We're doing it," he said. "It's just a matter of who it's with."
Cindric didn't reveal which manufacturer would be teaming up with Penske, but multiple sources confirmed to RACER that Honda would be backing the program with an Oreca-produced chassis.
Currently, Honda fields an Acura NSX GT3 in the IMSA Weathertech Championship in the GT Daytona class. The factory support program is set to expire at the end of 2017, however, making room for a Prototype Honda team to fill the gap. Team Penske currently fields a Chevrolet in IndyCar, where it ranks as the top team in the series, and a Ford in NASCAR.
Honda will compete against Mazda, Nissan, and Cadillac in the DPi class, making for an even more diverse and exciting grid. The 2017 season just started last month, and here we're already excited for next year.
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