Acura releases first images of new Le Mans racer

The new car will succeed the incredibly successful ARX-05 that won the 2019 and ’20 IMSA titles with Team Penske and has won the Daytona 24 Hours with Wayne Taylor Racing and Mayer Shank Racing for the last two seasons.

For its new LMDh car – eligible to race in GTP in IMSA and LMH in the World Endurance Championship – Acura has partnered with LMP2 chassis manufacturer Oreca, as it did with its DPi machine.

The car features bespoke, Acura-designed bodywork as well as an engine created by Honda Performance Development, While these first images are heavily camouflaged they showcase a look that has much contingency from the ARX-05.

Like its predecessor, the ARX-06 features a front blade across the nose, which features elements of the front light structure cut into it. Behind we can see the sidepods are now much more heavily sculpted than the previous DPi car car.

While the name of the car, ARX-06, is a continuation of Acura’s race car naming convention, the S pattern it is covered with to create camouflage and the Type S logo that is visible on the engine fin seem to suggest there could be a slight change in nomenclature when the car is finally revealed.

With the 2022 Le Mans 24 Hours set to take place this weekend (11^th-12^th June) we can expect to see announcements from many of the new-for-2023 teams. BMW has already confirmed it will be showcasing its new LMDh car tomorrow (6^th June) and announcements from Cadillac and others are expected.