In the 1960s, Ford dealership owner and drag racer Bob Tasca coined the term “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” to describe how motorsports drive customers into showrooms. Today, many automakers spend more than a pretty penny powering championship-hunting racing teams around the world, however, one manufacturer is expanding its efforts internationally.
Japanese automaker Honda (HMC) -) announced on September 21 that the California-based Honda Performance Development will join forces with the Japan-based Honda Racing Corporation to form Honda Racing Corporation USA, or HRC US.
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As two independent racing arms under the HRC umbrella, Honda will be able to use their combined resources to strengthen their motorsports capabilities and compete in a wide variety of racing series.
“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 HRC Japan president Koji Watanabe in a statement. “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.”
Before joining forces with its equivalent Japanese wing and becoming HRC US, Honda Performance Development was established in 1993 as a US-based racing arm to compete in IndyCar. Over its 30 year history, it has competed in several other racing series including International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) sports car racing and Baja Off-Road, as well as capturing 15 Indianapolis 500 wins and three wins at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Currently, the HRC Japan team supports the Oracle Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team through Red Bull Powertrains, and has previously powered the cars driven by Max Verstappen to his 2021 and 2022 Formula 1 World Championship wins. As the sport expands its presence in the United States with races in Austin, Miami and Las Vegas, the HRC US team will also be involved with F1 engine development and race support starting in 2026, as Honda formally returns as an engine supplier to the Aston Martin Armco Cognizant F1 team.
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The 2024 Rolex 24 at Daytona will be HRC US’s first event, as its Acura ARX-06 LMDh entries will incorporate HRC logos on its paint jobs. With expanded manufacturer support and a car eligible to race in events like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, HRC US President David Salters noted that though they have not formally outlined such plans to race internationally, it remains a possibility.
“It’s not been outlined, so we constantly work on that stuff to see what makes sense on where we go in the future,” said Salters. "We’re looking at future strategies and have no definite timescales at the moment, but we are evaluating it seriously.”
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