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26 Jul 2017 ID: 111353

Honda NSX GT3 - Media Information

1. The project

From the moment plans for an all-new NSX were approved, Honda’s designers and engineers began put pen to paper with racing in mind. The road and race machines were designed in tandem with a single vision; to create a sophisticated grand tourer with pure race-bred underpinnings.

Developed by Honda R&D in Japan in partnership with JAS Motorsport in Italy and Honda Performance Development (HPD) in the USA, the NSX GT3 is now a proven race-winning machine at the highest level of GT3 competition.

Now this superb example of engineering, along with complete customer support, is offered to racers around the world to tackle the most prestigious GT3 race series. It is the culmination of a global project to produce a global race car.

2. The Tech

Chassis: Aluminium alloy with steel roof structure and TIG-welded roll cage

Wheellbase: 2630mmLength: 4612mm

Width: 2040mm

Weight: 1240kg

Engine: Direct-injection 75-degree 3501cc mid-mounted twin-turbocharged V6

Transmission: XTRAC semi-automatic six-speed sequential with triple-disc, electrically-assisted clutch and Pankl double-tripod driveline. Rear wheel drive.

Brakes: Brembo discs and bespoke Brembo calipers front and rear. ABS and JAS-designed moveable pedal box

Suspension: Front - double wishbone, rear – multilink Sachs five-way adjustable with anti-roll bar

Wheels: Front - 12x18” OZ rims, rear – 13x18” OZ rims

Electronics: Bosch display, data-logger and power box

Cockpit: Sparco floor-mounted seat with custom JAS-designed racing net, multifunction JAS/OMP-designed wheel. Air conditioning and heated screen optional.

3. The interviews

Masashi Yamamoto, General Manager, Motorsport Division, Honda Motor Co.

What inspired Honda to create the NSX GT3?

MY: Mr Soichiro Honda, the founder of Honda Motor Company, famously said ‘without racing, there is no Honda’ and this is a philosophy that lives on. The original NSX was a successful car that won its class at Le Mans 24 Hours and the Super GT Championship in Japan. In the NSX GT3 we have the opportunity to once again see the NSX name competing in the most prestigious events in GT racing such as the 24-hour races at Spa, Nurburgring and Daytona and the Suzuka 1000km, and to witness success for the car on a global scale.

Why develop the car with multiple partners?

MY: The NSX GT3 is a racing car for a global market, so we have chosen to use the best of our resources on a global scale to develop a car with superb-handling chassis, powerful and driveable engine and the best level of safety and comfort for the driver. With Honda R&D in Japan, JAS Motorsport and HPD all playing vital roles in the car’s design, engineering and development, we can achieve this.

Why is GT3 an important race category for Honda to be involved with?

MY: GT3 is the most popular category of sportscar racing of the past 10 years with more than 50 cars regularly entering the highest-profile events. Every premium motor manufacturer produces a GT3 car, so to be competing among them and winning against them is very important. There are many common links between the NSX GT3 and the NSX road car and success on the racetrack will allow us to show these links and their highest performance to the world.

Stefano Fini, Chief Designer, JAS Motorsport

What makes this car special?

SF: The Honda NSX GT3 is the most modern GT3 car on the market and has been optimised for competition with a mid-mounted engine, low Centre of Gravity and a small frontal section. The car has been designed with two key focus points; driveability, reliability and ergonomics. The NSX GT3 has the highest specification of any car in its class with the very best components used to create a unique racing machine. From the XTRAC six-speed sequential gearbox, Brembo brakes and Sachs five-way adjustable dampers through to a JAS-designed sliding pedal box and safety net, everything has been designed with the driver in mind. Peter Kox, one of the most experienced GT racers in the world, has been the chief development driver on the project and he knows better than anyone else how a GT3 car is supposed to feel. His input has been extremely important during this process.

How long has the development process been?

SF: The design and development of the NSX GT3 has been extremely thorough and began in 2014 with the initial design phase, which was completed at Honda R&D with support from JAS, who sent four engineers over to Japan for four months as part of our collaborative effort. HRD engineers have also been present at JAS right up until the initial shakedown of the car in December 2015. Since then, development has continued at Honda Performance Development, through which the works race programmes of Michael Shank Racing in IMSA and Real Time Racing in the Pirelli World Challenge have been run. A clear and transparent flow of information from these programmes to all the major partners involved with the project continues and through this we have been able to cover over 85,000km of running on-track and develop the car further for its launch onto the customer market.

What is the target for the car?

SF: It goes without saying that we want to win all the major GT3 races; particularly the Spa 24 Hours and Nurburgring 24 Hours, which are the biggest races in the world with GT3 as the primary category. I’m aware of how ambitious that sounds, but don’t forget the NSX led the GTD class for more than a quarter of the Daytona 24 Hours on its IMSA debut – more than any other car – and won the Tequila Patron Trophy for doing so. We believe that teams that compete with the NSX will have similar opportunities for success.

Alessandro Mariani, MD JAS Motorsport

When can customers buy the car?

AM: Because of the immense amount of development work we have put in to the NSX GT3, including all the data we have gathered through our co-operation with Michael Shank Racing and Real Time Racing through their race programmes this year, we are open for orders now. We plan to have at least 12 cars available for the start of the 2018 motorsport season, with at least a portion of that number in time for the IMSA Sportscar Championship testing ahead of the Daytona 24 Hours. The car was able to lead at Daytona on its IMSA debut this year so we are confident it will continue to be an extremely competitive proposition from the start of the season.

What do they get for their money?

AM: If you race the NSX GT3, you’re racing the most up-to-date GT3 car on the market, built to the very latest FIA safety standards and with a mechanical layout and aerodynamic package that’s been optimised for racing. The twin-turbocharged engine is incredibly efficient and has been designed concurrently with the chassis to make sure they’re optimised for each other. The driver comfort and visibility from the cockpit is also excellent. We also provide a comprehensive servicing programme to all customers including parts sales and engineering support.

Where can they race the car?

AM: The NSX GT3 is built to the very latest FIA GT3 regulations, so that makes it eligible for competition in any relevant GT3 series in the world. We would hope to see them competing in the Blancpain GT Series in Europe and Asia, the major endurance races like the Nurburgring 24 Hours and Bathurst 12 Hours, IMSA in the USA, Super GT’s GT300 class in Japan and plenty of other domestic GT championships, which all cater for GT3 machinery.

4. The development team

JAS Motorsport

JAS Motorsport was founded in 1995 in Milan, Italy and became an official Honda race team in 1998 and a technical partner three years later. Initially running Honda’s race-winning teams in the Super Touren Wagen Cup in Germany, the British Touring Car Championship and the European Super Touring Car Cup with legendary drivers like Tom Kristensen and Gabriele Tarquini, JAS created the first Civic Type R for grass-roots circuit racing and rallying. JAS has been involved in Honda Racing’s FIA World Touring Car Championship from the very beginning and claimed the Manufacturers’ Championship title in 2013. It has created the multiple title-winning Civic Type R TCR and currently leads the WTCC’s Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships.

Honda Performance Development

HPD was founded in 1993 to spearhead American Honda’s entry into Indy car racing. No other manufacturer has matched the company’s success in Indy cars, which includes 225 race victories, 15 drivers’ championships, six competitive manufacturers’ championships and 12 Indianapolis 500 victories since 2004. HPD have a history of success in endurance sports car racing, with more than 100 prototype victories since 1991, including either class or overall victories at the Rolex 24, 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Le Mans and Petit Le Mans. HPD won all prototype championships in the 2009 American Le Mans Series; and won the North American Endurance Championship manufacturers’ title in 2016. Prior to the founding of HPD in 1993, Acura won 25 races and three consecutive IMSA Camel Lights Championships from 1991-93

Mugen

Founded in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda, Mugen (meaning ‘without limit’) is an engine tuner and parts manufacturer that manufactures OEM components for Honda Motor Company. Since becoming involved in motorsport in 1986, Mugen-tuned engines have won more than 50 major motorsport titles including the International Formula 3000 Championship, Super GT Championship and many top-level Formula Three Championships and major one-off races. Mugen power units have won four Formula 1 Grands Prix and triumphed at the past four Isle of Man TT races in the TT Zero class.

5. The NSX in motor racing

Utter those three sounds; En, Es, Ex, and you conjure up images of high performance, precision handing and carefully-controlled power combining to create one of the iconic GT racing cars of the era.

With its optimised chassis, superb handling characteristics and development work by three-time Formula 1 World Champion Ayrton Senna, the original NSX, which debuted in 1990, and its Type R variant, was ideally-suited for competition.

The creation of Ken Okuyama, Masato Nakano and Shigeru Uehara, the NSX brought Honda to the fabled Le Mans 24 Hours in 1994, and secured a GT2 class victory one year later in eighth place overall with Keiichi Tsuchiya, Akira Iida and Kunimitsu Takahashi driving.

It was also the machine that fronted Honda’s Super GT (and All-Japan GT Championship) campaign for a generation, remaining competitive right up to 2009 in the hands of some top-level teams and drivers.

The 2000 title was gained by Ryo Michigami and Castrol Dome Mugen Project, while Ralph Firman and Daisuke Ito added another with Autobacs Racing Team Aguri in 2007. In between those successes, the championship in the lower GT300 class was won by M-TEC in 2004 with drivers Tetsuya Yamano and Hiroyuki Yagi.

The NSX GT3 has carried on where its predecessor left off, making its endurance racing debut in the IMSA Sportscar Championship in North America at the Daytona 24 Hours in January and only missing out on a class victory by eight seconds. The Michael Shank Racing-run machines did, however, lead more laps than any of their GTD rivals and took home the Tequila Patron Trophy for doing so.

At just the fifth time of asking the car became a winner in Detroit in the hands of Andy Lally and Katherine Legge; the pair doubling up at the prestigious Six Hours of Watkins Glen just a few weeks later. 

6. The sport – GT3

Launched by the Stephane Ratel Organisation in 2005, GT3 was created to give as many manufacturers as possible a route into Grand Touring racing while keeping a lid on costs and ensuring close competition between teams and drivers.

Bound by a ‘Balance of Performance’ concept, which ensures no one car can gain a significant advantage over another, GT3 is now the most popular form of GT racing in the world with 47 different cars from 22 brands homologated for competition.

GT3 currently forms the basis for the prestigious Blancpain GT Series and Blancpain GT Asia Series, the GTD category of the IMSA Sports Car Championship in North America, the 24H Series and more than 20 high-level national sprint and endurance championships across the globe.

The world-renowned Spa 24 Hours is a GT3-only race while the Nurburgring 24 Hours featured more than 40 of the cars in its top class this year, packed with professional and amateur drivers and proving the quality and longevity of the category at every level of motorsport.

Honda Racing, with a rich history of success in motor racing including Formula 1, IndyCar, MotoGP, Le Mans 24 Hours and touring car success, now invites teams to be a part of the next chapter of the story in GT3 racing.

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