Honda to Pikes Peak with HPD ARX-04b LMP2 and IndyCar veteran
Justin Wilson will pilot Honda's LMP2 car in the famous Hill Climb.
Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD ARX-04b
Extreme Speed Motorsport
Honda has announced that they are taking their HPD ARX-04b LMP2 coupe to the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The 04b is the latest LMP2-spec sports car developed by Honda and and Wirth Research.
The car will be piloted by Justin Wilson. The 36-year-old Englishman has an impressive resume that includes a full season in Formula 1, seven IndyCar wins and an overall victory in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.
An 'exploratory effort'
"The ARX-04b will be the first full-carbon monocoque vehicle ever sanctioned for PPIHC entry and will be fitted with a 3.5-liter V6 twin-turbocharged engine," said Art St. Cyr, President of Honda Performance Development. "The ARX-04b will compete in the Unlimited class, which features highly-modified cars that can navigate the 156 turns of the 12.42-mile course in under 10 minutes.
“This is an exploratory effort, to learn as much as we can in advance of a possible future assault on the outright record [8:13.878, set by Sebastien Loeb in 2013]. We want to see how well our ARX-04b chassis adapts to the rigors of the Climb, and the high-altitude demands placed on our production-based V6 engine."
Wilson 'looking forward to the challenge'
“It’s going to be a lot of fun driving the Honda ARX-04b up the hill and giving it everything I’ve got,” Wilson said. “This is my first time competing at Pikes Peak and I’m really looking forward to the experience. I’ve run with Honda at the Indy GP and the ‘500’ this year, and also have run Formula E and at the 12 Hours of Sebring. But this will be every bit as difficult as any of them. I’m looking forward to the challenge and working with everyone at Honda.”
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