OAK Racing and Honda join forces for LMP1 contest at Fuji and Shanghai

Jacques Nicolet, OAK Racing’s owner and president, announced this morning that his team will take on the two Asian FIA World Endurance Championship rounds with Honda Performance Development. The team is currently running two Morgan Judd LMP2s category, and in LM P1, they challenge for the class podiums with their OAK Pescarolo Judd. The #15 will in Fuji and Shanghai will be powered by the HPD-AR6 LMV8 engine that has already shown its speed and reliability.

Nicolet and HPD’s vice president Stephen Eriksen held a press conference prior to the start of this weekend’s WEC 6 hour event on the Silverstone circuit. “I am delighted to announce this agreement with HPD that commences at this year’s final two WEC rounds. We are very grateful that HPD are able to provide us with their powerful LMP1 engine right in the middle of their season and in spite of their various commitments in different championships, particularly IndyCar. We are very honoured that they have made this effort on our behalf,” Nicolet said.

Nicolet also indicated this is the “first step of a collaboration we would like to initiate between OAK and HPD.” OAK Racing will continue to develop their in-house design of their new LMP1 car based on the rules and regulations for the 2014 season at their Onroak Automotive faculties. “We are very keen to continue in the premier prototype class, which is why we intend to build an all-new LMP1 car in 2014 in accordance with the fresh regulations and in partnership with a constructor. I can therefore confirm that our design office is now working on the conception of our 2014 LMP1.”

Eriksen commented: “We are very pleased to welcome OAK Racing to the family of teams powered by Honda Performance Development. Jacques and his team have shown that they have a very professional and competitive approach to endurance racing that is well matched to the proven performance of our engines. We look forward to a successful introduction at the Fuji race to begin this chapter in OAK Racing's LMP1 programme.”

OAK Racing will continue to battle their rivals on the track as they prepare for qualifying and the 6 Hours of Silverstone event this weekend.