RML
AD Group HPD ARX-01d
(2011)
Building
on the successful partnership of 2010, which
delivered a second LMP2 Le Mans Series title
to the team, as well as a podium finish in
the 24 Hours, RML AD Group embarked on a new
and even closer relationship with Honda Performance
Development in 2011.
Having
witnessed first-hand the efficiency and effectiveness
of the Wirth Research-designed HPD chassis,
in the hands of Strakka Racing in 2010, the
team sought an equal footing upon which to
defend the team and drivers' titles in 2011.
Phil Barker, Team Manager at RML, admitted
in January 2011 that the breaking of an eight-year
relationship with Lola had not been an easy
one, but was looking forward to expanding on
the partnership with HPD. (See announcement
details here.)
The
HPD ARX chassis has its origins in America,
although much of the design and development
has always been carried out much closer to
home, in Oxfordshire (Bicester and Banbury)
where Wirth Research has its headquarters.
The
project to create a new sports prototype challenger
came first from Honda's US Acura division,
which announced an intention to compete in
endurance racing at a press conference at the
2006 New York Auto Show. Initially this centred
upon the development of a new engine suitable
for use in LMP2, and both Lola and Courage
chassis were chosen to test and develop
the naturally-aspirated Acura-derived V8
engine, developed by Honda Performance Development
of North America.

A
Courage LC75 as raced in
the 2006 Le Mans Series by Saulnier Racing
- now Oak Racing
Three
teams were involved in that first season. Andretti
Green and Highcroft Racing were each selected
to work with a Courage LC75 chassis
fitted with the new engine, while Fernández
Racing campaigned the 3.4 litre unit in a Lola
B05/40 chassis.
While
the Fernández
Lola remained pretty much as the Huntingdon
factory had designed it (right), the
two Courage LC75s were so heavily modified during
the development process that little more than
the central tub remained of the original French-designed
racecar. Looking at the cars today, only the
shape of the roll hoop above the driver's head
can be readily identified as betraying the HPD's
Courage heritage. As a result, it proved desirable,
and necessary, to re-homologate the cars, and
the Honda Performance Development (HPD) ARX-01
was born.
The
cars made their debut at the Sebring 12 Hours
in 2007. Up against the all-dominant Porsche
Spyders, the Andretti Green ARX-01a took the
LMP2 class victory and an impressive second-place
overall. The Fernández Lola came through
third overall, second in LMP2, and the Highcroft
ARX-01a finished sixth overall, fourth in LMP2.
It had been an impressive start to what would
become an even more illustrious period for
the HPD cars.
The
following year, 2008, all three teams fielded
the purebred HPD chassis/engine combination,
and the HPD ARX-01 won more than half the eleven
LMP2 rounds in the ALMS. That record included
a first-ever outright win for an LMP2 car at
Lime Rock for Highcroft. Andretti Green repeated
the feat at Belle Isle, Michigan, in August.
However, splitting the honours left the title
open for Penske to take, once again, but Porsche
gained the constructor's title by just a single
point. It had been an impressive season
for the HPD chassis.
2008
also saw the arrival of a fourth team to campaign
the HPD-01, in the form of De Ferran Racing
(pictured left). The squad used a
fourth former-Courage tub, upgraded to HPD
specifications and leased from the factory.
Brazilian Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud
secured a best result of second in the final
round at Laguna Seca.
Andretti
Green, perhaps disappointed with its own results,
parted company with Acura at the end of the
season and returned to the team's single-seater
roots.
2009
proved to be the turning point for the HPD
ARX, in more ways than one. Not only did Honda
Performance Development reveal the ARX-02,
a revised version of the car that was eligible
for LMP1, but the cars swept all before them
in both classes. Highcroft, elevated to LMP1
status, took the ALMS title, with De Ferran,
who had also moved up to the top category,
as runners-up. Lowe's Fernández secured
the LMP2 title with ease, recording seven pole
positions and eight wins from ten starts.
In
2010 the HPD ARX-01 made its
first appearance in Europe, in the hands of
Strakka Racing. Using the former Fernández
Racing chassis, uprated to 01c specifications,
Strakka enjoyed a terrific season. Although
pipped to the Le Mans Series title by RML's
HPD-powered Lola Coupé, Strakka did record
an historic victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours,
and also won the Hungaroring 1000 Kilometres
outright.
Over
in America, 2009 champions Patrón Highcroft
Racing continued the team's allegiance to HPD,
reverted to LMP2, and won back-to-back titles.
The team's distinctive black and lime-green
HPD also made an appearance in the Le
Mans 24 Hours (above), and challenged
strongly, but was ultimately beaten by a faultless
run from Strakka's sister car.
In
January 2011 RML AD Group confirmed that the
team had acquired the former De Ferran
HPD-ARX (chassis #12), fully updated to the
latest 01d specifications. Early in the season,
however, the car was "written off" in a huge
accident at Spa, and the team sourced the former
Andretti Green "tub" (#6) from HPD in the States
as a stop-gap while a brand new chassis was
prepared by Oreca and then converted to HPD
specifications by Wirth Research in Banbury.
The AG unit saw service at Le Mans.
In
order to meet the revised 2011 regulations,
the naturally aspirated 3.4 litre LM-V8, used
by both RML and Strakka in their 2010 cars,
would be replaced by a new production-based
unit. The engine chosen by HPD is the 2.8 litre
twin-turbo V6, designated the HR28TT. Based on Honda’s
global V6, as fitted to the top-end
Accord, Odyssey and other Honda/Acura models,
the racing version of this engine is the result
of joint development by HPD and
Honda R&D
America.
Sometimes
overlooked in the story of this ground-breaking
racecar is the input from Wirth Research
in England. Based right at the heart of
England's "Motorsport Valley", Wirth has
been responsible for transforming what
was only a moderately successful Courage
into one of the finest sports prototypes
in the world today. Their extensive wind
tunnel, computer simulation and engineering
input has resulted in a supremely efficient
aerodynamic body with the capacity to generate
extraordinary levels of downforce with
minimal drag, and aligned this with a stable
and very effective chassis. In truth, very
little of the French original remains.
Although
widely known as an Acura in the States, the
American brand name synonymous with Honda's
luxury and performance vehicles has never been
used in Europe, and the chassis is always referred
to as an HPD (Honda Performance Development)
ARX-01 in Le Mans Series races and at Le Mans. For
further information about HPD, please see our
page on RML AD Group's 2010 Lola HPD.

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