The HPD ARX-03a, ARX-03b, and ARX-03c are

Le Mans Prototypes A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were create ...

race cars developed by

Honda Performance Development Honda Performance Development, Inc. (HPD) is a subsidiary of American Honda Motor Co. which was established in 1993 and is based in Santa Clarita, California. It is the technical operations center for Honda's American motorsports programs and is ...

in 2012. The 03a model utilizes a

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...

for use in the LMP1 category, while the 03b uses a

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

V6 engine A V6 engine is a six-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V6 engines were designed and produced independently by Marmon Motor Car Company, Deutz Gasmotoren Fabrik ...

for the LMP2 category. Three teams have already announced their use of the ARX-03 in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

and the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' hea ...

, as well as at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

Muscle Milk Pickett Racing Muscle Milk Pickett Racing (formerly known as Muscle Milk Motorsports and Muscle Milk Team Cytosport) was a motorsports group from Indianapolis, Indiana. The team was founded in 2007 by CytoSport co-founder and former IMSA GT Championship driver ...

have purchased an 03a for use in the

, joined by two 03bs for

Level 5 Motorsports Level 5 Motorsports was an American auto racing team founded in 2006 by racing driver, technology entrepreneur and convicted racketeer Scott Tucker, currently serving a sentence of 16 years and 8 months in federal prison. Level 5 Motorsports com ...

. In the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship, Strakka Racing and

JRM Racing Sumo Power is a British car tuning company based in Rye, East Sussex, England. Founded in 2002, Sumo Power specializes in custom tuning Japanese imports, including the Nissan Skyline GT-R and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, as well as the impo ...

campaigned a single 03a each, joined by a single-car 03b entry by Starworks Motorsport in LMP2.

Racing history

2012

The HPD ARX-03 made its racing debut at the 2012 12 Hours of Sebring. The race would be the opening round of both the

and the brand new

seasons.

campaign a brand new ARX-03a LMP1 car, while

campaigned two LMP2 ARX-03bs in the

. After some bad luck with a fueling hose at Sebring, the Muscle Milk team went on to win the next five races in a row as well as another win at

Virginia International Raceway Virginia International Raceway (commonly known as "VIR") is a race track located in Alton, Virginia, near Danville. It is less than a half-mile from the North Carolina/Virginia border just outside Milton, North Carolina, on the banks of the Dan ...

. At the seasons final race,

Petit Le Mans The Petit Le Mans ( French for ''little Le Mans'') is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which a ...

, Lucas Luhr was hit by a GTC class Porsche. Despite repairs needed during the race, the team was able to complete 70% of the race in order to win points. Muscle Milk Pickett Racing won both the LMP1 drivers and team championships with just 5 points over their main rivals, Dyson Racing. The

team took first in class at the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring and went on to win 7 of the next 9 races, losing only at Mosport and Road America to their main rivals, Conquest Endurance. The team was able to secure the LMP2 Teams' Championship and Drivers' Championships. Strakka Racing, JRM and Starworks Motorsport would contest the first series of the brand new

. The Starworks team would claim three class victories including the season opening

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida, US. The event is the second round ...

and the

and claim the LMP2 trophy with their HPD ARX-03b. Strakka Racing and JRM, competing with ARX-03a's, would finish second and third in the LMP1 Privateer Trophy behind the Swiss

Rebellion Racing Rebellion Racing is a Swiss racing team that competes in endurance racing. The team competed in the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup season and won the LMP1 teams' title in the 2011 Le Mans Series season. The team started as an association ...

squad with Strakka racing claiming just one class victory.

2013

would continue with the HPD ARX-03a for the first three rounds of the 2013 ALMS season before moving to the updated -03c package for the remainder of the year. The team would claim eight wins in ten races losing out to

and

Audi Sport Team Joest Joest Racing is a sports car racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest. Their headquarters are in Wald-Michelbach, Germany. Early years As a combined driver/team owner, Reinhold Joest first began t ...

at Sebring and suffering an overheating issue that took them out of the season ending

Extreme Speed Motorsports Extreme Speed Motorsports was an American auto racing team based out of Riviera Beach, Florida. Founded by Scott Sharp and Patrón CEO Ed Brown, the team competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship, Tudor United SportsCar Championship, an ...

would join the

team in LMP2 with the ex-Starworks -03b and another brand new chassis for 2013. Level 5 would claim wins at every race except

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

where they were beat out by ESM. Muscle Milk claimed the LMP1 Teams' and Drivers' Championship and Level 5 claimed the LMP2 Teams' and Drivers' Championship. Strakka Racing would be the only team to campaign an HPD car in the 2013 season of the FIA WEC and would only campaign the first three rounds. The team retired the car at

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

due to damage but would go on to finish second in the privateer ranks and

Spa Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has held ...

and first at

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

in front of rival

Gallery

File:HPD ARX 03a.jpg, HPD ARX 03a, JRM File:PLM12 6 Muscle Milk HPD Lucas Luhr.jpg, HPD ARX 03a, Muscle Milk Pickett File:HPD ARX-03b Honda Starworks Motorsport.jpg, HPD ARX-03b, Starworks File:American Le Mans Series LMP2 No.552 VIR.jpg, HPD ARX-03b, Level 5

References

External links

HPD ARX-03a
- Racecar Engineering, HPD ARX-03a, 14 March 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:HPD ARX-03 ARX-03 Le Mans Prototypes 24 Hours of Le Mans race cars