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  HPD ARX-01d      

  Article Image gallery (28) Specifications  
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Country of origin:Japan
Produced in:2011
Designed by:Wirth Research for HPD
Predecessor:HPD ARX-01c
Successor:HPD ARX-03b
Author:Wouter Melissen
Last updated:May 03, 2011
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Click here to download printer friendly versionWhen French engineer Paolo Catone designed the Courage LC70 sports prototype ahead of the 2006 season, he could never have imagined the number of distinctly different machines would spawn from his basic design. The most successful of these LC70 incarnations are without out the Acura and subsequent HPD LMP2 cars developed by Wirth Research.

Introduced in 2007, the re-bodied, re-engined and re-homologated Acura ARX-01a was raced very successfully in the American Le Mans Series with a class victory in the Sebring 12 Hours as its dream debut. In the following years Wirth developed 'b' and 'c' variants of the same design to meet the latest tweaks to the regulations. In 2010 the ARX-01c won its class at Le Mans and the ALMS outright.

Drastic rule changes ahead of the 2011 season left the ARX-01 no longer eligible for the LMP2 class in its 'c' guise. The new regulations included a cost-cap for both the chassis and engine and the latter also needed to be based on a production unit. Soon to address the problem Honda Performance Development announced the development of a new LMP2 engine at Le Mans in June of 2010.

Based on Honda's global V6 engine, the new HR28TT engine displaces 2.8 litre and features twin turbochargers. It has been made available for use in the existing ARX-01 chassis and to customers running rival chassis. The engine was first run late in 2010 in the back of Highcroft Racing's car, which only a month earlier had secured the ALMS prototype title for HPD for a second year running.

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  Article Image gallery (28) Specifications