Sportscars: First American LMDh: Acura Commitment at IMSA 2023
After announcements by Audi and Porsche from the European side, there is also now also the first US commitment to a program in the new LMDh prototype class in long-distance racing from 2023. Acura Motorsports, the sporting arm of sister brand Honda, on developing a prototype LMDh For the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar 2023 and beyond.
Text: René de Boer (Twitter: renedeboer)
Image: Public Relations
Acura’s announcement in the week before the Rolex 24 in Daytona, where the LMDh category was introduced as a joint initiative of the IMSA Series and FIA WEC Series last year, was very brief. Acura Motorsports today confirmed that it will continue to compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Division I championship in 2023 under the Le Mans Daytona hybrid (LMDh) format.
In contrast to the ads from Audi and Porsche, which explicitly referred to both the IMSA WeatherTech Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship, Acura’s press release specifically refers to the North American series. Over the past two seasons, Acura has won all the titles (drivers, teams, and manufacturers) in the DPi category at the IMSA Championship with Team Penske. In 2019, Acura also won the driver and team titles in the GTD category with the NSX, which won all three titles last year.
“We all at IMSA are thrilled to respond to the LDMh concept and global partnership,” said IMSA President John Dunant. “With the commitments already announced and the number of automakers still studying LMDh as a marketing and technology platform, there is a lot of development ahead of the future of our sport. Our loyal fans around the world really have something to look forward to.
