Five Honda teams in Super GT 2012
Super GT is happening this weekend, and the various teams are hot in the midst of preparing themselves for the action ahead. On the grid will be five Honda-powered teams that were introduced to the media and invited guests at the Honda Super GT party held in Kuala Lumpur last night.
The five teams which will be racing the Honda HSV-010 GT car, successor of the popular NSX, will be 2007 champions Autobacs Racing Team Aguri, 2011 third-placed team Weider Honda Racing, Keihin Real Racing, Nakajima Racing, and Team Kunimitsu.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Mr. Yoichiro Ueno said, “Motorsports and racing are deeply rooted in Honda’s DNA. Racing fuels our passion to learn and allow us to break new grounds in our technologies. Through the Super GT race, all five Honda Racing Teams will continue to challenge themselves in both speed and mind. It is also a symbol of Honda’s Challenging Spirit whereby every race is an opportunity for Honda to push the limits of racing technology.”
The HSV-010 GT (HSV stands for Honda Sports Velocity) was conceived as a successor to surpass the NSX GT. Engineers were given a design brief to create an easy-to-handle high performance vehicle laden with the latest technology. In its engine room is a 3.4-litre liquid-cooled V8 send drive rear wards. Depending on tuning by the respective teams, outputs of each respective vehicle are in the region of 496hp and 392Nm or higher.
“Honda thrives on the challenge in various levels of motorsports in order to elevate our skills, team spirit and racing ambition. It also showcases innovative technology whereby advanced technology can be applied in a road car. The Super GT shows the highest level of advanced road cars in a race,” Ueno added.
At the Honda Super GT party yesterday, the five Honda teams brought along their respective drivers to be introduced to the crowd. The teams had a complement of two drivers each, and followers of the Honda HSV ought to keep track of the following cars:
– #8 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri – Ralph Firman & Takashi Kobayashi
– #17 Keihin Real Racing – Toshihiro Kaneishi & Kodai Tsukakoshi
– #18 Weider Honda Racing – Takashi Kogure & Carlo van Dam
– #32 Nakajima Racing – Ryo Michigami & Yuhki Nakayama
– #100 Team Kunimitsu – Takuya Izawa & Naoki Yamamoto
Motorsport-themed fun and games were organized to entertain guests at the party with MacBooks, iPhones, iPads, and iPods to be won. Guests were challenged to race each other on the simulators or remote control cars for the prizes, and one of the night’s big winners was local motorsports veteran Ian Khong who demonstrated his racing pedigree on the simulator to take home the prize of a MacBook.
Furthering Honda’s cause in the arena of motorsports, Honda Malaysia also announced that a fully local Honda Racing Team formed by HMSB associates will be participating in the Sepang 1000km race at the end of this year. In addition, Honda has also contributed a RM300,000 sponsorship to the Super GT 2012 series.
Pictures: Official Honda release.
