Honda Performance Development (HPD) has recently announced its plans to offer a new turbocharged V6 engine for LMP1 race cars starting next year.
This decision has been taken in order to comply with ACO’s (Automobile Club de l’Ouest) new regulations. This HR22T engine is based on the turbocharged 2.2-liter V6 from the IZOD IndyCar Series. The company did not reveal the specifications but Honda said the engine was designed to work with a new energy recovery system that was jointly-developed with Magneti Marelli.
HPD Vice President Steve Eriksen elaborated on the rules. He said that that as per the new rules ‘if you are a private team, you can either run without energy recovery systems or choose to add the level of energy recovery that best suits your needs.’ This will allow the customers to choose the ERS solution that meets their needs – everything from no energy recovery up to the full eight Megajoule maximum. Eriksen even went on to say that the engine will provide private teams with the technical sophistication they need to compete under the challenging new LMP1 regulations.
HPD also confirmed that they are in the process of developing a coupe version of the successful ARX chassis with technical partner Wirth Research. It will be specifically designed to accommodate the new V6 engine and energy recovery system.
