Castrol Honda Racing enters Spa 24 Hours with NSX GT3

Two iconic motor racing names will come together this summer as Castrol Honda Racing brings the Honda NSX GT3 to the 24 Hours of Spa.

The NSX GT3, which builds upon Honda’s next-generation supercar and utilises the same 3.5-litre, twin-turbocharged V6 engine, is a race winner in the North American-based IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship and Pirelli World Challenge.

The car currently competes in high-level series on three continents as part of Honda’s NSX GT3 Customer Racing Programme.

The centrepiece of the Blancpain GT Series, held on July 26-29, marks the return of the NSX name to the Spa 24 Hours a quarter of a century after Armin Hahne, Bertrand Gachot and Kazuo Shimizu started the 1993 race from pole position in a Honda Belgium-entered car also supported by Castrol.

The NSX has achieved significant success in motor racing since its launch in 1990, including GT victory at the 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours and six titles in Japan’s ultra-competitive Super GT series.

JAS Motorsport, who are responsible for car assembly and sales in Europe, will provide technical assistance at Spa as part of the collaborative global programme.

Drivers for Spa will be announced at a later date.

Donald Smith, Sponsorship Manager, Castrol Marketing, said: “The partnership between Castrol and Honda is one of the most iconic in motor racing and dates back to the 1960s. Since then the iconic Castrol Honda livery has been the backdrop to a huge number of World Championship success and international race wins on two wheels and four, and we’re proud to see it on the NSX GT3. Castrol supported the pole-winning NSX campaign at the Spa 24 Hours in 1993 and we are extremely excited to have the opportunity to continue the relationship this year’s event, which promises to be the most closely-contested race in a generation.”

Stefano Fini, JAS Motorsport NSX GT3 Project Leader, said: “When we helped launch Honda’s NSX GT3 Customer Racing Programme at the Spa 24 Hours last year, we set ourselves the target of making sure a car was racing in this event in 2018, and we are incredibly excited that Castrol Honda Racing have decided to enter the event. The NSX GT3 finished second at the Daytona 24 Hours this year so its speed and reliability are without question. I’m sure that Castrol Honda Racing can perform very well at Spa.”