2010 Strakka Racing HPD ARX-01c LMP2

Chassis #9

2009 American Le Mans Series LMP2 Champion
2010 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 Winner
2010 Hungaroring 1000km Overall Winner

Few individual sports prototypes of the modern era possess a competition history as accomplished as this HPD ARX-01.

Built upon Honda Performance Development’s highly successful ARX-01 platform, Chassis #9 competed on both sides of the Atlantic and achieved extraordinary success with two of the era’s most respected prototype teams: Lowe’s Fernández Racing in the American Le Mans Series and Strakka Racing in Europe.

Its record includes an American Le Mans Series LMP2 Championship, eight class victories during the 2009 season, an LMP2 victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the remarkable distinction of winning a major European endurance race overall from the LMP2 category.

Today, Chassis #9 represents an exceptional piece of Honda and Acura prototype racing history.

THE FERNÁNDEZ YEARS

Chassis #9 began competition with Lowe’s Fernández Racing as the #15 Acura ARX-01b, driven primarily by Mexican stars Adrián Fernández and Luis Díaz.

After competing throughout the 2008 American Le Mans Series season, the car returned in 2009 for what would become a dominant championship campaign.

With Fernández and Díaz sharing the cockpit, the #15 Acura recorded eight LMP2 victories from ten races, seven pole positions and an LMP2 podium at every round of the championship.

The results secured both the 2009 American Le Mans Series LMP2 Teams’ Championship for Lowe’s Fernández Racing and the Drivers’ Championship for Fernández and Díaz.

The season represented the culmination of Fernández Racing’s sports-car program and established the ARX-01 as one of the most successful LMP2 prototypes of its generation.

STRAKKA RACING & LE MANS

Following the conclusion of the 2009 season, Chassis #9 crossed the Atlantic and joined Strakka Racing.

Developed into HPD ARX-01c specification, the car was entered as the #42 for Nick Leventis, Danny Watts and Jonny Kane in the 2010 Le Mans Series and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The combination proved formidable almost immediately.

At the opening Le Mans Series round at Paul Ricard, Strakka captured the LMP2 class victory, beginning a season that would establish the car as one of the benchmark prototypes in European endurance racing.

Its defining achievement came in June.

2010 24 HOURS OF LE MANS — LMP2 WINNER

Making the ARX-01 platform’s first appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Strakka Racing delivered an extraordinary performance.

The #42 HPD ARX-01c of Leventis, Watts and Kane won the LMP2 category and finished an exceptional 5th overall, surrounded in the final classification by the considerably more powerful LMP1 prototypes.

During the race, Chassis #9 completed 367 laps and became the first LMP2 car in the history of the 24 Hours of Le Mans to cover more than 5,000 kilometers.

For HPD, Strakka Racing and the ARX-01, it was a landmark victory.

For Chassis #9, it added a Le Mans class victory to a résumé that already included an American Le Mans Series championship.

AN LMP2 CAR WINS OVERALL

Just two months after Le Mans, Chassis #9 produced another remarkable result at the 2010 1000km of the Hungaroring.

Against a field that included the faster LMP1 category, Strakka Racing executed a superb race and brought the #42 HPD home first overall.

An outright victory by an LMP2 prototype against LMP1 machinery remains one of the defining accomplishments of the car’s competition career and further demonstrated the extraordinary efficiency, reliability and pace of the HPD ARX-01 platform.

CONTINUED DEVELOPMENT — ARX-01d

Strakka Racing continued campaigning Chassis #9 for the 2011 season, developing the car into ARX-01d specification to comply with the new generation of LMP2 regulations.

The familiar #42 returned with Leventis, Watts and Kane and competed at Paul Ricard, Spa-Francorchamps, Le Mans, Imola, Silverstone and Estoril.

It marked the final chapter of a competition career spanning four seasons, two continents and some of the world's greatest endurance races.

A REMARKABLE PROTOTYPE LEGACY

The significance of Chassis #9 lies not simply in the success of the HPD ARX-01 platform, but in the achievements of this individual chassis.

From its years as the Lowe’s Fernández Racing #15 Acura in North America to its transformation into the iconic Strakka Racing #42 HPD in Europe, the same chassis accumulated an extraordinary record:

• 2009 American Le Mans Series LMP2 Champion

• 8 LMP2 victories in 10 races during the 2009 ALMS season

• 7 pole positions during the 2009 ALMS season

• 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 Winner

• 5th Overall at the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans

• First LMP2 to exceed 5,000 km at Le Mans

• 2010 Paul Ricard LMP2 Winner

• 2010 Hungaroring 1000km Overall Winner

• Campaigned by Lowe’s Fernández Racing and Strakka Racing

• Driven by Adrián Fernández, Luis Díaz, Nick Leventis, Danny Watts and Jonny Kane

Few prototypes can claim a championship-winning career in America followed immediately by a class victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Fewer still can claim to have subsequently defeated the premier prototype category to win a major endurance race outright.

HPD ARX-01 Chassis #9 achieved all three.

Now part of the RBN Motorsports Collection, Chassis #9 preserves an extraordinary period in Acura and Honda Performance Development’s prototype racing history — and the story of one individual race car that proved successful on both sides of the Atlantic.