SANTA CLARITA, California, Dec. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — The two-car Michael Shank Racing effort in the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will feature striking “mirror image” black, grey and white graphics on the team’s pair of Acura NSX GT3 entries.
The #86 car, commemorating Acura’s 30th anniversary since its establishment in 1986, will have a black nose, fading to a grey cross hatch pattern before giving way to white at the rear. The #93 team car, representing 1993, the year HPD was founded, will reverse the color pattern, with a white front end transitioning to a black rear deck.
Acura’s rich heritage of success in sports car racing is reflected in the design. Splashes of orange, a traditional color for Acura Motorsports dating to the company’s first era of IMSA competition in the 1990s, and green, indicating that the cars are GT Daytona class entries, complete the graphic package on both cars.
“The debut of the Acura NSX GT3 at the prestigious Rolex 24 will mark the return of the Acura brand to IMSA sports car competition,” said Art St. Cyr, president of Honda Performance Development (HPD) and Acura Motorsports. “We’ve aimed to race the NSX in North America since the car was just a sketch on paper, and we couldn’t be more excited than to debut at Daytona.”
MSR team principal Michael Shank has also revealed the driver lineups for each of the team’s two Acura NSX GT3 racers.
Second-generation racer and IndyCar Series race winner Graham Rahal will join series regulars Andy Lally and Katherine Legge in the #93 NSX GT3, joined by endurance racer Mark Wilkins.
The team’s #86 Acura will feature Indy 500 and IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay alongside full-season drivers Jeff Segal and Oswaldo “Ozz” Negri, Jr.; with Tom Dyer completing the endurance race lineup.
All eight drivers will take part in the January 6-8 “Roar Before the 24,” IMSA series open test prior to January 28-29 Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway, the opening round of the 12-race 2017 WeatherTech Championship.
About the Acura NSX
Created to bring a new sports experience to the supercar segment, the next-generation Acura NSX challenges conventional beliefs about supercars, with cutting-edge and world-first technologies. Much as the first generation NSX did a quarter century ago, the 2017 NSX breaks the mold through a first-of-its-kind Sport Hybrid Super Handling All-Wheel Drive™ power unit, a multi-material body structure, advanced aerodynamics and a cockpit that supports performance driving on every level without sacrificing comfort. The 2017 Acura NSX is the only supercar designed, developed and manufactured in the U.S. with production exclusively at the Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohioi.
About Acura
Acura is a leading automotive luxury nameplate that delivers Precision Crafted Performance, an original approach to technology and design that creates a new driving experience. On March 27, 2016, Acura celebrated the 30th anniversary of its launch as the first luxury nameplate from a Japanese automaker.
The Acura lineup features six distinctive models – the RLX premium, luxury sedan, the TLX performance luxury sedan, the ILX sport sedan, the 5-passenger RDX luxury crossover SUV, and the seven-passenger Acura MDX, America’s all-time best-selling three-row luxury SUV. This spring, Acura launched its next-generation, electrified NSX supercar as a new and pinnacle expression of Acura Precision Crafted Performance.
For More Information
Consumer information is available at http://www.acura.com. To join the Acura community on Facebook, visit http://www.facebook.com/acura. Additional media information including pricing, features and high-resolution photography is available at acuranews.com/channels/acura-automobiles.
i Assembled in the U.S. using domestically and globally sourced parts
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