The HPD ARX-04b is an

LMP2 A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is a type of sports prototype race car used in various races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series, and Asian Le M ...

race car Race, RACE or The Race may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

designed and built by

Wirth Research Wirth Research was founded by Nicholas Wirth in 2003, specialising in research, development, design and manufacture for the motor racing industry and other high technology sectors. The company uses virtual engineering technologies to enab ...

for

Honda Performance Development Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US), formerly Honda Performance Development, Inc. (HPD), is a subsidiary of American Honda Motor Co. which was established in 1993 and is based in Santa Clarita, California. It is the technical operations cente ...

. The car was designed as the successor to the

HPD ARX-03 The HPD ARX-03a, ARX-03b, and ARX-03c are Le Mans Prototypes race cars developed by Honda Performance Development in 2012. The 03a model utilizes a Honda V8 engine for use in the LMP1 category, while the 03b uses a turbocharged V6 engine for the ...

series of Le Mans Prototypes, however the poor performance of the car meant that the older model outlived the ARX-04b, and the 04b only contested one race, the

2015 24 Hours of Daytona The 53rd Rolex 24 at Daytona was an endurance sports car racing event held at the Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida from 22–25 January 2015. The 53rd running of the 24 Hours of Daytona was also the first race for the 2 ...

Racing history

The car was designed to meet the new set of

regulations, starting in 2014. Two cars were delivered to its sole customer,

Extreme Speed Motorsports Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) was an American auto racing team based out of Riviera Beach, Florida, Riviera Beach, Florida. Founded by Scott Sharp and Patrón CEO Ed Brown (racing driver), Ed Brown, the team competed in the FIA World Endurance ...

, in December 2014, where it soon began testing. The team intended to use the cars in the

2015 United SportsCar Championship The 2015 United SportsCar Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2015 Tudor United SportsCar Championship) was the second season of the International Motor Sports Association's United SportsCar Championship and the last to be held u ...

, starting at the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...

. The cars were uncompetitive during the race, and both cars failed to reach the finish. The #1 car managed to complete 389 laps to the winners 740, but the #2 car managed only 50. Following the disappointment of Daytona, Extreme Speed Motorsport decided to take time to test the car further, opting to race the older HPD ARX-03b at Sebring. The team remained unsatisfied with the car, and chose to replace them with the

Ligier JS P2 The Ligier JS P2 is a racing car designed and built by French manufacturer Onroak Automotive and named in partnership with French former racing driver Guy Ligier. Designed for the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) regulations, it is intended as a secon ...

. Daytona remains the only race outing of the ARX-04. HPD continued to test and develop the car, to try and resolve aerodynamic problems and improve its performance. The ARX-04 was also entered into the 2015 Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, with Justin Wilson assigned to drive the car. However, reliability issues meant that the car was unable to drive in the event. In 2016, a revised version of the ARX-04b was tested by

Michael Shank Racing Meyer Shank Racing (MSR; formerly Michael Shank Racing) is an American motorsport organization that competes in the IndyCar Series and the IMSA SportsCar Championship. History Atlantic Championship Michael Shank, co-owner of Meyer Shank Racing ...

. Shank later praised the improvements that the car has made. The car was later used by Shank to test the 2017

Continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...

tyres for the upcoming season The ARX-04b made a racing return at the 2023 Silverstone Festival Masters Endurance Legends event, driven by Steve Tandy. It then returned again in 2024, to race in its 2nd Masters Endurance Legands race and won its class and broke the LMP2 lap record at Donington Park driven by Alfie Briggs

Complete United SportsCar Championship results

(key) Races in bold indicates

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

. Races in ''italics'' indicates fastest lap. * Points were scored with the ARX-03b

References

{{IMSA cars 2015 Le Mans Prototypes Racing cars