GT3 / 28 January 2018

Daytona 24 Hours podium for NSX GT3

The NSX GT3 kicked off the season with a superb podium finish at the opening round of the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Series, the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, last weekend (January 27-28).

Michael Shank Racing took their JAS Motorsport-built car to second place in the hotly-contested GTD category to claim the lead in the North American Endurance Cup with drivers Katherine Legge, Trent Hindman, Alvaro Parente and AJ Allmendinger.

The quartet moved into the podium positions in the 11th hour and remained there for the rest of the race. Despite the record pace set and the gruelling nature of the event, they missed out on victory by under 17 seconds.

The sister MSR car, driven by Lawson Aschenbach, Justin Marks, Come Ledogar and Mario Farnbacher, had climbed from 17th on the grid to second place by quarter-distance, but a delay in the pits meant a gallant fightback was needed to claim 11th at the chequered flag.

Making it a 100 per cent finishing record for the NSX at Daytona was Honda of American Racing Team (HART).

Ryan Eversley (pictured below)pulled the car up from 14th to sixth within 90 minutes and it remained inside the top 10 until the 16th hour when a delay in the pits lost it time. Eversley, John Falb, Sean Rayhall and Chad Gilsinger finished 16th.

Daytona marked the first race of the NSX GT3 Customer Racing Programme; a long-term collaborative project between Honda Motor, JAS Motorsport and Honda Performance Development (HPD) aimed at supporting GT3 racing globally.

The next round of the IMSA Series - which is also an NAEC event - is the Sebring 12 Hours in March.

Stefano Fini, JAS Motorsport NSX GT3 Project Leader, said: "It's fantastic to see Michael Shank Racing start the year with a strong podium finish at the longest race on the IMSA calendar and at such an historic racetrack as Daytona International Speedway. All three NSXs set competitive laptimes throughout the race and this is extremely encouraging for the year ahead, both in North America and the rest of the world."