GT3 / 08 April 2024
Six podiums for JAS-built racing cars in North America
Six podium finishes for the Honda Civic Type R TCR and the NSX GT3 Evo 22 made for a successful weekend for JAS Motorsport customer racing teams in North America.
GT World Challenge America
Racers Edge Motorsports began their season with a double-podium result at Sonoma for their all-new line-up of Zach Veach and Luca Mars.
GT3 newcomer Mars qualified on pole position in the Pro class for the opening race of the season and ran inside the top two until the NSX crew were given a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane during their mandatory pitstop.
That dropped Veach down the order, but the ex-IndyCar racer held firm to finish third in class.
The pair repeated that result in Race Two, which Veach started from second in Pro and fifth overall.
Losing several positions in an early lap ensured Mars exited from his pitstop 14s away from the runner-up spot, but he charged hard to end the race just 0.4s away from the position.
The NSX was competing as part of the NSX GT3 Customer Racing Programme; a global collaborative project with JAS Motorsport responsible for assembly of all cars.
Honda Performance Development (HPD) and M-TEC handle sales and technical support in North America and Japan respectively, with JAS responsible for these areas across the rest of the world.
TCR Mexico
The newest TCR series in the world began at Mexico's best-known circuit in Mexico City and featured a pair of Civic Type R TCRs run by Giada Racing.
Front-row qualifier Horia Chirigut took the lead at the first corner, but was pushed back to second within a couple of laps and finished there, beating his team-mate Hugo Bonilla for second.
He led Race Two more convincingly and for longer before a minor issue sent him to the pits for a quick check-over. He recovered to third, behind Bonilla.