Acura to 'pause' IMSA GTP program after conclusion of 2026 season

Credit: Dominic Loyer

Honda Racing Corporation USA has announced that it will 'pause' the Acura ARX-06 GTP program in IMSA after the conclusion of the 2026 season in October.

Acura - who have been a mainstay in IMSA since 2018 in the DPi category - make the decision to pull the plug on the program just four days after the No.93 Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) car of Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly took victory at the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

David Salters, president of the Honda Racing Corporation USA said “We are extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished during this era of Acura prototype racing which began back in 2018 with the introduction of the Acura ARX-05 and we are committed to compete for the championship in IMSA’s GTP category through 2026 with the hybrid Acura ARX-06 competing in IMSA’s GTP category."

“We’ve scored 25 wins, 34 poles and 10 championships during this time and look forward to finishing 2026 strong. I want to recognise all the talented women and men of HRC US, Acura, Meyer Shank Racing and ORECA who have worked tirelessly to get us to where we are in this highly competitive GTP field.”

No official confirmation has yet been given as to why the project has been cancelled, but reports last week indicated that the decision was made due to the current challenges in the road car market, and Honda cancelling a number of their upcoming EV projects.

The current automotive market is proving to be a big difficulty for the OEMs currently involved in both IMSA GTP and World Endurance Championship (WEC) Hypercar competition.

The same reason was cited for Porsche's shock exit from the latter championship at the end of last season.

No comment has been made concerning the potential for customers to run ARX-06s in IMSA, or indeed in the WEC or Asian Le Mans Series. Reports indicate that may be a possibility.

There were reports just a few months ago that Acura intended to make a bid for a WEC entry with InterEuropol Competition, so we do know that interest for programs of the like have interest.

Whatever happens after 2026, the pair of ARX-06's entered into this years IMSA Sportscar Championship still have the rest of the season to contend, and given their victory last weekend, they will be pushing to challenge Porsche at the top of the standings.

Acura and the rest of the IMSA grid will return on the 2nd and 3rd of May in Monterey for the race at Laguna Seca.