AS REPORTED LAST month, Honda had reportedly been exploring ways to slot a track-only version of its next generation NSX concept into Japan’s SuperGT racing series.
New reports today suggest that the Japan Automobile Federation has given the green light for Honda to sidestep the code’s homologation rules, which require each participating car to be available in a roadgoing form available to consumers.
According to US website Inside Line, a loophole in the SuperGT rules which allows cars that are production-ready but not ‘in production’ to compete was the key to Honda’s success in its bid to enter the NSX concept in the series.
Officially known as the Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept, the next generation NSX project was cancelled earlier this year when Honda President Takano Ito declared the carmaker would focus on front-wheel-drive platforms.
According to reports from Japan, the front-engined race car will be powered by a 3.4 litre V8 rather than the 5.0 litre V10 rumoured to motivate the cancelled production car.
The push to field a race-only version of the cancelled NSX successor is believed to be due to a SuperGT project that Honda had been running parallel to the development of the new NSX.
With new rules that will see mid-engined cars banned from the series, Honda would have been left without a car to race in the top GT500 SuperGT class in 2010.
Originally Posted by van @ jdmst
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