- HRC US has a successful SRO debut weekend at Sonoma Raceway
- Two 3rd place finishes in the first race weekend for the Acura Integra Type S
- Acura NSX GT3 EVO22 qualified 2nd overall, earned multiple class podiums
There is a lot of excitement surrounding the first race of the new 2024 SRO race series, which got underway this weekend at Sonoma Raceway just north of San Francisco, CA. Throughout the weekend, Honda and Acura teams were in position to battle for podiums in all four classes where they competed.
Among eight overall entries, Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US) helped field five new purpose-build race versions of the Acura Integra Type S in TC America competition and an Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America.
Touring Car America Powered by Skip Barber - TCX Acura Integra Type S DE5
In the debut race of the new Acura Integra Type S DE5, Celso Neto had his Integra battling for the lead in the opening laps before settling into 3rd position. The 19-year old Neto was able to hold on the podium position in front of two other Integras. Neto had previously driven a Civic Type-R in the TC class, where he recorded nine podiums and one win.
Cooper Broll also made the move to the top class in TC America competition, having raced a Honda Civic Si in TCA last year, where he collected a pair of top-five finishes. On Saturday he was able to squeeze his HRC Acura Integra Type S past the 5th place car going into turn one with just 3 laps remaining for the 3rd top five finish in his short career. When not racing, 19-year-old Broll is studying computer science at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.
In Sunday’s race, it was Mike LaMarra who was able to put his Acura on the podium, while also earning the Super Fuel Hard Charger award in a yellow-flag shortened race.
TC Honda Civic Type R and TCA Honda Civic Si FE1
After qualifying 6th, Kris Valdez was able to pilot his Honda Civic Type R to back-to-back 4th place finishes in the TC class at Sonoma. This earned him the Super Fuel Hard Charger award along with a solid points weekend. Maddy Lemke continued her SRO career with just her second ever start, bringing home 2nd place both races.
Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS
Twenty-six drivers and nine manufacturers rolled into Sonoma Raceway for the opening race of 2024. The Acura NSX GT3 EVO22 run by Racers Edge Motorsports has won three of the last five GT championships, finishing 2nd overall last season. Two new drivers, Zach Veach and Luca Mars, have joined the team to campaign the GT3 Pro class with another championship in sight.
Veach, who previously competed for Honda in the NTT IndyCar series, has spent the last couple years working on sim development, while 18-year old Luca Mars joins Racers Edge after graduating from the team-facilitated HPD Driver Academy in 2022.
Saturday’s race began well with the NSX qualifying in 2nd. Unfortunately, while running in 3rd overall, the team was charged with a drive-thru penalty for a pit speed infraction moving the NSX off the overall podium.
Sunday’s race saw Mars in his first race weekend in a GT car put some blazing fast laps down. He worked his way from 11th overall to 6th and was able to close an 18 second gap to the 5th place car. He crossed the line just 0.3 seconds behind 5th, needing just one more lap to real him in.
Quotes
Mario Biundo (#7 LA Honda World Racing Acura Integra Type S TCX) on the Integra Type S DE5: "Acura and Honda build some of the most fantastic cars. Starting out in TCA is a great classroom, but to make the jump to TCX to this Acura Integra has been a phenomenal experience for me. It's a greatly engineered car, probably one of the best from HRC. It's one they can really be proud of."
Celso Neto (#22 Skip Barber Racing Acura Integra Type S TCX) P3 race one: "All the teams have gotten their cars so recently, so to be on the podium in the first race, immediately, I think it's a testament to the engineering of the car and everything that went into developing it. So, thank you to Honda and Acura for all the support and to Skip Barber Racing so we could put it on the podium in the first race!"
Mike LaMarra (#73 LA Honda World Racing Acura Integra Type S TCX) P3 race two: "It's very exciting. It's great to be up here for LA Honda World and HRC and Acura. The car is beautiful and it's fun to drive. We're happy to be here and it'll be fun to work on moving this car forward. We've learned a lot in the last couple of days of racing, and I think as we grow in our knowledge with the car it will be a really strong contender."
Zach Veach (#93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 EVO22) on the NSX GT3 Evo22: "I love driving the Acura NSX. It's a bit of an adjustment compared to my previous GT3 experience, but it's super great to drive and definitely has the performance."
Luca Mars (#93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 EVO22) on the HPD Academy: "The HPD Academy did a great job preparing me for this, it gave me some insight to the car and to this team and the ways I needed to step up my own performance to be ready for GT3 racing. This weekend we were a little bit behind the eight ball in terms of it being a new driver lineup and missing that practice before the race weekend. We made up a lot of pace over the weekend and I think overall we learned a lot and by Sebring we should be even faster and fighting for that win."
Next
The TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School and the Fanatec GT World Challenge American powered by AWS fields will return for Rounds 3 and 4 at Sebring International Raceway from May 3rd to 5th.
TCX Sonoma Saturday Race Results
3rd TCX - #22 Celso Neta, Skip Barber Racing, Acura Integra Type S
4th TCX - #73 Mike Lamarra, LA Honda World Racing, Acura Integra Type S
5th TCX - #19 Cooper Broll, Skip Barber Racing, Acura Integra Type
TC Sonoma Saturday Race Results
4th TC - #11 Kris Valdez, DRS, Honda Civic Type R
TCA Sonoma Saturday Race Results
2nd TCA - #9 Maddy Lemke, Ascent Racing, Honda Civic Si FE1
GT World Challenge America Sonoma Saturday Race Results
9th (3 in class) - #93 Luca Mars and Zach Veach, Racers Edge Motorsports, NSX GT3
TCX Sonoma Sunday Race Results
3rd TCX - #73 Mike Lamarra, LA Honda World Racing, Acura Integra Type S
4th TCX - #22 Celso Neta, Skip Barber Racing, Acura Integra Type S
6th TCX - #19 Cooper Broll, Skip Barber Racing, Acura Integra Type S
TC Sonoma Sunday Race Results
4th TC - #11 Kris Valdez, DRS, Honda Civic Type-R
TCA Sonoma Sunday Race Results
2nd TCA - #9 Maddy Lemke, Ascent Racing, Honda Civic Si FE1
GT World Challenge America Sonoma Sunday Race Results
6th (3 in class) - #93 Luca Mars and Zach Veach, Racers Edge Motorsports, NSX GT3 Evo22
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