Honda will campaign an unprecedented 10 vehicles across nine race classes when it tackles the 2013 Pikes Peak Hill Climb event in Colorado in June.
Spread across its Honda and Acura brands – the latter being the Japanese manufacturer’s premium North American division – the large contingent set to do battle at this year’s legendary event is a first for any original equipment manufacturer.
While also being a corporate sponsor of the race for the first time, Honda will enter a Honda CR-Z hybrid coupe (pictured top), a first-generation Acura NSX, an Acura TL SH-AWD, a Honda Fit EV, five Honda motorbikes and one Honda TRX450 ATV.
Senior vice president of automotive operations for American Honda, Mike Accavitti, said the Pikes Peak Hill Climb presented the company with an opportunity to further strengthen its presence in racing at all levels.
“Our associates will be working hard between now and race day to prepare this diverse field of race vehicles and showcase the Honda racing spirit,” Accavitti said.
An additional Pikes Peak contender, due to be piloted by French IndyCar driver Simon Pagenaud, will be announced ahead of the event with its racing class yet to be revealed.
Honda fielded a wide-body Acura NSX (pictured above) powered by a twin-turbo V6 engine supplied by Honda Performance Development in last year’s event, finishing fourth in its Open class with a time of 11min 42secs.
Last year New Zealander Rhys Millen set a new record for the 20km, 156-turn track, with a time of 9:46.164 achieved in a 522kW/949Nm race-prepped Hyundai Genesis Coupe.
A 652kW Peugeot 208 T16 will join the Honda entries at the 91st Pikes Peak International Hill Climb when it all kicks off on June 30 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
