HRC US boss Salters points to cost, supports "elimination of Evo changes" in Acura's exit

#60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian: Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun

When asked if a cost cap would help reentry ahead of the anticipated 2030 regulation changes or if the plan is to go on hiatus until that point, Salters was non-committal but did add thoughts on the importance of cost reduction.

“We have not put a firm timeline on any potential re-entry into IMSA GTP competition or other pinnacle prototype sportscar series,” Salters said.

“One potential re-entry point could be when the next generation LMDh cars enter competition in 2030.  Also there appears to be two ways to control cost:- the thing we can’t talk about (Balance of Performance) or cost cap.

“Cost cap is expensive to implement, so having no Evos and the thing we can’t talk about (as originally intended) should be the most efficient way to keep costs under control, also should make racing close, good for the fans, and definitely with driver and team skill. EVO and the thing we can’t talk about are in contradiction and destabilize the thing we can’t talk about.”

Salters further added that during what has been hailed as a ‘golden era’ for sports car racing, coming to terms with this decision to halt the program was difficult.

“We massively applaud IMSA, ACO and the FIA for conceiving, building and growing together with the manufacturers the current sportscar ‘golden age,’” Salters said. “We have loved our sportscar racing over the last eight years and building our LMDH/GTP hypercar with Oreca, developing powertrains, control systems, vehicle set-up optimization and hybrid energy management systems has been a delight for our HRC associates. Race engineering and strategizing our GTP car #93 vs world class competition has grown our associates and brought our HRC racing facility closer to the track and shown our challenging spirit.

“We did not come to the decision to pause our GTP program quickly or easily. With that said, we will not be sharing details regarding what has led us to pause the Acura GTP program or when we made this decision.”

#93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian: Renger van der Zande, Nick Yelloly

#93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian: Renger van der Zande, Nick Yelloly

As of now, HRC US has no plans to extend itself to privateer teams in IMSA, but is eyeing potential involvement in the Asian Le Mans Series.

Salters remained concise in what changes he would like to see implemented, but did mention there is “support” in seeing Evo changes going away entirely.

“We have shared how we would like to see the LMDh/GTP formula improved for the future with IMSA leadership,” Salters said.

“Our only comment beyond this is to say that we would support the elimination of Evo changes to the cars as this is how the current formula was originally conceived, and we supported that at the time.  We would also like to see cost effective convergence in the future.”

Read Also:

“He threw everything at me”: How Laurin Heinrich’s last-lap battle sealed Laguna Seca win

Laurin Heinrich snatches Laguna Seca win with last-lap pass after epic duel

How AO Racing created “Sketchy”, the latest dinosaur Porsche fan favourite

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.