Photo: Acura
The late Ayrton Senna, teammate Alain Prost, and later teammate Gerhard Berger wore Acura visors during the Canadian and U.S. race weekends from 1989 to 1992. Most recently, the premium automaker controlled by Honda displayed Acura branding at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix on the helmet visors of Honda F1 Racing drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.
After more than a decade since its last appearance in Formula 1, the company is returning to the king of motorized sports this weekend at the Aramco United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin. All four Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri drivers will exhibit Acura branding on their helmet visors and fireproof overalls. The cars, meanwhile, will switch from Honda sponsorship to Acura on the rear wing.
“Motorsports competition is extremely important for a performance brand like Acura. We couldn’t be more excited about the partnership with Red Bull Racing Honda and Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda for this race,” said Emile Korkor, assistant vice president of Acura national sales. There is, however, a problem with this quote because Acura doesn’t have the sporty image it donned when the DC2 Integra Type R was available to buy.
Glance over the automaker’s current lineup, and you’ll understand the issue with describing Acura as a performance brand. The only thoroughbred machine they sell right now is the NSX Type S, which has been already spoken for. The TLX Type S and MDX Type S don’t quite make the cut either although they are sporty in comparison to the regular TLX and MDX.
For the 2023 model year, the Integra will return to the lineup although it’s a far cry from the Type R mentioned earlier. If the brand-new Civic Si proves to be the basis for the all-new Integra, then expect in the ballpark of 200 horsepower, 192 pound-feet (260 Nm), FWD, and a six-speed manual.
“Motorsports competition is extremely important for a performance brand like Acura. We couldn’t be more excited about the partnership with Red Bull Racing Honda and Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda for this race,” said Emile Korkor, assistant vice president of Acura national sales. There is, however, a problem with this quote because Acura doesn’t have the sporty image it donned when the DC2 Integra Type R was available to buy.
Glance over the automaker’s current lineup, and you’ll understand the issue with describing Acura as a performance brand. The only thoroughbred machine they sell right now is the NSX Type S, which has been already spoken for. The TLX Type S and MDX Type S don’t quite make the cut either although they are sporty in comparison to the regular TLX and MDX.
For the 2023 model year, the Integra will return to the lineup although it’s a far cry from the Type R mentioned earlier. If the brand-new Civic Si proves to be the basis for the all-new Integra, then expect in the ballpark of 200 horsepower, 192 pound-feet (260 Nm), FWD, and a six-speed manual.
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