(RacingWire) – Beyer Racing is set to debut a Comptech/Honda powered Daytona Prototype at the May 17th Verizon Festival of Speed at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
The No. 5 Beyer Racing Lennox Comptech Honda/Riley will be piloted by Jordan Taylor and Jared Beyer. The team plans to run the No.5 car for the rest of the Grand-Am schedule with the exception of the six-hour race at Watkins Glen.
RacingWire first reported the car's scheduled debut when the team's entry was posted on the Grand-Am website in April. Team officials have been tight-lipped about the project until now.
The Comptech designed motor is a naturally aspirated 3.8L V6 with a six-speed gearbox. The motor is fuel injected, generates 500+ horsepower, produces lots of torque and has a smooth long pull.
Comptech's Bill Margraf came up with the original idea for the Honda DP car and spearheaded the development of the motor for Comptech.
Although the motor is specially built for the Daytona Prototype application, its roots are from the Honda NSX and the racing version's history dates back to the Camel Lights series. A similar motor is currently campaigned in Japan in the SuperGT series.
Since the Honda is the smallest displacement motor legal for DP, Grand-Am approved the package with a 50 pound weight advantage over the other eligible motors.
Beyer Racing General Manager Jon Baytos says the project has been in the works for about two years and the team, along with Comptech, decided to debut the car after a successful test at Infineon Raceway. “There were no problems whatsoever,” said Baytos. “It was a systems test of about 30 to 35 laps.
"We did a shakedown run at Infineon Raceway, where we did about 30 laps to make sure everything was running," said Taylor. "We're looking forward to getting back out there at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and getting more laps in it."
Beyer Racing has modest expectations for the car's debut. “(Our goal is) just to gauge the performance and see where we stack up,” said Baytos.
"We're looking at the future," said team principal Jeff Beyer. "This is only the start of our program. (Comptech's) Bill Margraf has helped with the Comptech/Honda engine, and we are looking forward to making the car competitive."
As for what advantage the Honda might bring, Baytos says the team won't know until they are on the track. He did cite the motor's reliability as a positive and noted that the smaller torque band, coupled with the six-speed gearbox might be an advantage on some tracks.
Baytos says the most notable difference for the fans will be the sound. He says the motor sounds like the old F1 Cosworth.
The team was clear about Honda's involvement with the program. They know about the program but there is “no involvement from Honda,” said Baytos.
The team will continue to campaign the No.13 Pontiac/Riley for Ricky Taylor and Mike Forest. Both Taylors are the sons of two time Rolex 24 at Daytona winner Wayne Taylor.
