Watanabe: Formula 1 remains our priority

      Interest in endurance racing has been growing on both sides of the Atlantic in recent years, and there are already eight factory teams in the WEC "top league", i.e. in the Hypercar category, and there will be even more. In 2026, the Genesis (Hyundai's project) will make its debut in the World Championship, and a year later, Korean-French hypercars will appear in the American IMSA series. In the same year, 2027, McLaren plans to join the WEC with its sports prototype.

      At the same time, the Acura ARX-06 LMDh hypercars are quite successful in the IMSA series – suffice it to say that in 2023 it was on such a car that the victory was won in the 24 Hours of Daytona, and last year in the 12 Hours of Sebring. However, Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) has no plans related to the WEC, as Formula 1 remains a priority for the Japanese company in the near future.

      According to Koji Watanabe, president of HRC, the most important thing for Honda right now is to prepare as thoroughly as possible for its return to F1 – now Meyer Shank Racing is serving as the supplier of power plants for the Aston Martin team.

      In IMSA, Acura hypercars, and on the last day of May, its crew of Nick Yelloli and Renger van der Zande won the race in Detroit, but the expansion of this program to participate in the WEC is not even discussed.

      "The situation is not changing," Watanabe said in an interview with Sportscar365. – If we talk about Honda's global priorities, Formula 1 comes first, followed by MotoGP, and we are determined to win both of these championships.

      In terms of preparing for F1, we have already entered the most intense and difficult phase of this project. That's exactly what we're currently focusing on. Only after this period will we be able to consider other opportunities to expand our racing program that may appear. 

      But Formula 1 remains our priority, and we have no plans to participate in the WEC at all. We are not even discussing this, although I personally am interested in this category..."

      In 2025, only two brands represented in the IMSA GTP class are not participating in the WEC – these are Acura and Lamborghini.