Is This The Most Underappreciated GT3 Car?
- Finlay Ringer
- Jan 13
- 4 min read
Honda’s long-standing GT3 entry was quietly retired in 2024, but it notched up trophies across the world for nearly a decade. How was this lesser-spotted racer so successful?
The NSX has always been understated. Since its debut in 1989, Honda’s first foray into the supercar market never had the grandeur of a Ferrari but its thorough engineering and exceptional driving characteristics meant it chipped away at its more established competitors. It even saw success in racing, scoring three Super GT championships and a GT2 class win at Le Mans in 1995.
Over 30 years after its conception, Honda’s GT3 project followed along much the same lines. Based on the road-going revival of the NSX (codenamed NC1), the NSX GT3 had an impressive debut at the Daytona 24 Hours in 2017 at the hands of Michael Shank Racing, branded as an Acura. It convincingly led the endurance spectacle, going on to take two victories in the IMSA GTD category later in the year.
Following a string of promising results, Honda opened the order books on their GT competitor in 2018. The cars were built by JAS Motorsport and had an asking price of €465,000 (alongside extras such as customer support and spare parts). The engines were based on the 3.5-litre V6 seen in the road car with some added racing goodies; they were built in the same factory in Ohio. It used a 6-speed XTRAC sequential transmission and made up to 600bhp.
Founded in 1995, JAS is based in Milan and has a long-standing history racing Hondas, first as a customer and later as a factory supported team from 1998. It ran their touring car operations across Europe, including with a World Touring Car Championship win in 2013. The NSX GT3 was built alongside Honda’s Civic TCR cars and underwent 85,000km of testing with JAS before it even turned a wheel in competition. JAS was responsible for sales and customer support in Europe, Asia and South America.
Mugen took on customer support in Honda’s home country of Japan, overseeing the NSX in the GT300 class of the Super GT championship.
Mugen was founded in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda - the son of company founder Soichiro - as a parts supplier and engine tuner. It moved into motorsports in 1986, with Mugen-tuned engines racing in major series like Super GT and Formula 3. There were even Mugen-powered victories in F1 and in the Isle of Man TT.
Honda Performance Development (HPD) handled GT3 operations in the US. It burst onto the scene in 1993 to support Honda’s IndyCar entry, which has yielded unparalleled success. Whether branded as Honda or Acura, the team has also taken over 100 victories in sportscar racing and still race in the GTP class in IMSA.
After its first year in international competition, Honda introduced an evolution of the NSX GT3. 2019 saw the NSX make waves in the US, with a championship in IMSA GTD with Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) and a GT World Challenge America Pro-Am championship.
It wasn’t just stateside where the NSX began to flourish – ARTA took the NSX GT3’s first GT300 Super GT Championship, and JAS put Honda firmly on the map in Europe with a 6th place overall at the 24 Hours of Spa.
Back-to-back titles in IMSA GTD and GTWC America followed in 2020. Honda would have also taken their first Intercontinental GT Challenge victory in Kyalami, had they not been caught out by a late race caution.
Further additions were made to the car in 2022 and it was relaunched as the Evo22. It continued to fill column inches in race reports with yet another GTWC America Pro-Am title, as well as its first championship across the pond in Michelin Le Mans Cup. Gradient Racing would round off the year with a mystifying last-to-first victory at Petit Le Mans, the IMSA season finale. So, with accolades oozing from every air vent, why did Honda decide to end its customer support for the NSX GT3 programme?
Quite simply, the car had been in competition for seven years by this point, and its newer rivals from Porsche, BMW and alike had the technical edge. Teams which compete internationally had begun to phase out their NSX machinery in favour of newer GT3 cars from rival manufacturers.
Honda’s NSX GT3 is not dead, however, as it is still homologated until 2029. While it may not be lining the grid in WEC or IMSA without factory support, it is still eligible to race at a national level. It even made a return to the British GT grid this season, taking a podium at Oulton Park at the hands of Bridger Motorsport.
In the long term, it’s been given a new lease of life by JAS Motorsports. The experienced Honda partner is offering NSX GT3 support for customers racing in domestic competitions until 2027.
JAS revealed an Evo25 version of their storied racer earlier this year, extending their commitment to the Japanese marque. It has a reimagined aerodynamic package, including a new swan neck rear ring, new side pods, as well as a new front bumper and endplates. This has supposedly made the NSX more competent in the corners, though it does mean a sacrifice on top end speed when compared to its newer GT3 rivals.
Nova Race has campaigned it in this year’s Italian GT Championship. They have a strong history in the championship, having won the Endurance AM title in 2021 and taken the overall teams' championship the following year. They’ve stood on the overall podium several times so far this season and took a class win in the much older NSX machinery. However, even they have decided to switch to BMWs for the 2026 season.
No, the Honda NSX GT3 will not go down in the history books as the greatest racing car of all time. It was always the lesser-spotted car in the GT3 field, and it didn’t enjoy a winning streak to rival Porsche or BMW, but it did make its mark. It had genuine championship pedigree, taking the fight to manufacturers with newer cars and more experience. With Nova Race’s switch to BMW, Honda’s NSX GT3 - and the road car on which it was based – have been all but discontinued, and only time will tell whether the NSX name returns to racing in the future.
This article was originally published on The Sportscar Database's social media.
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