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Tequila Patrón ESM Honda Coupe Runs Its First Laps

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Tequila Patrón ESM Honda Coupe

The Tequila Patrón ESM Honda Coupe

The Florida-based Tequila Patrón ESM team ran its first laps today in the all-new HPD (Honda Performance Development) ARX-04b Honda prototype coupe. Behind the wheel of the Tequila Patrón ESM Honda coupe was Scott Sharp.

“This HPD coupe is very exciting for us, there has been so much anticipation building up to our first laps,” said Sharp. “Huge thanks to the entire Tequila Patrón ESM team, HPD and Wirth for their efforts in getting the coupe delivered, built and on-track today. We’ve spent many months getting to this point – our hard-working crew, the HPD engineering team and Wirth have been non-stop these last few weeks. They’ve made huge gains on the car, in addition to the logistics and behind the scenes planning. This has been a long process, but we’re super excited about today, tomorrow and the future.

“It is great to finally hit the track,” Sharp added. “There are so many different elements to the coupe. From the outside, the windshield looks small and we thought visibility would be constricting, but it is very good. The seating position is different and more reclined. We’re starting to feel how it performs. Every car has a different characteristic and feel to it; plus the feedback it gives to the driver. All the Tequila Patrón ESM drivers will have to go through that process to really get to know the car.”

Tequila Patrón ESM Honda Coupe Runs Its First Laps

Extreme Speed Motorsports completed a successful shakedown of the new HPD ARX-04b Honda

The Tequila Patrón ESM team worked with HPD engineers and Wirth Research to assemble this coupe for testing ahead of the 2015 season. The team is currently awaiting delivery of a second Honda-powered ARX-04b prototype coupe.

“We ran a couple of shakedown laps today,” said Allen Miller, HPD prototype project leader. “Our goal today was simply to check all the systems to ensure the ARX-04b is where it needs to be, as we start our pre-season test program. We learned quite a bit with every lap and pit stop. We’re pleased with the results so far, and look forward to continuing development in the days ahead.”