20/24 #20: HPD ARX-01c (chassis LC70-11)
Chosen by: John Hindhaugh
Best finish: 25th (9th in LMP2), 2010
Team: Highcroft Racing
Driven by: Marino Franchitti, David Brabham, Marco Werner

Few cars have a legacy quite like the Courage LC70. The monocoque from the car would go on to be Courages LC70 and 75, the Orecas LC70, 01 and 03, as well as the Formula Le Mans spec class chassis and finally, the Acura and HPD ARX-01 (A, B, C, D, E and G!) and 03 cars. Not unlike TWR’s XJR-14/Mazda/Joest/Porsche!

Honda Performance Development (HPD)’s work with the car created the rather shapely ARX-01, known sometimes as Acuras and sometimes as HPDs. It’s too complicated to get into. Its principle exponent in American racing was Duncan Dayton’s Highcroft Racing, where the Tequila Patrón green and black became synonymous with the American Le Mans Series.

“It’s hard to choose a favourite Le Mans car,” says John Hindhaugh, of Radio Le Mans. “I could say the West McLaren, because it was the Sunderland antidote to the black and white [John refrains to mention why it was black and white, ed.] Lister Storm and we had a lot of fun with that. Or I could say the Toyota GT-One, an incredible design that never won the race.”

For “Hindy”, however, it was Highcroft’s partnership with the Malaria No More charity that led to one of his favourite Le Mans memories.

“It has to be the Malaria No More Highcroft car,” he surmises. “It’s a cause we all really believe in, and they kindly put our name on the car to recognise our support.”

Hindhaugh’s relationship with Le Mans is long and storied, but nowhere near as long and storied as the race itself, and that story is what brings him back year after year. Like many others I’ve spoken to for this series, he speaks about it almost like an addiction.

“When you think about big events, and this is one of the biggest, they have an atmosphere of their own,” he muses. “Even before anybody turns up, there’s something that’s already talking to you. There’s a promise of what’s to come, but always at Le Mans particularly, of what’s gone by. I always take a moment to go out on to the grid and stand in front of the 1955 memorial, and if you walk a little further there’s another plaque, to the French resistance. It’s history, it’s the sense of being involved in something, whether you’re a driver, a team member, or a broadcaster.

“For the people for whom it’s important, it’s very important.”

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