Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) has announced the new Prelude coupe will compete in Japan’s premier sports car racing series, Super GT, entering the championship’s top division in 2026.
Unveiled in prototype form at Japan’s Sugo raceway on September 30, the new Prelude-GT race car will compete in Super GT’s GT500 class, in which it will take over from the Civic Type R-GT that was raced in 2024 and 2025, before which the NSX-GT was campaigned from 2017 to 2023.
The GT500 class is populated entirely by factory-supported teams, including the three Japanese automotive powerhouses of Toyota, Honda and Nissan.
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That means the Prelude-GT is set to compete against the likes of the Toyota GR Supra and Nissan Z GT500.
HRC says its first testing day at Sugo was successful, as the car ran smoothly while engineers worked to complete initial checks. After a productive morning session, inclement weather forced the cancellation of afternoon running.
Since 2014, all GT500 cars have been powered by a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that produces approximately 485kW of power. The cars are all silhouette racing cars, which means teams utilise a purpose-built carbon-fibre monocoque chassis wrapped in a body that resembles the production cars after which they’re named.
Naturally, this means the Prelude-GT will be quite far removed from the vehicle that will eventually appear in local showrooms, which is set to be powered by a four-cylinder hybrid powertrain and employ steering and suspension components from the Civic Type R.
Honda’s decision to replace the Civic Type R with the Prelude in GT500 racing is interesting, as several of the upcoming coupe’s rivals currently compete in the more open GT300 class instead.
The GT300 class comprises a broad range of both independent and factory-backed teams, with entrants free to use engines of any size and configuration (between four and 10 cylinders), as well as natural aspiration and single or twin turbochargers.
This class is also contested by GT3 racers from European manufacturers, and there’s generally a greater variety of vehicles than in GT500. Notable entrants include the factory-backed Subaru BRZ GT300 and Mercedes-AMG GT3, as well as the independently run Lexus LC500 GT and Toyota GR86 GT300.
The Prelude-GT will take over from the moderately successful Civic Type R-GT, which has recorded one win and nine podiums in its two-year tenure, with two races remaining before it’s retired.
The 2026 season will begin on April 12 with a 300km race at Japan’s Okayama International Circuit.
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