Honda Prototype, Corvette Race to Victory at Daytona 24-Hours Race

Honda’s HPD Ligier JS race car, which competed in the premier prototype class, won the Rolex 24-hour endurance race over the weekend in Dayton, Fla.

It was the first victory for a Honda racer at the event. The winning car completed 736 laps on the 3.56-mile circuit at an average speed of 109 mph.

A trio of Chevrolet Corvettes prototype models took the next three spots, with the lead Vette about 26 seconds off the pace of the winning Honda.

Two other Corvettes finished first and second (7th and 8th overall) in the manufacturers’ GT LeMans class, followed by a Porsche 911. An Audi R8 LMS GT3 won the GT Daytona class, finishing 14th overall.

A Lamborghini Huracan GT3 had been leading the GTLM racers until it ran out of fuel with about three minutes remaining. Ford’s new GT supercars finished a disappointing 7th and 9th out of 11 entrants in the GTLM class after encountering several glitches, including braking issues, blown tires and faulty transmissions.

The event marked the return to racing for Ford’s fabled GT nameplate, which last competed at the Daytona 24 hours race in 1969. Ford famously won four straight 24 Hours of LeMans races with the original GT from 1966 to 1969. It plans to return to LeMans with the new model at this year’s event in June. The production GT will go on sale later this year at a starting price of about $400,000.