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Alonso wants an NSX, but did Honda block him from Le Mans?

One of the biggest changes in store for the 2015 Formula One World Championship will see Fernando Alonso moving back to McLaren. That means he'll be driving under Honda power for the first time, after spending the bulk of his career driving for Renault and Ferrari. And being Honda's new poster child, as the two-time World Champion is fast discovering, has its advantages and its drawbacks. According to the latest reports, Alonso had been negotiating a clause in his contract with McLaren that could have seen him driving a Porsche 919 Hybrid at Le Mans this year, but Honda reportedly stepped in at the last minute and scuttled the plan. The drive would have been Alonso's first in the famous 24-hour race, after having had the honor of waving the flag at La Sarthe last summer. In one of the wilder rumors that emerged during the prolonged silence over his move for this season, the Spaniard was also linked to a potential return for Ferrari to Le Mans. That prospect came to naught, and now the Porsche deal has been wheeled into the garage, as well. The upcoming F1 season is expected to be one of transition, adjustment and development for McLaren and Honda, but the Japanese automaker's involvement in his hiring may not be all bad news for Alonso. Following the reveal of the new Acura NSX, Alonso tweeted "You still don't know, but one day we will be together..." followed by a series of heart-eyed smiley-face emoticons and accompanies by images of Honda's new supercar. The implication is that the two-time World Champion is expecting to get his talented hands on an NSX of his own, and we can certainly see how Honda would appreciate the imagery of Fernando driving around in its flagship. Even if it doesn't, though, we're sure McLaren would be glad to hook him up with a company car of its own – though Lewis Hamilton encountered some trouble securing (a very specific) one for himself. Even discounting the front-running F1 machinery he's been tasked with piloting on track to an impressive 32 career wins, Alonso has had some lustworthy company cars at his disposal over the years. At Renault, he had a Megane RS to drive, and during his last stint at McLaren, he had an SLR 722. But since signing with Ferrari, he's been given the keys to FCA models as varied as a Ferrari FF, a special 599 GTO, a Maserati GranCabrio, a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT and an Abarth 695... and those are just the ones we know about.

Acura organizes new business division to confront falling sedan sales

Honda and Acura North America have announced a major restructuring of operations in hopes of turning around Acura's flagging business. For 2013, sales for Acura's sedans dropped 10.4 percent, while its CUV sales grew by 21 percent. The newly formed Acura Business Planning Office will attempt to right the ship.
As part of the restructuring, Acura is promoting Erik Berkman from President of Honda R&D Americas to lead a new division called the Acura Business Planning Office. Berkman has been with Honda since 1982 and led development of the 2006 Accord. He was also the first US engineer to head North American research and development and has been head of Honda Performance Development since 2008. "Erik's appointment to the new Acura Business Planning Office is a clear indication of the high priority we place on Acura," said Honda spokesperson Jeffrey Smith to Automotive News.
American Honda Motor President and CEO Tetsuo Iwamura is also going to be working to improve the business. He has been elected chairman of American Honda's board, and has simultaneously taken the new position of Corporate Brand Officer to improve the management of the company's brands.

Acura NSX GT3 data 'will inform future iterations' of the street car

Motorsports programs exist to drive innovation in road vehicles, and that's precisely what's happening at Honda. Acura NSX development boss Nick Robinson told Autocar that the company's work on the GT3 racing variant is directly informing future development on the road car. "In North America, we've just unveiled the GT3 version of the car, and the development team of the street car has had some involvement in its development," Robinson said. "What works well on the track will inform future iterations and updates of the street car and vice versa." But Honda is a big company that does more than build cars. Robinson paid tribute to the impact his employer's well-known motorcycle program had on the NSX. Apparently, building stuff like the CBR helped Honda with the NSX's complicated packaging. "For many years our motorcycle development teams have strived to ensure the optimum centralization of mass, ensuring the lowest possible center of gravity," Robinson told Autocar. "This leads to the best possible yaw response." Is this all a sign that a long-rumored lighter, faster NSX, potentially wearing the vaunted Type R badge, will be especially track-focused? Maybe. Robinson's comments indicate that the company is doing something with the mountains of data it collects running a GT3 program. While a pure road-focused NSX-R successor seems like it'd be a waste of that data, an NSX-based rival to the Porsche 911 GT3 RS might make a lot more sense. Related Video: News Source: AutocarImage Credit: Brendan McDermid / Reuters Motorsports Rumormill Acura Honda Coupe Racing Vehicles Performance gt3