Official: Honda Performance Development CR-Z ready to hit Le Mans

[Rania Elhoseny]

Honda is heading to Le Mans. No, we're not talking about the Acura ARX-02a that competes against Audi and Peugeot in the LMP class. Honda Performance Development is taking its race-prepped CR-Z to the 24 Hours of Le Mans to run exhibition laps before the start of the big show.

Currently, the HPD CR-Z serves as pace car for the Speed EuroSeries. It's also spent time running on American soil, when Honda entered the hybrid racer in the Spinal Tap of endurance racing, the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. The car ran wonderfully, finishing 2nd in its class.

The stripped-down racing CR-Z produces 200-horsepower and 201 pound-feet of torque. That energy is funneled through a six-speed manual gearbox, and we're pretty certain the whole setup rotates rather nicely thanks to the 7kWh Li-ion battery pack in the back. Check out more details in our gallery and in the official press release after the jump.