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Honda Ridgeline Team Comes Back Tough To Grab 3rd Place Win at the BITD Parker 425
Honda Ridgeline Team Comes Back Tough To Grab 3rd Place Win at the BITD Parker 425
Mar 20, 2017
AEM congratulates the Honda team and is looking for further success in the 2017 off-road season
For those whose familiarity with desert racing is based on events run in Mexico, the team from the Best In The Desert organization run things a little differently. Their Parker 425 course consists of four laps of a loop around 100 miles long. If that sounds like something you could knock off quickly, consider that finishing in under seven hours (much less finishing at all) is a major accomplishment. The Parker 425 runs over a rugged course with wide-ranging conditions, from sand washes and rough rock sections to wide-open well-graded dirt roads.
Coming off its success in SCORE events at the Baja 500 and Baja 1000, the AEM-supported Honda Ridgeline Baja race team opened their 2017 off-road racing season with a strong performance tackling the southwestern Arizona desert. The team took an early lead and then persevered to grab third in the 7200 (unlimited mini- or mid-sized truck) class at the Parker 425.
Two AEM conical DryFlow air filters provide the breathing for the twin-turbo Honda V6 race motor
"We started fourth and quickly made it to the front of our class. Unfortunately, we suffered a drive shaft failure that set us back," said Team Owner/Driver Jeff Proctor. "We continued to battle and make up lost time, even though the course was undeniably rough. Overall, the truck ran strong all day, and we have a podium finish to build upon going into our next race, the Mint 400 in Las Vegas. Our program continues to get stronger and we are looking forward to enhancing our results from last season. Our goal is to add to our SCORE series wins with a victory in the Best In The Desert series."
Powered by a twin-turbocharged 550 HP 3.5L V6 produced by Honda Performance Development, the HR35TT engine uses the same block, cylinder heads, and crankshaft as the production V6 engine that powers the street Ridgeline. A pair of AEM DryFlow conical air filters feed an HPD-designed intake plenum. There’s even a little Formula 1 in this desert fighter: engine management is controlled by a unit from McLaren Applied Technologies.
If your engine ingests dirt and sand, your race could be over very soon. AEM keeps Honda in the race
A few more interesting technical tidbits about the racing Ridgeline: it’s fitted with an 84 gallon fuel cell (the fuel alone weighs over 500 lbs.), braking is via six piston calipers on all four corners, shocks that provide 20” of travel front and 32” of travel rear, and the six-speed gearbox that was originally developed for the Australian V8 Supercar series.
The Ridgeline Baja race truck features a carbon-fiber body designed by Honda R&D Americas' Los Angeles Design Studio, based on the design of the current Honda Ridgeline, which was also designed and developed by Honda R&D North Americas. Key design cues drawn from the 2017 Honda Ridgeline are visible in the grille, hood, roof, bed, and side profile.
AEM offers cold air intake systems, short ram intakes, and AEM air filters for many applications. Use the search by vehicle tool to find performance upgrades for your vehicles available from AEM. To find an AEM dealer near you, use the dealer search tool.
