Watch: Justin Wilson’s former HPD ARX-04b unleashed at Donington Park

Le Mans winner Richard Bradley and his crew had the honour of getting the HPD ARX-04b, formerly driven by the late Justin Wilson, back up to speed with an outing at Donington Park.

Previously entered into the 2015 Pikes Peak International Hillclimb with Wilson at the wheel, the HPD ARX-04b, developed by Wirth Research for Honda Performance Development, also made its sole Daytona appearance that year.

With that though being the only competitive outing for this LMP2-spec machine, considering reliability issues stopped Wilson from partaking in the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, it was time to give this challenger some much-needed love.

Richard Bradley heads to Donington to experience the HPD ARX-04b

The car, which had not been used since 2016, was prepped by BBM Sports to ready it for Bradley’s day out at Donington withOn Track GP.

After mapping the turbos, engine and making some setup tweaks, Bradley hoped all this work, in a bid to unlock the car’s peak performance, would pay off.

“Its got a 2.8-litre Honda twin-turbo V6 and when we get our boost sorted, we’re probably going to be looking at 600 horsepower,” Bradley predicted.

“Which in a car which weighs circa 900 kilos is pretty impressive.

“We’re going to be aiming for a top speed of around 160mph here today, we’ll probably be doing that into Turn 1 or at the end of the back straight into the final chicane.”

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Bradley then headed out to put the challenger through its paces around the iconic Donington Park circuit, which hosted Formula 1 action for the only time in 1993 when it staged the European Grand Prix, with Bradley then reflecting on his exciting day at the wheel of the HPD ARX-04b.

“I had a very very good day, the car was wonderfully prepared by the guys and girls at BBM Sport,” he said.

“I really really enjoyed it, special car, having competed in Daytona 24 Hours in period, it’s a really really nice car.

“These cars are just awesome because you can really feel the technology that’s into them.”

Make sure to watch the full video below to see how the BBM Sports crew got the HPD ARX-04b firing again, plus a full technical rundown for this fascinating machine and a guided in-car tour of the Donington track courtesy of Bradley.

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