Honda Prelude GT500 Racecar For Super GT Revealed

Meet the new Honda Prelude GT500 racecar. Built by Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), the new race machine was previewed ahead of planned track tests in Japan this week.

Now here’s a reason to get excited for when Super GT returns to PETRONAS Sepang International Circuit next year for its sole overseas running. Revealed in Japan just this week is the new Honda Prelude GT500 racecar for said series’ top class.

Certainly, Honda fans left underwhelmed by the new Prelude hybrid sports coupe will be chuffed to see this extreme motorsports version for which, even if it’s merely a ‘skin job’ per se.

The new Prelude GT500 (top) will succeed the Honda Civic Type R GT500 (left and right) that HRC currently fields in the premier class of Japan's Super GT series.

As a refresher, Super GT’s GT500 class adopts FIA Class 1 Touring Car technical regulations. In other words, this is a purpose-built prototype racecar chassis that’s wearing a silhouette of the production Prelude that’s made of lightweight carbon fibre, as this early preview clearly shows.

This perhaps explains why the Prelude GT500 built by the Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) pictured packs lots of extreme aerodynamics that includes a massive rear wing, sharp canards, an array of fins, not forgetting the massive front splitter and rear diffuser combination.

Japanese market version of the Honda Prelude pictured for reference.

Mechanically, this GT500 racecar ditches the production model’s hybrid 2.0-litre petrol 4-cyl and dual e-motors plus CVT box and front-wheel-drive (FWD) setup. Instead, it uses a race-honed 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo mill with a 6-speed sequential box and rear-wheel-drive (RWD) setup.

With the latter, this race-ready Prelude GT500 boasts anywhere between 550 hp and 650 hp instead of the ‘meagre’ 200 hp that the production car’s hybrid setup puts out. 

Underneath its carbon fibre silhouette, the Prelude GT500 underpins a purpose-built racing chassis and powertrain, the latter with rear-wheel-drive (RWD) to boot too.

Unsurprisingly, there are loads of other notable hardware primed – all part of the race-honed chassis mentioned. It includes beefy AP Racing brakes, as well as lightweight Rays racing alloys each shod in ultra-grippy Bridgestone racing slick tyres.

No images of the racecar’s cabin were released yet, but expect it to be both bare and ‘spartan’ – typical of any racecar. Nevertheless, the newest machine to enter Super GT’s GT500 field in 2026 is widely tipped to be front-runner, and with good reason too.

the new Prelude GT500 is widely tipped to be a front-runner in Super GT 2026 - its a brand-new machine built to maximise on the series' new and loosened aerodynamics rules.

That’s because the new Honda Prelude GT500  detailed is widely tipped to maximise on a new rule change for Super GT’s premier class in 2026 that allow all teams greater freedom with aerodynamic aids on the lower bodywork.

Adding to which is the fact that the Prelude GT500 is a properly ‘new’ car for the upcoming 2026 season – rivals Nissan and Toyota have elected to continue with their existing Nismo Z and GR Supra GT500 machines, albeit with updates reflecting the updated aero rules noted.

Would you be excited to see this extreme – albeit totally unrelated – motorsports version of Honda’s new hybrid sportscar that was also shown at KLIMS 2024 when it hits the track next year? Hit the comments below with your thoughts…