How Honda Built A Ridgeline Trophy Truck For Baja

Summary

• Honda has established a dominant presence in off-road racing, surpassing traditional powerhouses like Ford and Toyota.
• The development of the Ridgeline trophy truck was a result of a chance meeting between Jeff Proctor and Honda executives, leading to a groundbreaking motorsports program.
• Honda’s commitment to continuous improvement is evident in the evolution of the Ridgeline trophy truck, with the latest generation featuring a twin-turbo V-6 engine and advanced suspension system.

Honda, a brand synonymous with innovation and success in motorsports, has carved a unique niche in off-road racing. While you might expect to see the usual suspects of Ford or Toyota reigning supreme over rock and sand, it’s Honda that’s decisively dominated the scene, clinching hard-fought victory after victory and establishing a virtually unstoppable dynasty.

The compant first made a name for itself in motorsports through motorcycle racing, where they scored their first win in the 1961 Spanish Grand Prix, followed by success in Formula 1. However, Honda’s recent move into off-road racing was a major step in broadening its involvement in motorsports. Transitioning from on-track racing to off-road racing is no easy challenge.

Honda Built The Ridgeline For Trophy Trucks

It’s not just about competing in a new arena, it’s about testing and proving the durability of one-off parts, and providing a testing ground for some of the best engineers in some of the most challenging racing environments on the planet. This year, Honda announced a shift in its racing class, moving from Class 7 to the highly competitive Trophy Truck division in the Baja 1000, a race famed for its unique challenges for both drivers and engineers.

The Baja 1000 Trophy Truck division features high-performance, custom-built race trucks, while Class 7 is reserved for modified production vehicles. Central to this strategic move is Jeff Proctor, a name that resonates with resilience and visionary leadership in the off-road racing community. Proctor’s role in this transition is not just as a team leader but as a catalyst propelling Honda towards new heights in off-road racing.

Source: Honda

Humble Beginnings in Honda’s Racing Division

The origins of Honda’s Baja Ridgeline racer have an almost artistic beginning, with an off-chance meeting between Proctor and Honda executives leading to an inspired vision sketched out right then and there. It was at an after-party celebrating Honda’s Indianapolis 500 victory when Jeff found himself chatting with the president of Honda’s racing division. In a scene reminiscent of an impromptu Pablo Picasso collaboration, the two began scratching out a concept for taking Honda’s pickup platform to the Baja peninsula.

“We kind of mapped out some plots on a napkin that night at dinner.”

From the back-of-the-napkin sprang the genesis of a motorsports program that continues to pay dividends for Honda today, in both marketing and product development. Their vision, much like Picasso’s abstract period, defied conventional design. You could almost imagine the napkin, covered in doodles that only vaguely resembled a vehicle with wheels here, an engine there, and a mysterious squiggle that might be a spoiler or a cleverly disguised coffee stain.

Jeff Proctor’s Racing Dreams Take Off

As Jeff tells it, “When I first met them I immediately just said, ‘Hey, you guys need to start racing off-road trucks while you guys are doing it in IndyCar racing and sports car racing…you guys need to get into some ‘real man sports’.”

“And he kind of laughed, and then he’s like, ‘That’s funny. You say that…I’m in charge of developing the next generation Ridgeline, we should go off-road racing in the Ridgeline.’ And we mapped out some plots on a napkin that night at dinner.”

As team principal of Honda Factory Off-Road Racing, Proctor plays a multifaceted role, selecting co-drivers, managing the crew, and overseeing the overall race strategy. With Proctor at the helm, the Honda Off-Road Racing Team has been on a tear, racking up an impressive 17 class victories in just 38 races. Their successes include multiple wins at both the Baja 1000 and Baja 500. Nine years later, Honda’s Ridgeline Baja trophy truck program is still running strong, now developing their third-generation chassis.

The Third-Generation Baja Ridgeline

The evolution of the Ridgeline Trophy Truck over its generations is a testament to Honda’s commitment to continuous improvement. While past generations already battled fiercely over harsh Baja terrain, the past success “Prompted us to invest into our third generation chassis” notes Proctor.

Switching To A Turbo V-6

Most notably, gone is the previously used naturally aspirated V-8 powerplant. In its place sits a new twin-turbocharged V-6, which Jeff explains is unusual in trophy trucks as “a lot of them are all naturally aspirated, big blocks.” This new forced induction motor gives the Ridgeline vastly improved output and efficiency over its predecessors. Engineering a one-of-a-kind custom trophy truck inevitably involves overcoming issues, and Honda’s latest Baja Ridgeline racer is no exception,

As he explains, “When you build a brand new race vehicle that’s one-off…it’s never going to be perfect when you take it to the first race. “One difficulty stems from integrating the new twin-turbo system while maintaining adequate cooling – a tougher task given the huge suspension travel versus a typical track car.

Baja 1000 Facts:

• The Baja 1000 is an annual off-road race held in Mexico’s Baja California peninsula, covering over 800 miles of challenging terrain.
• The race is considered one of the most grueling off-road races, with vehicles facing extreme conditions such as rocks, silt beds, mountains, and deserts.
• The race attracts over 300 entries each year across various categories, including cars, trucks, motorcycles, ATVs, and UTVs, with completion times ranging from 16-33 hours depending on vehicle type.

Ducting sufficient airflow to intercoolers and radiators has been tricky. Unlike restrictor-limited naturally-aspirated (NA) engines, turbo systems produce abundant power and extreme heat if not properly cooled. As Proctor notes, “Nobody in off-road runs intercoolers because they’re all naturally aspirated.” Honda’s twin-turbo V-6 necessitates elaborate air-to-air cores — vulnerable to debris damage where “you don’t have an opportunity to clean clogged radiators for hours” mid-race, said Proctor.

This demands resilient materials and filtration upgrades. Proctor says that, “When you’re running in a turbo system, you’ve got to get air properly ducted into the intercooler.” Routing channels through the high-clearance suspension while avoiding exhaust routing requires clever solutions. The transmission also needed custom paddle shift programming to account for rear wheel slippage while accelerating off-road, a unique traction control challenge less common in Honda’s on-road racing experience.

Honda Shifts Gears in Off-Road Racing

As Jeff Proctor’s team and the Honda engineers worked tirelessly to adapt the new Ridgeline for the sand, they embraced an experimental mindset that would make even the most seasoned racers take notice. Honda’s latest Baja racer leverages an advanced suspension system to gain a tactical edge over the harsh terrain, using integrated electronics unmatched among rivals.

Jeff says that unlike a typical trophy truck arrangement, the Ridgeline benefits from “Over 1000 data points that are entered into this ECU” to control damping rates based on various sensor inputs. The system’s rapid, automatic adjustments grant drivers more confidence in attacking corners faster than manually adjusting platforms.

“When you go into a corner…it will intuitively stiffen your outer right side and soften your inner left side”

The Racing Honda Ridgeline Has An Active Suspension System

The system does this to counteract lateral loading mid-turn. During high-speed straights, the truck can also lower down for stability just like a rally car thanks to active control across the huge 26 inches of wheel travel. The engineering team went above and beyond, seamlessly integrating cutting-edge electronic systems to maximize performance and handling. With advanced paddle shifting, dynamically adjustable suspension, and technologies refined from Honda’s diverse motorsports programs, Jeff attributes much of this to “IndyCar engineers from Honda working to program all of those shift points,” and other systems when racing on the Baja 1000.

The Baja 1000 A Flat-Out Sprint

The recent 2023 Baja 1000 marked a particularly punishing test for Honda’s Ridgeline race truck program. Led by the young (now 17 years old) and talented driver, Ethan Ebert, the team navigated through intense competition, ultimately securing an 11th-place finish out of 22 Trophy Trucks. The brutal course brought carnage to over half the event’s entries, making finishing a major accomplishment in itself.

Navigating the Baja 1000’s ruthless 1,300-mile course demands mental resilience alongside machine toughness: Both driver and equipment must go the distance.

“You can’t go out and go 110% in a 1,300-mile race, this race takes you 26 hours to finish, you just can’t.”

Winning the Baja 1000 requires actively managing pace to avoid mechanical failures or crashes induced by exhaustion. Proctor explains that experienced drivers understand “How to go fast, but they also know how to preserve their equipment and go slow when it when you need to go slow.” With no stages or timed rally loops, the Baja 1000 remains a flat-out sprint from start to finish across two days. According to Proctor, this year’s course was the most challenging one they’ve ever raced. He emphasizes that success in this competition requires more than just a fast truck and a skilled driver. “It takes a really competent navigator as well,” he notes.

“It takes a competent crew, with a minimum of four to six different pit crews.”

“The pit crews can’t keep up with the truck. So you have to have different individual crews at certain points.” In Honda’s case, completing the journey demanded a small army of over 65 support crew members. Simply reaching the finish line can be considered a success. With Honda’s transition to the Trophy Truck Division, the future of off-road racing is looking brighter than ever. Honda has found their perfect match in Jeff Proctor. Under Proctor’s leadership, Honda is set to keep making waves in off-road racing, bringing exciting, edge-of-your-seat experiences to its fans.