Acura’s early IMSA prototype program was not a GTP entry: Comptech Racing’s Spice competed in the Camel Lights class of the Camel GT Championship. It won three consecutive manufacturers’ and drivers’ championships from 1991 to 1993, then disappeared from the record after that season. Calling the run “too short” is a judgment, not a documented verdict about why it ended—but the results make the case for it.
First, the class distinction: Camel Lights, not GTP
Acura entered IMSA Camel GT in 1991 with Comptech Racing, which fielded a Spice prototype powered by a race-prepared version of the Acura NSX’s 3.0-liter engine. IMSA identifies the car as a Camel Lights entry, a class distinct from the series’ top-level Camel GTP category. The modern IMSA use of “GTP” is a later class label, not evidence that this was the same class or a continuous Acura program. IMSA’s 2019 retrospective and its Acura Motorsports overview provide the class context.
Three seasons of titles and wins
IMSA’s retrospective records a rapid climb from a strong debut to near-total control of the class. Acura and Honda describe the broader result as three consecutive Camel Lights manufacturers’ and drivers’ championships.
| Season | Race victories | Championship record |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Eight wins in 14 races, according to IMSA’s 2019 retrospective; the car won Camel Lights at its debut in the 24 Hours of Daytona. | First of three consecutive manufacturers’ and drivers’ titles, 1991–93, according to Acura’s official history and Honda Racing. |
| 1992 | Eight victories, according to IMSA’s 2019 retrospective. | Second consecutive title season, within the 1991–93 run reported by Acura and Honda. |
| 1993 | 10 wins in 11 races, according to IMSA’s 2019 retrospective. | Third consecutive title season, completing the 1991–93 run. |
Honda Racing gives the wider Camel Lights effort a total of 26 class victories. That is a program tally, not a fourth-season result or a single-year figure. These totals come from series and manufacturer histories rather than a named independent statistical study.
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What made the entry notable
A road-car engine at the heart of a prototype effort
The Spice chassis was purpose-built for racing, while its power came from a race-prepared version of the 3.0-liter engine associated with Acura’s NSX. That combination linked the new luxury-performance brand to a serious prototype effort without making the race car a modified NSX. IMSA identifies the team, chassis, engine relationship, class, and debut result in its 2019 history.
A championship platform for Acura’s early identity
Three straight titles gave Acura a visible sports-car racing achievement early in the brand’s history. Parker Johnstone was the primary driver for the 1991 entry and became a three-time champion. IMSA’s 2019 account also names Dan Marvin and Wayne Taylor among the original drivers who attended a later heritage demonstration.
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Why did Acura stop racing the Spice prototype?
The documented record supports the timing of the end, but not a specific reason for it. The Acura-Comptech Camel Lights run is recorded from 1991 through 1993; the sources do not say that Acura had promised a longer campaign or identify a particular budget decision, rule change, or strategy as the cause of its conclusion.
Honda Racing places the end of this period in a broader organizational shift: it says American Honda’s emphasis moved toward IndyCar competition after Honda Performance Development was founded in 1993. That context describes the company’s wider motorsports direction, not a confirmed explanation for the exact decision or timing to end the Acura-Comptech entry. Honda Racing’s history is the source for that broader transition.
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Was it a program that ended too soon?
As an editorial judgment, “too soon” is defensible: Acura and Comptech compressed three seasons of championship success into a short run, capped by 10 wins in 11 races in 1993, and then the recorded Camel Lights effort ended. The results suggest a program with momentum, but they cannot establish that it would have continued winning, that a longer run was planned, or that a single decision cut it short.
That distinction matters when comparing the effort with today’s IMSA GTP. IMSA’s current class framing separates purpose-built prototypes from GT cars based on road-going models; the shared “GTP” name should not erase the class difference or imply an uninterrupted Acura program. IMSA’s Acura overview provides the modern series context.
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