Ohta Revels in ‘Fistfight’ LMP2 Battle at Road America

Honda factory driver Kaku Ohta has recalled his first experience of wheel-to-wheel combat in LMP2 in the Road America round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, describing the style of racing as like “fighting with your fists.”

Ohta made his second of two planed outings with Era Motorsport at Road America, having made his debut with the team in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, sharing the squad’s No. 18 Oreca 07 Gibson with Bronze-rated Tobias Lutke.

It marked the Japanese driver’s fourth WeatherTech Championship appearance in total, including his two starts in the No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 at Daytona and Watkins Glen.

However, Ohta didn’t get the chance to drive at Sebring after Lutke was involved in an early incident and retired, making Road America his first taste of LMP2 in a race situation.

Despite losing a potential podium finish due to contact with 20 minutes to go, Ohta said he enjoyed the experience of fighting the top pros in the secondary class.

“First of all, I love the track,” Ohta told Sportscar365. “It’s a bit bumpy and narrow but with a lot of high-speed corners, so it’s really fun to drive.

“It’s so difficult to overtake the GTD cars because the LMP2 isn’t as fast in a straight line as the GTP car.

“In GTP, there are lot of things you have to pay attention to, a lot of things to manage. But in LMP2, you just get in the car and go. And whenever there’s a FCY, everyone is back together in a pack and fighting against each other. It was a pure race.

“I was running third but then I was a bit unlucky with the traffic; I went wide and I picked up a lot of marbles. That killed my gap to the cars behind, and then I was hit on the side and I dropped to P7. I was able to fight back to P5.

“All the time you are just fighting. When you race GTP, it’s like you are fighting using sophisticated weapons. But in the LMP2, it’s like fighting with your fists!

“There’s a huge difference between the two styles of racing, but I love both.”

Ohta has one more appearance planned in the WeatherTech Championship planned for the rest of the season, which comes next month when he rejoins Acura MSR for the Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The 26-year-old acknowledged the importance of a strong result to finish his five-race part-season at Indianapolis as Honda begins to consider its 2026 driver plans.

However, Ohta also expressed a desire to continue in Japan’s Super Formula series, where he is contending for this year’s title, as its recently-revealed 2026 calendar features no date clashes with the WeatherTech Championship schedule.

“I think it’s going well,” said Ohta. “I am happy with my performance so far. Indianapolis is also important, and I’ll try my best there as well.

“Nothing is decided yet, but soon we need to think about what I do next season. If I can become a full-time IMSA driver, it would be great, but winning this year’s championship [in Super Formula] is the most important thing.

“I really want to continue in Super Formula next year as well, but nothing is decided.”