Ohta hoping MSR IMSA stint leads to more opportunities stateside

This weekend won’t be Kakunoshin Ohta’s last race in the United States – at least, not if the Japanese driver’s dreams of going to race in the IndyCar Series become a reality.

But the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen is to be Ohta’s last scheduled appearance of the 2026 IMSA season, and his fifth and final start behind the wheel of one of Meyer Shank Racing’s Acura ARX-06 prototypes before the factory Acura GTP program closes at the end of the year.

“I didn’t imagine that they would suspend the program,” Ohta told RACER. “But what I do is the same is before – to maximize my performance and drive well in Watkins Glen.”

Ohta's a winner in Japan, and hopes to close the deal in U.S. races too after several near-misses. Honda photo

Although the highly touted Honda factory driver has performed well during his handful of starts, he doesn’t yet have a podium or win to show for his effort – something Ohta is hopeful to change in Sunday’s race before he says sayōnara to the series, at his favorite American circuit.

“To be honest, we had a lot of hard moments from last year,” said Ohta, “because every race we had pace, but you know, in like the last 10 or 20 minutes, the luck wasn’t there. We dropped from the podium, P2, to P5 or P6 in a lot of races.”

Ohta, Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly had a great chance in year’s race at Watkins Glen, taking pole position and running near the front for most of the race. But in a frantic finish dictated by fuel mileage, the No. 93 Acura dropped from as high as second place with four laps to go, off the podium to sixth.

“I hope for this weekend, I really want to finish on the podium," Ohta said. "At least a podium for my last race in IMSA for a while.

“But every moment for me (in IMSA) was a good memory,” he adds, from his first Rolex 24 At Daytona start in 2025, to his first trip to Cracker Barrel, to his first guesses to name every NFL team.

“My teammates are all super good guys. They have a lot of experience in the whole world," he said. "So yeah, it’s fun!”

There’s still a chance for Ohta to come back to IMSA in the future, even if it’s not in a car with a Honda or Acura badge. “Some teams asked me about the (LM)P2 running,” he said, after a solid debut run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for Proton Competition. “It might not be happening, but I’m already feeling that my name is getting well-known, and I’m getting more popular in the IMSA paddock. It’s not super difficult to get a seat in LMP2 for some race. I hope one day I can come back to the grid, and get the big trophy, especially the big five (endurance) races like Daytona. I really want to do that, but you know, it’s all about the contract between Honda for sure.”

Ohta has been a standout in open-wheel racing in Japan, and leads the Super Formula standings. Honda photo

Win or lose, once the No. 93 Acura finishes the race on Sunday, Ohta will have to sprint across the Pacific to take part in the Super Formula Championship’s mid-season test at Fuji Speedway, to prepare for an upcoming tripleheader weekend in July. Behind the wheel of the No. 6 Dandelion Racing Dallara SF23/Honda, Ohta swept the opening doubleheader at Motegi and leads the championship by 14 and a half points over reigning champion Ayumu Iwasa.

“So far we’ve been doing pretty good, two wins in four races, three podiums. We almost won the two races in Suzuka as well, so we’re definitely keeping up the momentum,” Ohta said about his Super Formula campaign. “I’m ready for Fuji, which we won last year as well – so I’ll try to maximize, but we’re thinking about the standings and aiming for the championship.”

In contrast, it’s not been a happy start to Ohta’s return season in Super GT, which is on an extended three-month break due to the cancellation of the June round in Sepang.

The new Honda HRC Prelude-GT has not taken a podium finish in either of the first two races, and in the case of the No. 8 Team HRC ARTA Mugen car of Ohta and co-driver Hiroki Otsu, they’ve finished out of the points in both races.

“It’s been tough, completely opposite to Super Formula,” he laments. “It’s been a hard moment, but I know what they need me to do in Super GT, just to try and maximize the performance, even though the pace wasn’t there.

“We’re still learning and improving the car for the race and qualifying as well,” he says about Honda’s newest GT500 car. “We have a lot of stuff to improve, but Honda is doing really good. As everyone knows, the (TOM’S Toyota) Supra No. 36 is always super quick, and we have to catch them up.”

As for Ohta’s IndyCar ambitions, his most likely link is to his current IMSA employer at Meyer Shank Racing – likely not in the No. 60 car to be vacated by Felix Rosenqvist, but in the upcoming third entry with Honda’s factory charter, set to debut in 2028. Even then, nothing is set in stone, and much can change between now and the 2028 season.

“At the moment, I just need to learn what I should do for my future,” Ohta said about his IndyCar prospects. Nothing drastic; there’s no radical solution for that. But we are definitely going forward and hopefully one day, we can get a full-time seat in IndyCar.

“I have to perform, I have to be what Honda needs me to be. We’re going to talk a lot, discuss the future together. Let’s see what happens in the future – but it’s still a work in progress.”