Here we’re given the pleasure of riding shotgun, or rather, where the passenger seat “would” be, in this no-frills, thoroughbred racecar at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The driver is Extreme Speed Motorsports’ Johannes Van Overbeek and the steed is the new Honda ARX-04 coupe. With a closed-cockpit, traction control and a stout 2.8-liter twin-turbo V6, this car is designed solely to drive quickly in long distance endurance races.

Even from a still photo, the ARX-04 looks fast.

In fact, high speed sections of the racetrack are where this car excels. Notably, the first half of the lap is slower, and in the tighter infield sections, the naturally aspirated V8-powered prototypes seem to have the advantage,  On the banking, however, it’s a different story. Van Overbeek easily reels in his contenders as the speeds increase. The turbocharged engine, while less manageable in the tight, technical infield, seems to have a prodigious advantage around the banking.

Moreover, the closed-cockpit our camera is safely nestled inside must afford the driver a bit of comfort while traveling 200 mph. The buffeting that happens to a driver’s helmet in an open-cockpit car can be nervewracking and physically exhausting. Factor in the visibility advantage a driver in a closed-cockpit car has in rainy scenarios, and a very potent performance package becomes apparent.