Yasuhiro Wada
President, Honda Performance Development, Inc.
A 28-year veteran of Honda Motor Company in a variety of positions, including Formula One, Yasuhiro Wada assumed his new duties as president of Honda Performance Development on February 1 of this year.
In typical Japanese fashion, "Wada-san" joined Honda out of college in 1974. Since then, his wide-ranging career has taken him to positions with the company in Japan, Europe and the United States, including stints in corporate planning, sales, public relations and product development.
While in the U.S. in the late 1980s, Mr. Wada was heavily involved in the launch of the premium Acura division. Soon after, he took on his first motorsports position, with American Honda's IMSA sports car racing program and the championship-winning efforts of driver Parker Johnstone and the Comptech team. Ten years later, Mr. Wada was overseeing Honda's touring car racing programs in England and Europe. In April 2000 he was appointed General Manager, Motor Sports Division, responsible for the start up of Honda's current Formula One racing program.
As president of Honda Performance Development, Mr. Wada will be responsible for the development of HPD into a fully self-supporting manufacturing and engineering facility. He also will oversee the company's IRL IndyCar Series racing program.