For Nick Yelloly, the departure of David Salters is deeply personal.
When the Briton made the decision to step away from BMW at the end of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, he didn’t rely on agents or other intermediaries. He picked up the phone and dialed Salters directly. That open line of communication laid the groundwork for Yelloly’s move to Acura and built a relationship grounded in mutual trust – making the recent executive shift at Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC USA) hit especially close to home.
The leadership transition officially took place on September 12 as Salters officially stepped down as HRC USA President to pursue an opportunity with a technology startup outside motorsports. Kelvin Fu was promoted from Vice President to lead the organization through the final two rounds of the season and beyond.
For the 35-year-old, the leadership handoff is a seamless transition between two figures he knows well.
“David is a fellow Brit, so we got on very well from the get-go,” Yelloly said. “I contacted him directly when I had made my decision in wanting to move away from BMW and yeah, we had some very straightforward, good chats, and everything he said, he has done, above and beyond to be honest. So, it was a pleasure driving for him. I spoke with him briefly (last Tuesday), and said thanks again for the opportunity, of course.
“Kelvin, we know very well already. He tends to come to a fair amount of the IMSA races, and maybe he’s a bit more in the background than David, but we know each other already very well, and he’s very, very clever and very good with dealing with the whole team. So very much like David, so it will be quite a seamless transition, I’m sure, for everyone on the IMSA side, and also on the IndyCar side when he takes over in the coming weeks. So it won’t change much; just the face. We’ll miss David, of course, for the last couple of rounds, but Kelvin is a more than worthy replacement.”
Nick Yelloly (left) with David Salters (right) at Detroit
Photo by: HRC
Salters leaves behind a monumental decade-long footprint at HRC USA, having joined then-Honda Performance Development (HPD) in 2015 as chief engineer before advancing to technical director in 2019 and president in 2020. A veteran of top-tier motorsports who previously led internal combustion engine development for Ferrari’s Formula 1 program, headed F1 engine development at Mercedes-Benz High-Performance Engines, and engineered CART Indy cars at Cosworth, Salters spearheaded an era of remarkable success.
Under his leadership, HRC USA captured three IndyCar manufacturers’ titles, five drivers’ championships, and a sweep of the 2022 IMSA team, driver, and manufacturer titles. He also pioneered the electrification of HRC US’s portfolio – introducing the Acura ARX-06 LMDh in 2023 and the hybrid IndyCar engine in 2024 – while establishing new business divisions for apparel, performance parts, and vintage race car preservation.
Fu brings his own formidable track record to the presidency. Having managed chassis design, aerodynamics, and performance engineering upon joining HPD in 2015, he rose to director of programs in 2020 and vice president in 2021, helping guide the organization to four of its 17 total Indianapolis 500 victories.
That executive stability comes at a crucial moment in the championship battle. Yelloly and co-driver Renger van der Zande currently sit third in the overall GTP standings in the #93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06, trailing leader Jack Aitken by 185 points (2400–2215). Two of Yelloly’s three career top-flight GTP victories have come in the ARX-06, including a victory at the Grand Prix of Long Beach earlier this year. With Acura pausing its IMSA program at the end of the 2026 season, Yelloly – alongside Acura teammate Tom Blomqvist – has already secured his next major step, signing on to drive in Ford Racing’s Hypercar program in the FIA World Endurance Championship next year.
(From left to right) David Salters, Ranger van der Zande, Mike Shank, Nick Yelloly, Jim Meyer on podium at Detroit
Photo by: HRC
Yet as Yelloly reflects on what Salters brought to the program, the stats, future moves, and silverware only tell part of the story. Beyond the hybrid engines and championship banners, Yelloly views Salters’ true legacy as a human one – defined by his willingness to bet on young talent, take structural risks, and live every detail alongside his team.
“For me, the thing that would stand out the most is taking our rookie team in terms of engineering crew on the #93 car,” Yelloly said. “I mean, my engineer was brand new to race engineering, he may have been a performance engineer before. Our performance guys had never really been to the tracks that much, so they were all brand new tire engineers, strategy side engineers. The engineering crew was completely new and that had not been done before.
“So to come from where we started at the end of 2024 with our first test in November and be able to then go on and have a first year as a learning year and actually now be challenging week in, week out, like we have been this year, I think it’s a credit to how he put the whole team together, and also how much work he did.
“You know, he was on the phone to me every other day when we first started, in particular, to ask how I thought the program had been structured, and if we needed to make changes. And he was at every single test, and still is, so he lives and breathes it. Yeah, credit to him for making that happen for everyone on the HRC side, and of course, all the engineers for getting that opportunity.”
