Kelvin Fu will lead HRC USA after David Salters stepped down on September 12, handing the championship campaign to an internal successor and limiting disruption as the team enters the final two rounds of the season. Fu, promoted from vice president, takes charge of operations immediately and will remain president beyond this season.
Salters joined what was then Honda Performance Development in 2015 as chief engineer, advanced to technical director in 2019 and was named president in 2020. Under his decade of technical and executive leadership the programme secured three IndyCar manufacturers' titles and five drivers' championships, and completed a sweep of the 2022 IMSA team, driver and manufacturer titles. He also led HRC USA into hybrid and LMDh machinery, introducing the Acura ARX-06 LMDh in 2023 and the hybrid IndyCar engine in 2024, while building new revenue lines in apparel, performance parts and vintage race car preservation.
Fu is a long-standing member of the engineering group, joining HPD in 2015 to work on chassis design, aerodynamics and performance engineering. He became director of programs in 2020 and vice president in 2021, and the organisation credits him with playing a role in four of its 17 Indianapolis 500 victories. That institutional knowledge positions Fu to manage the squad through the closing rounds without an external shake-up.
For driver Nick Yelloly the change carries a personal note. Yelloly said he rang Salters directly when he left BMW, and praised the outgoing president for a people-first approach. "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." He also highlighted Salters' decision to back a largely inexperienced engineering crew around the #93 car, crediting that gamble with turning the rookie group into a consistent contender.
Yelloly praised Fu as a capable internal replacement, noting Fu's race attendance and engineering acumen should smooth the handover. Competitively the shift arrives with standings still unresolved: Yelloly and co-driver Renger van der Zande 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).
Beyond the current campaign, the team faces wider strategic questions. Acura has said it will pause its IMSA programme at the end of the 2026 season, and Yelloly has a confirmed move to drive for Ford Racing's Hypercar programme in the FIA World Endurance Championship next year, which secures his immediate path regardless of front-office change. Salters will pursue an opportunity with a technology startup outside motorsports, leaving the technical road map he helped set — electrification, hybrid engines and diversified business units — as the framework Fu will inherit while steering HRC USA into the season's final phase.
