Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing co-owner Bobby Rahal recently came out and mourned the death of the mastermind behind the Honda Racing Corporation, Robert Clarke. The American passed away last weekend on Saturday, September 20, 2025, at the age of 75, as he suffered heart failure.After completing a degree in architecture, Robert Clarke worked as a professor for five years before pursuing his passion for motors and joining American Honda Motor Corporation in 1981. Clarke worked in motorcycle accessory and product planning roles for a decade before founding Honda Performance Development (now Honda Racing Corporation US).Robert Clarke led a team and established HRC in 1993 as Honda planned on racing in the American open wheel racing series after leaving F1 in 1992. Clarke was responsible for setting up the Santa Clarita subsidiary for Honda. At the beginning, the engines were ordered from Japan, maintained & reposted at the Santa Clarity, but eventually the production moved to the US over time, with Clarke at the helm of it.Bobby Rahal retired from racing in 1998, with his IndyCar team being renamed to Rahal Letterman Racing in the early 2000s. After almost a decade, Honda made a return to Rahal's team as they signed a deal starting with the 2003 season.Honda has since been the engine supplier for Bobby Rahal’s team. Mourning the death of Robert Clarke, the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing co-owner said,“Despite the ups and downs and disagreements and the agreements, and to come back and then win the race, was truly something that maybe was a little bit unbelievable to believe.” (via racer)“Robert was supportive of that, and between ourselves and Honda to have that kind of success and to still be with Honda today, kudos to Robert and everybody at HPD, because in the end, they're the ones who got us to victory lane. I'm really sorry to see him leave us,” added Bobby RahalBobby Rahal and Robert Clarke led Honda’s tumultuous start to the relationshipHonda entered the 1994 IndyCar season with Bobby Rahal and Carl Hogan’s Rahal-Hogan Racing as its first customer team, as RHR lost the Chevrolet deal. However, the first year was a disaster with a heavy engine that produced less horsepower than the competitors, as RHR failed to qualify for the Indy 500.Just a year later, Bobby Rahal’s team parted ways with Honda. However, under Robert Clarke, Honda made improvements and was one of the top engine manufacturers within a year.“There were times that, especially in the early years, where there were some disagreements with Robert, but he had one priority, and that was to do whatever he could to ensure that Honda was successful. That made him a popular guy at times, and that made him an unpopular guy at times. But first and foremost in his mind was what was best for Honda,” said RahalAfter returning to Rahal's team in the early 2000s, Honda won its first Indy 500 with Rahal Letterman Racing, completing the redemption for the 1994 Indy 500 embarrassment.