Acura has formally taken the wraps off its new DPi contender, the ARX-05, which will debut in January’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona with Team Penske.

The unveiling came Friday at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, as part of Monterey Car Week.

Penske will campaign a pair of Acura DPis in the Prototype class, with Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron already having been confirmed as the first full-season driving squad.

The ORECA-chassied prototype features Acura-specific bodywork, including the brand’s signature Jewel Eye headlights and a distinctive nose, created by a design team headed up by Acura Global Creative Director Dave Marek.

“We created a variety of initial sketches, then pared those down a handful of potential designs,” Marek said. “Next came aero and wind tunnel model testing, and time for the engineers to have their say.

“The design continued to be refined throughout the testing and evaluation process, until we came up with a final treatment that met our performance goals while maintaining Acura styling cues. It’s been an exciting process.”

Acura returns to top-level prototype racing for the first time since 2009, when it won the American Le Mans Series LMP1 championship with the ARX-02a.

The current deal with Penske is a “multi-year” agreement, although full terms have not been disclosed.

“Right from the start, Acura has raced, and done so successfully,” said HPD and Acura President Art St. Cyr. “We’ve won with the Acura Integra Type R, the RSX, the first-generation NSX and with the Le Mans prototypes. Most recently, we’ve won with the new Acura NSX GT3.

“The ARX-05 is our fifth-generation prototype, and we expect great things from our partnership with Team Penske.”

With U.S.-based testing is expected to begin in the coming week, the car will be on display at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion on Saturday, and on the Concept Lawn at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on Sunday.