Jonathan F
Member
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2010
- Messages
- 58
Silverstone: June 10th (Rounds 5 and 6 of BARCâs VTEC Challenge)
Following an excellent display of racing at Oulton Park last time out, the VTEC Challenge arrived at the spiritual home of British Motorsport that is Silverstone for rounds 5 and 6 of the series.
Riding high on the back of a record entry at Oulton, 3 weeks later and again the drivers were lining up to hit the âNationalâ circuit.
Entrants:
03 - Andy Smith â Production - Honda Integra (DC5)
04 - Mark Bennett â Production - Honda S2000
11 - Adam Roberts - Production 1600 - Honda CRX
22 - Paul Armitage â Production - Honda Integra (DC2)
24 - Richard Voaden - Super Tuner - Honda Integra (DC2)
26 - Rob Williams â Production - Honda Civic Type R (EP3)
31 - Phil Wright â Production - Honda Accord Type R (ATR)
42 - Rick Rowles - Super Tuner - Honda Civic Type R (FN2)
64 - Richard Chilton â Production - Honda Integra (DC2)
73 - Stu King â Production - Honda Integra (DC2)
85 - Stewart Hutchinson â Tuner - Honda Integra (DC2)
98 - Mark Chese â Production - Honda Civic Type R (EP3)
Qualifying:
With the qualifying session underway, everyone got on with the job in hand and set about producing their fastest lap.
Showing his usual pace, Rich Voaden hunted down Stew Hutchinson (who had driven onto the track first) over the opening laps, before taking the lead role on track and pulling away. However it wasnât to be plain sailing for the âPerformance Autoworksâ director as a drive shaft failure on lap 7 saw the Integra head to the pits.
Stewart Hutchinsonâs run of back luck remained, with the spectacular looking âRace DNAâ prepared DC2 loosing 5th gear towards the end of qualifying and leaving a question mark over his ability to take part in the races and provide a challenge to Voaden for the win.
Taking over driving duties for the whole event (instead of just the last race as per Oulton) Adam Roberts and the yellow and black CRX had a trouble free session, and placed 3rd and showing a glimpse of what was to come.
Making good use of the practice session held at the circuit, Mark Bennett put the S2000 in 4th place, showing a leap in pace in front of a crowd of fellow S2000 owners who had made the journey to show their support.
Phil Wright was now behind the wheel of his own car at Silverstone, following a drive in âR-Motionâsâ Integra at Oulton. With a return to racing after a break of over 10 years, Phil was soon getting to grips with the heavier Accord
âVTEC Directsâ Andy Smith usual steed (ATR) was still in pieces following his issues at Oulton Park. Keen not to miss the races he brought along Tim Blowers DC5 Integra as a replacement.
Clutch issues hampered Rick Rowles in his Civic Type R, dropping him off the pace, and leaving him with it all to do to match his performance from Oulton.
With very little time separating the majority of the grid, exciting racing would be guaranteed.
Pole: Rich Voaden â 1.07.381
2nd: Stewart Hutchinson â 1.08.700
3rd: Adam Roberts â 1.09.264
Race 1:
With Hutchinson having checked everything was ok before the race, he lined up in 2nd place (albeit with only 4 gears) on the grid alongside the repaired pole sitter Voaden.
The customary green flag lap saw everyone round the circuit, warming their tyres and mentally preparing for the start. Rick and the Civic looked to still have issues, as already he was dropping back from the rest of the grid.
Lining up and waiting for the lights to change, the revs began to rise and the crescendo of VTECâs filled the air.
With lightning reactions, Mark Chese in 6th place shot through to 4th, as the rest of the grid also got underway.
Blasting down to Copse and beyond, Voaden held position to lead the pack, with Hutchinson and Roberts giving chase. Further down the grid, Andy Smith picked off Phil Wright and Stu King to move up to 9th place before the first corner.
Despite qualifying in 4th, Mark Bennett slipped back to 7th over the course of one lap, but soon began the fight back.
With Voaden extending his lead, pulling away from the rest of the grid, Hutchinson and Roberts fought each other lap after lap, much to the approval of the watching fans. The little CRX was crawling all over the boot lid of Stewarts Integra, and although he found his way past at one point, the Integra used its power to good affect and re-took the position.
With Chese comfortably in 4th place, the battle within production for the remaining class places saw Bennett climb back up to 5th place after his earlier troubles, and Rob Williams battle with Rich Chilton for 6th.
Smith, Wright and King swapped positions as the race unfolded, but everyone remained honest and incident free.
With the chequered flag waved after 14 laps, it was Richard Voaden crossing the line to take the race win.
1st: Rich Voaden - H22 DC2 - Super Tuner
2nd: Stewart Hutchinson - DC2 - Tuner
3rd: Adam Roberts - CRX â Production 1600
Class wins were awarded to (P) Mark Chese (P16) Adam Roberts (ST) Rich Voaden (T) Stew Hutchinson
Fastest lap: Rich Voaden â 1.07.624
Race 2:
Pole for race 2 was again the Integra of Voaden, with 2nd and 3rd belonging to Hutchinson and Roberts respectively.
Again, it was Voaden who led from the off, with the rest of the grid hot on his tail.
The battle was on again for 2nd place, and this time Adam was going all out to take the position from Stewart. Again, crawling all over the rear of the Integra through the corners, but losing out on the straights, the diminutive CRX was the proverbial thorn in the side with determination paying off, and 2nd place the reward.
Mark Chese was again soon out in an untroubled 4th place, leaving the chasing pack to battle it out.
Paul Armitage in the Britcar endurance spec DC2 Integra progressed two places to finish 6th overall and 3rd in class.
Pushing hard to chase down Rob Williams in his EP3 Civic, Bennett in the S2000 found out that the gravel and grass on the exit of âLuffieldâ doesnât offer much grip. A heroic save saw him return to the race having dropped back to almost dead last. A committed drive saw Mark regain a place, but the chequered flag stopped any further advances.
Smith, King and Wright had another 3 way battle, with each driver taking turns to lead and bring up the rear of the trio. With the extra weight taking its toll on the tyres of Smith and Wright, it was King who emerged victorious.
Comfortably out in front, Rich continued to press on, not wanting to risk any slip ups.
1st: Rich Voaden - H22 DC2 - Super Tuner
2nd: Adam Roberts - CRX â Production 1600
3rd: Stewart Hutchinson - DC2 - Tuner
Class wins were awarded to (P) Mark Chese (P16) Adam Roberts (ST) Rich Voaden (T) Stew Hutchinson
Fastest lap: Rich Voaden â 1.07.003
Summary:
Rich Voaden again dominated rounds 5 and 6 with pole and two lights to flag victories. However with an improving Hutchinson and a rapid Roberts to contend with, the results at Croft could all be turned around.
With exemplary driving from all involved, the series continues to show other series grow in popularity.
Thanks again go out to the BARC, Yokohama Tyres, HEL, VTEC Direct, Hendy Performance, Petronas Oils, R-Motion and Total Honda for their continuing support.
The VTEC Challenge heads to Croft in North Yorkshire for a weekend of racing over the 21st/22nd July for rounds 7 and 8.
Words: Jonathan Fletcher
Pictures: Jonathan Fletcher & Lindsey Bridger
Following an excellent display of racing at Oulton Park last time out, the VTEC Challenge arrived at the spiritual home of British Motorsport that is Silverstone for rounds 5 and 6 of the series.
Riding high on the back of a record entry at Oulton, 3 weeks later and again the drivers were lining up to hit the âNationalâ circuit.
Entrants:
03 - Andy Smith â Production - Honda Integra (DC5)
04 - Mark Bennett â Production - Honda S2000
11 - Adam Roberts - Production 1600 - Honda CRX
22 - Paul Armitage â Production - Honda Integra (DC2)
24 - Richard Voaden - Super Tuner - Honda Integra (DC2)
26 - Rob Williams â Production - Honda Civic Type R (EP3)
31 - Phil Wright â Production - Honda Accord Type R (ATR)
42 - Rick Rowles - Super Tuner - Honda Civic Type R (FN2)
64 - Richard Chilton â Production - Honda Integra (DC2)
73 - Stu King â Production - Honda Integra (DC2)
85 - Stewart Hutchinson â Tuner - Honda Integra (DC2)
98 - Mark Chese â Production - Honda Civic Type R (EP3)
Qualifying:
With the qualifying session underway, everyone got on with the job in hand and set about producing their fastest lap.
Showing his usual pace, Rich Voaden hunted down Stew Hutchinson (who had driven onto the track first) over the opening laps, before taking the lead role on track and pulling away. However it wasnât to be plain sailing for the âPerformance Autoworksâ director as a drive shaft failure on lap 7 saw the Integra head to the pits.
Stewart Hutchinsonâs run of back luck remained, with the spectacular looking âRace DNAâ prepared DC2 loosing 5th gear towards the end of qualifying and leaving a question mark over his ability to take part in the races and provide a challenge to Voaden for the win.
Taking over driving duties for the whole event (instead of just the last race as per Oulton) Adam Roberts and the yellow and black CRX had a trouble free session, and placed 3rd and showing a glimpse of what was to come.
Making good use of the practice session held at the circuit, Mark Bennett put the S2000 in 4th place, showing a leap in pace in front of a crowd of fellow S2000 owners who had made the journey to show their support.
Phil Wright was now behind the wheel of his own car at Silverstone, following a drive in âR-Motionâsâ Integra at Oulton. With a return to racing after a break of over 10 years, Phil was soon getting to grips with the heavier Accord
âVTEC Directsâ Andy Smith usual steed (ATR) was still in pieces following his issues at Oulton Park. Keen not to miss the races he brought along Tim Blowers DC5 Integra as a replacement.
Clutch issues hampered Rick Rowles in his Civic Type R, dropping him off the pace, and leaving him with it all to do to match his performance from Oulton.
With very little time separating the majority of the grid, exciting racing would be guaranteed.
Pole: Rich Voaden â 1.07.381
2nd: Stewart Hutchinson â 1.08.700
3rd: Adam Roberts â 1.09.264
Race 1:
With Hutchinson having checked everything was ok before the race, he lined up in 2nd place (albeit with only 4 gears) on the grid alongside the repaired pole sitter Voaden.
The customary green flag lap saw everyone round the circuit, warming their tyres and mentally preparing for the start. Rick and the Civic looked to still have issues, as already he was dropping back from the rest of the grid.
Lining up and waiting for the lights to change, the revs began to rise and the crescendo of VTECâs filled the air.
With lightning reactions, Mark Chese in 6th place shot through to 4th, as the rest of the grid also got underway.
Blasting down to Copse and beyond, Voaden held position to lead the pack, with Hutchinson and Roberts giving chase. Further down the grid, Andy Smith picked off Phil Wright and Stu King to move up to 9th place before the first corner.
Despite qualifying in 4th, Mark Bennett slipped back to 7th over the course of one lap, but soon began the fight back.
With Voaden extending his lead, pulling away from the rest of the grid, Hutchinson and Roberts fought each other lap after lap, much to the approval of the watching fans. The little CRX was crawling all over the boot lid of Stewarts Integra, and although he found his way past at one point, the Integra used its power to good affect and re-took the position.
With Chese comfortably in 4th place, the battle within production for the remaining class places saw Bennett climb back up to 5th place after his earlier troubles, and Rob Williams battle with Rich Chilton for 6th.
Smith, Wright and King swapped positions as the race unfolded, but everyone remained honest and incident free.
With the chequered flag waved after 14 laps, it was Richard Voaden crossing the line to take the race win.
1st: Rich Voaden - H22 DC2 - Super Tuner
2nd: Stewart Hutchinson - DC2 - Tuner
3rd: Adam Roberts - CRX â Production 1600
Class wins were awarded to (P) Mark Chese (P16) Adam Roberts (ST) Rich Voaden (T) Stew Hutchinson
Fastest lap: Rich Voaden â 1.07.624
Race 2:
Pole for race 2 was again the Integra of Voaden, with 2nd and 3rd belonging to Hutchinson and Roberts respectively.
Again, it was Voaden who led from the off, with the rest of the grid hot on his tail.
The battle was on again for 2nd place, and this time Adam was going all out to take the position from Stewart. Again, crawling all over the rear of the Integra through the corners, but losing out on the straights, the diminutive CRX was the proverbial thorn in the side with determination paying off, and 2nd place the reward.
Mark Chese was again soon out in an untroubled 4th place, leaving the chasing pack to battle it out.
Paul Armitage in the Britcar endurance spec DC2 Integra progressed two places to finish 6th overall and 3rd in class.
Pushing hard to chase down Rob Williams in his EP3 Civic, Bennett in the S2000 found out that the gravel and grass on the exit of âLuffieldâ doesnât offer much grip. A heroic save saw him return to the race having dropped back to almost dead last. A committed drive saw Mark regain a place, but the chequered flag stopped any further advances.
Smith, King and Wright had another 3 way battle, with each driver taking turns to lead and bring up the rear of the trio. With the extra weight taking its toll on the tyres of Smith and Wright, it was King who emerged victorious.
Comfortably out in front, Rich continued to press on, not wanting to risk any slip ups.
1st: Rich Voaden - H22 DC2 - Super Tuner
2nd: Adam Roberts - CRX â Production 1600
3rd: Stewart Hutchinson - DC2 - Tuner
Class wins were awarded to (P) Mark Chese (P16) Adam Roberts (ST) Rich Voaden (T) Stew Hutchinson
Fastest lap: Rich Voaden â 1.07.003
Summary:
Rich Voaden again dominated rounds 5 and 6 with pole and two lights to flag victories. However with an improving Hutchinson and a rapid Roberts to contend with, the results at Croft could all be turned around.
With exemplary driving from all involved, the series continues to show other series grow in popularity.
Thanks again go out to the BARC, Yokohama Tyres, HEL, VTEC Direct, Hendy Performance, Petronas Oils, R-Motion and Total Honda for their continuing support.
The VTEC Challenge heads to Croft in North Yorkshire for a weekend of racing over the 21st/22nd July for rounds 7 and 8.
Words: Jonathan Fletcher
Pictures: Jonathan Fletcher & Lindsey Bridger