Jonathan F
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- Joined
- Nov 29, 2010
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Spa: October 3rd/4th/5th 2014 (Rounds 13 and 14 of BARC’s VTEC Challenge)
For the final rounds of the 2014 Honda VTEC Challenge the series headed across the English Chanel, on to the country of Belgium and the circuit of Spa Francorchamps.
Entrants:
40 – Kenny Coleman – EP3 Civic Type R - Invitation
42 – Dawn Boyd – EP3 Civic Type R - Production
67 – Marc Kemp - EP3 Civic Type R – Production
144 – Nathan Dew – Integra Type R - Invitation
There where a couple of extra Honda’s which joined in the days leading up to the event, as a result of the push for entries by all involved at the CTCRC and these would run in “Invitation” class.
The Honda’s would be on track mixing it up with the Ford “Boss” championship as well as the almighty “Thunder Saloons” championship, which houses the most powerful cars the CTCRC has to offer.
All class victories for the 2014 season of the VTEC Challenge were wrapped up at the previous event of Brands Hatch, with awards going to:
Production – Dawn Boyd
Tuner – Rob Burkinshaw
Super Tuner – Simon Jessop
Great results for all involved and especially for Dawn and Simon in their first season of Honda racing.
As a result of a DNF at Brands (due to what transpired as a bad earth on the ECU) Marc Kemp was still in need of a couple of signatures to get his license upgraded to a “National A” in order to compete at Spa.
With this in mind there was no hesitation from the organisers of the VTC to step in and help Marc in obtaining the necessary signatures. Contacting a couple of other series organisers, Marc was entered into two separate events at his home circuit of Cadwell Park, where he put in a great performance and did the VTC proud.
Unfortunately the engine in Marc’s Civic let go in his 3rd race, resulting in a DNF, but not after he had got the signatures required for the upgrade.
As a result of this it was now a rush to sort a new engine and thanks to Simon Deaton a 70k mile unit was picked up, installed and mapped within a few days. Finished on the night before setting off, it would be a baptism of fire for the new engine. “Scrap yard to Spa”!
[/URL
]
Spa Francorchamps:
Despite its name, the circuit is not in Spa but lies in the vicinity of the town of Francorchamps and within the boundaries of the municipality of Stavelot.
[URL=http://s800.photobucket.com/user/VF-Racing/media/IMG_05032_zps2bfc2ebe.jpg.html]
[/URL
]
Designed in 1920, the circuit held its first race in 1922, and was once the fastest road circuit in Europe. Evidence of it’s past as a public road can still be seen with the houses and other buildings still evident today.
Located in the Ardennes forest the circuit is famous for having very unpredictable weather, with parts of the circuit subjected to rain and a wet track, whilst other parts are bathed in sunshine and the track completely dry!
A high speed circuit, Spa throws up many different types of corners in terms of speed and elevation, all parcelled up with stunning scenery. The world famous “Eau Rouge” is a highly demanding part of the track which tests car and, driver in equal measure.
With unseen camber changes that no amount of video game playing would prepare any driver for, those unfamiliar with the circuit would have a lot of learning to do in order to master the track.
At a little over 7km in length (4.352 miles) with 19 turns and 104m of elevation change, this circuit provides a challenge to even the most experienced of racer.
Free Practice:
Friday
With glorious weather, the session which included the Honda’s got underway. Kemp was soon in his stride and posting a time of 2.57.991 to put him in 11th out of 27 and the quickest Honda on track. After 5 laps Marc returned to the paddock to await the following days qualifying session.
[URL=http://s800.photobucket.com/user/VF-Racing/media/161copy_zps069f7020.jpg.html]
[/URL
]
Coleman pipped Dew by 0.27 seconds to sit in 13th and 14th and Boyd sat in 20th with a 3.08.803 lap time and an average speed of 82.95mph.
Everyone returned to the paddock unscathed and a little more prepared for what lay ahead. (Or that’s what they thought!)
Qualifying:
Saturday
With a mid morning session, the track conditions where changing all the time as the sun moved around and burned off the early morning mist which lingered in the surrounding trees.
[URL=http://s800.photobucket.com/user/VF-Racing/media/IMG_05102_zps36c396df.jpg.html]
[/URL
]
With all of the drivers assembled, the green flag was waved and the session started. Whilst Boyd, Coleman and Dew headed out from the start, Kemp held back in order to create some space on the circuit for his fast laps.
[URL=http://s800.photobucket.com/user/VF-Racing/media/241_zpsc89c2bde.jpg.html]
[/URL
]
All was going to plan until turn 18 on his fastest lap of the session, when under braking the rear got loose and the car began to spin. This put the Civic at 90˚ to the track and heading for the sausage kerb on the edge of the corner and the likelihood of a roll. However as the car began travelling over the grass, Marc was able to straighten the car out just before connecting with the kerb.
The impact threw the Civic skyward and then nose dived back to earth, blowing two of the tyres off of their rims in the process and possibly causing other unseen damage.
Thankfully there was no other traffic around and Marc was able to limp off circuit and to the safety of the marshal’s post.
The Honda’s of Coleman, Dew, Boyd and Kemp qualified in 14th, 15th 18th and 26th respectively at the end of the session.
Back in the paddock, the Civic of Kemp was checked over, and other than a tyre that was beyond repair, everything else looked fine. Even the rear tyre re-inflated back onto the rim.
Only time would tell if the rest of the car got away lightly.
(Post race checks showed that both the front and rear alignment had been badly affected by the incident)
Race 1:
Saturday
With all 27 cars lined up in the assembly are and pit lane, the race officials waved everyone out on track in order for them to complete almost a full lap to reach the grid outside the “Endurance Pits”. Once there, the pit lane marshals directed the cars to their relevant grid slots and the drivers where soon underway to complete their green flag lap.
With barely a flash of the 5 second board, the red light went out and the race got underway.
With everyone cleanly away, focus turned to “Eau Rouge” as the pack screamed down hill at increasing speed.
Coleman in the EP3 Civic led the Honda charge with the DC2 of Dew and the EP3 Civics of Boyd and Kemp close behind.
Looking to make up for his problems in qualifying Kemp began to pick off his prey and after lap 1 was already up to 18th. From here on Marc picked up his pace and began to climb the leader board.
Coleman led Dew for several laps as the pair fought closely around the famous circuit, with the sound of VTEC echoing off the surrounding countryside.
After 3 laps out in front, Nathan took the lead and the roles where reversed, although Kenny was not one to rescind the change of position without a fight.
His determination paid off, when after 7 laps of chasing the white Teg, Coleman re-took the Honda lead to finish in 10th place overall.
Despite his best efforts (with a less than perfect handling car), Kemp was unable to catch the Civic of Coleman, and was left 11 seconds adrift, but overhauled the Integra of Dew on lap 11 promoting him to 11th place. (Wow that’s a lot of 11’s!)
Despite a promising start and some good battles through the field, Boyd began to suffer with a severe lack of power which hampered progress in the later stages of the race. With the source of the problem unknown, Dawn continued to push on in order to finish the race.
[URL=http://s800.photobucket.com/user/VF-Racing/media/256_zps507897b6.jpg.html]
[/URL
]
1st Kenny Coleman
2nd Marc Kemp
3rd Nathan Dew
Class wins were awarded to:
(P) – Marc Kemp
(I) – Kenny Coleman
Fastest lap: Nathan Dew 2.56.347 on lap 6 of 11
Race 2:
Sunday
Following the glorious weather we had been privy to over the previous 3 days, Sunday dawned cold and progressively getting wetter.
As there was several hours before the race, teams got busy making sure all of the cars where ready.
Dawn’s car was subject to some investigative work by Jay from “Finsport” (who run the Civic) and following a few hours worth of head scratching and changing parts the car was back in rude health and ready for the race.
Having run slightly narrower rear tyres in race 1, (due to the incident in qualifying), Marc’s dad had managed to procure a Toyo tyre of the right section/profile from a BMW competitor and a quick trip to one of the fitters on site saw the Civic back on 4 matching tyres and hopefully handling a bit better.
With the rain still falling as everyone assembled, one of the biggest problems would be spray and visibility. Following the green flag lap, Coleman in the Civic had to pit in order to clear his windscreen, which dropped him to the back of the grid.
Once the race was underway, Coleman began a fight back and had climbed to 19th from 26th at the time of the chequered flag.
Within a lap, Boyd had proven her Civic was back on form and climbed 3 places, and despite dropping back over the next lap again fought her way back through the grid to take 16th overall.
Struggling in the tricky conditions, the DC2 of Dew dropped a couple of places during the first lap, but remained consistent from thereon in to take 15th place.
[URL=http://s800.photobucket.com/user/VF-Racing/media/074_zps7766a3a5.jpg.html]
[/URL
]
Kemp maintained a lead at the head of the Honda’s and mixed it up with the “wet” tyred cars of “BOSS” and “Thunder Saloons” but decided that discretion was the better part of valour and allowed them to have their own battle and settled down to driving his own race.
With a 26 second advantage over Nathan, Marc crossed the line in 14th place overall.
1st Marc Kemp
2nd Nathan Dew
3rd Dawn Boyd
Class wins were awarded to:
(P) – Marc Kemp
(I) – Nathan Dew
Fastest lap: Marc Kemp 3.27.317 on lap 3 of 9
Summary:
So that’s it for 2014, the “Honda VTEC Challenge” has come to an end for this season.
It doesn’t seem like 5 minutes ago we were at Donington Park for the season opener, yet here we are 6 months later and it’s another year gone.
I would personally like to thank each and every driver that has entered, be that for one event or the whole season. You have all played a massive part in the series and flown the Honda flag with pride.
To all of the “friends” of the series, be they wives, husbands, partners or friends & family of the drivers, again “thank you” for your interest and support.
To the series sponsors: Toyo Tires, Ultra Racing, Performance Autoworks, Finsport, Honda Tuner, R-Motion and MOTORV8 MEDIA again a huge gratitude has to be sent your way as without you the series wouldn’t be the same.
Finally a massive thank you from me has to go to Lindsey as without her nothing would get done. Not only does she do the behind the scenes discussions and fight the VTC corner, she makes everything else happen and is always trackside taking pictures whatever the weather.
Keep watching for news of a great 2015 season and even more fantastic racing.
Words: Jonathan Fletcher
Pictures: Lindsey Fletcher & Jonathan Fletcher[/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL]
For the final rounds of the 2014 Honda VTEC Challenge the series headed across the English Chanel, on to the country of Belgium and the circuit of Spa Francorchamps.
Entrants:
40 – Kenny Coleman – EP3 Civic Type R - Invitation
42 – Dawn Boyd – EP3 Civic Type R - Production
67 – Marc Kemp - EP3 Civic Type R – Production
144 – Nathan Dew – Integra Type R - Invitation
There where a couple of extra Honda’s which joined in the days leading up to the event, as a result of the push for entries by all involved at the CTCRC and these would run in “Invitation” class.
The Honda’s would be on track mixing it up with the Ford “Boss” championship as well as the almighty “Thunder Saloons” championship, which houses the most powerful cars the CTCRC has to offer.
All class victories for the 2014 season of the VTEC Challenge were wrapped up at the previous event of Brands Hatch, with awards going to:
Production – Dawn Boyd
Tuner – Rob Burkinshaw
Super Tuner – Simon Jessop
Great results for all involved and especially for Dawn and Simon in their first season of Honda racing.
As a result of a DNF at Brands (due to what transpired as a bad earth on the ECU) Marc Kemp was still in need of a couple of signatures to get his license upgraded to a “National A” in order to compete at Spa.
With this in mind there was no hesitation from the organisers of the VTC to step in and help Marc in obtaining the necessary signatures. Contacting a couple of other series organisers, Marc was entered into two separate events at his home circuit of Cadwell Park, where he put in a great performance and did the VTC proud.
Unfortunately the engine in Marc’s Civic let go in his 3rd race, resulting in a DNF, but not after he had got the signatures required for the upgrade.
As a result of this it was now a rush to sort a new engine and thanks to Simon Deaton a 70k mile unit was picked up, installed and mapped within a few days. Finished on the night before setting off, it would be a baptism of fire for the new engine. “Scrap yard to Spa”!
[/URL]
Spa Francorchamps:
Despite its name, the circuit is not in Spa but lies in the vicinity of the town of Francorchamps and within the boundaries of the municipality of Stavelot.
[URL=http://s800.photobucket.com/user/VF-Racing/media/IMG_05032_zps2bfc2ebe.jpg.html]
[/URL]
Designed in 1920, the circuit held its first race in 1922, and was once the fastest road circuit in Europe. Evidence of it’s past as a public road can still be seen with the houses and other buildings still evident today.
Located in the Ardennes forest the circuit is famous for having very unpredictable weather, with parts of the circuit subjected to rain and a wet track, whilst other parts are bathed in sunshine and the track completely dry!
A high speed circuit, Spa throws up many different types of corners in terms of speed and elevation, all parcelled up with stunning scenery. The world famous “Eau Rouge” is a highly demanding part of the track which tests car and, driver in equal measure.
With unseen camber changes that no amount of video game playing would prepare any driver for, those unfamiliar with the circuit would have a lot of learning to do in order to master the track.
At a little over 7km in length (4.352 miles) with 19 turns and 104m of elevation change, this circuit provides a challenge to even the most experienced of racer.
Free Practice:
Friday
With glorious weather, the session which included the Honda’s got underway. Kemp was soon in his stride and posting a time of 2.57.991 to put him in 11th out of 27 and the quickest Honda on track. After 5 laps Marc returned to the paddock to await the following days qualifying session.
[URL=http://s800.photobucket.com/user/VF-Racing/media/161copy_zps069f7020.jpg.html]
[/URL]
Coleman pipped Dew by 0.27 seconds to sit in 13th and 14th and Boyd sat in 20th with a 3.08.803 lap time and an average speed of 82.95mph.
Everyone returned to the paddock unscathed and a little more prepared for what lay ahead. (Or that’s what they thought!)
Qualifying:
Saturday
With a mid morning session, the track conditions where changing all the time as the sun moved around and burned off the early morning mist which lingered in the surrounding trees.
[URL=http://s800.photobucket.com/user/VF-Racing/media/IMG_05102_zps36c396df.jpg.html]
[/URL]
With all of the drivers assembled, the green flag was waved and the session started. Whilst Boyd, Coleman and Dew headed out from the start, Kemp held back in order to create some space on the circuit for his fast laps.
[URL=http://s800.photobucket.com/user/VF-Racing/media/241_zpsc89c2bde.jpg.html]
[/URL]
All was going to plan until turn 18 on his fastest lap of the session, when under braking the rear got loose and the car began to spin. This put the Civic at 90˚ to the track and heading for the sausage kerb on the edge of the corner and the likelihood of a roll. However as the car began travelling over the grass, Marc was able to straighten the car out just before connecting with the kerb.
The impact threw the Civic skyward and then nose dived back to earth, blowing two of the tyres off of their rims in the process and possibly causing other unseen damage.
Thankfully there was no other traffic around and Marc was able to limp off circuit and to the safety of the marshal’s post.
The Honda’s of Coleman, Dew, Boyd and Kemp qualified in 14th, 15th 18th and 26th respectively at the end of the session.
Back in the paddock, the Civic of Kemp was checked over, and other than a tyre that was beyond repair, everything else looked fine. Even the rear tyre re-inflated back onto the rim.
Only time would tell if the rest of the car got away lightly.
(Post race checks showed that both the front and rear alignment had been badly affected by the incident)
Race 1:
Saturday
With all 27 cars lined up in the assembly are and pit lane, the race officials waved everyone out on track in order for them to complete almost a full lap to reach the grid outside the “Endurance Pits”. Once there, the pit lane marshals directed the cars to their relevant grid slots and the drivers where soon underway to complete their green flag lap.
With barely a flash of the 5 second board, the red light went out and the race got underway.
With everyone cleanly away, focus turned to “Eau Rouge” as the pack screamed down hill at increasing speed.
Coleman in the EP3 Civic led the Honda charge with the DC2 of Dew and the EP3 Civics of Boyd and Kemp close behind.
Looking to make up for his problems in qualifying Kemp began to pick off his prey and after lap 1 was already up to 18th. From here on Marc picked up his pace and began to climb the leader board.
Coleman led Dew for several laps as the pair fought closely around the famous circuit, with the sound of VTEC echoing off the surrounding countryside.
After 3 laps out in front, Nathan took the lead and the roles where reversed, although Kenny was not one to rescind the change of position without a fight.
His determination paid off, when after 7 laps of chasing the white Teg, Coleman re-took the Honda lead to finish in 10th place overall.
Despite his best efforts (with a less than perfect handling car), Kemp was unable to catch the Civic of Coleman, and was left 11 seconds adrift, but overhauled the Integra of Dew on lap 11 promoting him to 11th place. (Wow that’s a lot of 11’s!)
Despite a promising start and some good battles through the field, Boyd began to suffer with a severe lack of power which hampered progress in the later stages of the race. With the source of the problem unknown, Dawn continued to push on in order to finish the race.
[URL=http://s800.photobucket.com/user/VF-Racing/media/256_zps507897b6.jpg.html]
[/URL]
1st Kenny Coleman
2nd Marc Kemp
3rd Nathan Dew
Class wins were awarded to:
(P) – Marc Kemp
(I) – Kenny Coleman
Fastest lap: Nathan Dew 2.56.347 on lap 6 of 11
Race 2:
Sunday
Following the glorious weather we had been privy to over the previous 3 days, Sunday dawned cold and progressively getting wetter.
As there was several hours before the race, teams got busy making sure all of the cars where ready.
Dawn’s car was subject to some investigative work by Jay from “Finsport” (who run the Civic) and following a few hours worth of head scratching and changing parts the car was back in rude health and ready for the race.
Having run slightly narrower rear tyres in race 1, (due to the incident in qualifying), Marc’s dad had managed to procure a Toyo tyre of the right section/profile from a BMW competitor and a quick trip to one of the fitters on site saw the Civic back on 4 matching tyres and hopefully handling a bit better.
With the rain still falling as everyone assembled, one of the biggest problems would be spray and visibility. Following the green flag lap, Coleman in the Civic had to pit in order to clear his windscreen, which dropped him to the back of the grid.
Once the race was underway, Coleman began a fight back and had climbed to 19th from 26th at the time of the chequered flag.
Within a lap, Boyd had proven her Civic was back on form and climbed 3 places, and despite dropping back over the next lap again fought her way back through the grid to take 16th overall.
Struggling in the tricky conditions, the DC2 of Dew dropped a couple of places during the first lap, but remained consistent from thereon in to take 15th place.
[URL=http://s800.photobucket.com/user/VF-Racing/media/074_zps7766a3a5.jpg.html]
[/URL]
Kemp maintained a lead at the head of the Honda’s and mixed it up with the “wet” tyred cars of “BOSS” and “Thunder Saloons” but decided that discretion was the better part of valour and allowed them to have their own battle and settled down to driving his own race.
With a 26 second advantage over Nathan, Marc crossed the line in 14th place overall.
1st Marc Kemp
2nd Nathan Dew
3rd Dawn Boyd
Class wins were awarded to:
(P) – Marc Kemp
(I) – Nathan Dew
Fastest lap: Marc Kemp 3.27.317 on lap 3 of 9
Summary:
So that’s it for 2014, the “Honda VTEC Challenge” has come to an end for this season.
It doesn’t seem like 5 minutes ago we were at Donington Park for the season opener, yet here we are 6 months later and it’s another year gone.
I would personally like to thank each and every driver that has entered, be that for one event or the whole season. You have all played a massive part in the series and flown the Honda flag with pride.
To all of the “friends” of the series, be they wives, husbands, partners or friends & family of the drivers, again “thank you” for your interest and support.
To the series sponsors: Toyo Tires, Ultra Racing, Performance Autoworks, Finsport, Honda Tuner, R-Motion and MOTORV8 MEDIA again a huge gratitude has to be sent your way as without you the series wouldn’t be the same.
Finally a massive thank you from me has to go to Lindsey as without her nothing would get done. Not only does she do the behind the scenes discussions and fight the VTC corner, she makes everything else happen and is always trackside taking pictures whatever the weather.
Keep watching for news of a great 2015 season and even more fantastic racing.
Words: Jonathan Fletcher
Pictures: Lindsey Fletcher & Jonathan Fletcher[/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL][/URL]