The 2011 Honda VTEC Challenge

The 2011 Honda VTEC Challenge

Author
Discussion

uknowiama

Original Poster:

11 posts

240 months

Thursday 12th August 2010
quotequote all
Joined ages ago, but not posted much, done a fair bit of reading through. Just wanted to highlight the below to people.

Announcing the 2011 Honda VTEC Challenge

The VTEC Challenge is a new and exciting All Honda race series that will be running in conjunction with BARC - the British Automobile Racing Club and with support from Yokohama Tyres. The series aims to provide an ideal setting for the newcomer to racing to feel welcome, safe and to quickly learn the ropes and come up to speed alongside a mixture of novices and more experienced drivers. With full tyre sponsorship and on-site spares and service support, the series aims to be a very financially viable series that caters for all Honda enthusiasts. The new season will start in April 2011 so plenty of time to get those cars ready. Provisional circuit calendar includes Silverstone, Donnington, Mallory Park, Croft, Anglesea and Snetterton.

To find out more, please check out the website and the forum which can be found at www.vtecchallenge.co.uk

Thanks for your time

Mike and Kris.

andy97

4,703 posts

223 months

Thursday 12th August 2010
quotequote all
Another new series?

you have seen this thread haven't you: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

There are plenty of places to race Hondas - why invent another one?


uknowiama

Original Poster:

11 posts

240 months

Thursday 12th August 2010
quotequote all
Nope you're right, I haven't :-)

I was just trying to promote the series, and as Honda enthusiast I want to see it grow. A grid full of vtec Hondas battling it out.

Mike and Kris have both raced in the Nippon Challenge. They are both mad into their Hondas and the Honda scene and trying to create a Honda only affordable race series, with a cracking atmosphere, allowing people to graduate up from doing trackdays, time trials, or what have you. Or for people already out there racing to pit their skills in a Honda only grid. Go to the website have a read through, all the information is there to find out more.

If its not for you, it's not for you - no biggy.


wildman0609

885 posts

177 months

Thursday 12th August 2010
quotequote all
if i had a honda i'd rather race it with a full and varied grid, one which is already established.

we need a race series cull, not any more new one please.

when I go to my local track (snetterton) to watch a meeting i'd rather see 2 races with massive grids than 10 crap races with 10 cars on the grid.

if you can get out 25 vtec's then good, would be great to see, but i doubt it will work out that way.

MG CHRIS

9,086 posts

168 months

Thursday 12th August 2010
quotequote all
wildman0609 said:
if i had a honda i'd rather race it with a full and varied grid, one which is already established.

we need a race series cull, not any more new one please.

when I go to my local track (snetterton) to watch a meeting i'd rather see 2 races with massive grids than 10 crap races with 10 cars on the grid.

if you can get out 25 vtec's then good, would be great to see, but i doubt it will work out that way.
And that is why we do not need another race series and why i started the thread in the first place why not for the first couple of years have a honda race catagry but in the nippion race challenge i would rather see 30+ JAP cars racing in 1 champonship then 3 champonships with just 10-15 cars in it as that is what is happening, case in point clio champonship was a great series 40 cars but this year just 15 cars main reason abarth 500 series which took half the competters from the clio cup when will this end now we have 2 st champonships wihich is just managing to get 15 cars when will people learn

uknowiama

Original Poster:

11 posts

240 months

Thursday 12th August 2010
quotequote all
Shame, is that the general opinion on here then? Anyone commenting actually part of the Honda scene?

I follow the F1, but apart from that didn't follow any smaller forms until the Nippon Challenge. What that introduced me to was a great paddock atmosphere that can be found in the smaller forms. These people dont have large sums of cash. They make their money pays their bills and do the best they can to go racing. They dont have big sponsors. For instance a friend was sponsored by a tyre fitters and for that the tyre fitter would change over his tyres for him for free. To be honest would want this series to be the same and not all about who's got the most money. As is always the danger with any form of motorsport.

There is a big Honda community out there, there are lots of memebers doing track days, and a few doing motorsport Racing yes, hill climbs, and other forms. Want to offer them the chance to compete against fellow forum members, etc.

The race series will be a support series to the larger events. So when people talk about I'd rather see a big grid aof all different cars, the average joe who will be wathing would probably come along for main attraction. They also hope to get people from the Honda scene coming along to watch and that will help boost all the other races on a race weekend. Series working together.

The other thing to bear in mind is the closeness of the racing, hopefully. The majority of VTEC Hondas are front wheel drive, 160bhp - 240bhp in stock form. There are not the big turbo cars running 500bhp plus and lapping the lower classes within three laps. There will be some emphasis on tuning the race car, but hopefully more emphasis on driver skill.

I dont know, if you feel there should be a race series cull, stop being a keyboard warrior and get off your arse and start hassling the racing bodies, get enough people with your opinion to make it happen and get what you want. Just as Mike and Kris didn't think there was a suitable form of racing for people in the Honda scene so they made it happen.

Edited by uknowiama on Thursday 12th August 19:45

uknowiama

Original Poster:

11 posts

240 months

Thursday 12th August 2010
quotequote all
[quote=MG CHRISAnd that is why we do not need another race series and why i started the thread in the first place why not for the first couple of years have a honda race catagry but in the nippion race challenge i would rather see 30+ JAP cars racing in 1 champonship then 3 champonships with just 10-15 cars in it as that is what is happening
[/quote]

Suggestions were made to the organisers of the Nippon, but there seemed to be the same approach as you are not wanting to see. Just as the grid swells, another one make series is formed off the back of it and the number of cars dwindles again.


MG CHRIS

9,086 posts

168 months

Thursday 12th August 2010
quotequote all
I tend to agree with you that the honda scene is not a well supported i cant thinkof a race sereis just for hondas like there is for fords, mg several actually, 4wd series, renaults, ginettas, to name a few and it would be good to see a sereis just for hondas and if you get good grids then its a worth while series and good on you if that will happen but people will not want to watch a race series if the grids are small and people will not want to come to a champonships if there are not much compettion and dont forget the target market for this series is for first time racer from track days or youngsters but we are still in a recession and people are doing away with the costly things in life that will include entering motorsport. One spot mind on your website says you and your car can be ready for £2500 but that doesnt including buying the car buy the way

Edited by MG CHRIS on Thursday 12th August 21:14

Muz_Wez

1,398 posts

203 months

Friday 13th August 2010
quotequote all
uknowiama said:
I follow the F1, but apart from that didn't follow any smaller forms until the Nippon Challenge. What that introduced me to was a great paddock atmosphere that can be found in the smaller forms. These people dont have large sums of cash. They make their money pays their bills and do the best they can to go racing. They dont have big sponsors. For instance a friend was sponsored by a tyre fitters and for that the tyre fitter would change over his tyres for him for free. To be honest would want this series to be the same and not all about who's got the most money. As is always the danger with any form of motorsport.
Sounds like any club racing scene to me. I hope it achieves what you want but I fear for the concept and personally agree that a cull is needed.

uknowiama

Original Poster:

11 posts

240 months

Friday 13th August 2010
quotequote all
MG CHRIS said:
I tend to agree with you that the honda scene is not a well supported i cant thinkof a race sereis just for hondas like there is for fords, mg several actually, 4wd series, renaults, ginettas, to name a few and it would be good to see a sereis just for hondas and if you get good grids then its a worth while series and good on you if that will happen but people will not want to watch a race series if the grids are small and people will not want to come to a champonships if there are not much compettion and dont forget the target market for this series is for first time racer from track days or youngsters but we are still in a recession and people are doing away with the costly things in life that will include entering motorsport. One spot mind on your website says you and your car can be ready for £2500 but that doesnt including buying the car buy the way

Edited by MG CHRIS on Thursday 12th August 21:14
Well it needs time to grow, but if there aren't the people to support it I guess it will stop. This isn't a case of two wealthy people coming together and being able to absorb a lot of the cost. They need to cover the costs of circuit time from the people entering.

As per the £2500 cost not taking into account buying the car. I suppose that makes the assumption that if you are in the Honda scene you're going to have a modified car (for track, etc) in the first place to convert it. If people decide they want to go racing in a Honda and they've got the money to go out and buy a car and join the series they are more than welcome. But the idea of that statement is to say that your track car relatively cheaply converted to a spec ready for racing.

If you needed to buy a car, then a great way of getting on board cheaply is to find a 4th Gen Prelude. Perhaps a JDM import BB4 2WS or convert a BB1 to 2WS. 2.2L DOHC 197bhp standard. A lot of weight can be taken out of it £1k for a car?

MMC Andy

527 posts

222 months

Friday 13th August 2010
quotequote all
Team MMC have just bought a Honda CRX Vtec, so we have no problems with the new series wink

I do, however, agree with the previous sentiments regarding too many race series - and it's a pity nothing could be achieved with an existing/established series e.g. Nippon Challenge or Track Day Trophy.
Several comments on here about spectators not enjoying watching 10 cars go round - well I think drivers are the same. The beauty of the CSCC (for instance), is having 30+ cars on the grid, and someone new to race with each race - £300 a race to not overtake/be overtaken is abit dull in my opinion.

For accuracy (MG Chris), the Abarth Championship has had very little impact on the Clio's - there is a link because Clio champ, Ben Windrow leads the points, but the reason for their dwindling numbers is not Abarth related.

mrpink

2,624 posts

189 months

Friday 13th August 2010
quotequote all
grid full of Vtecing Hondas!!!!!!!!!! be great to see.

Love the ethos of cheap racing but fear biggest wallet will win....as in most race series.........hope i'm wrong

micron750

845 posts

233 months

Sunday 15th August 2010
quotequote all
FFS barc never learn its bad enough having the great and british with crap grids, as said above a championship already exsists so why oh why start another!!

emicen

8,599 posts

219 months

Monday 16th August 2010
quotequote all
Quoting from another forum:

New Race series..... for all Honda fanboys hehe Will be part of the Nippon Challenge calender in 2011.

http://nipponchallenge.14.forumer.com/viewtopic.ph...


Basics:

We (SPD/BuddyClub) have teamed up with Red Dragon Race Club to offer Ready built Honda Civic EK4 cars with ALL the sponsorship that you will ever need (but you may bring your own also if elegible). We have taken the hard work and hard cash out of club racing.

We are offering fully prepared EK4 mini Touring car spec turn key and go cars for as little as £6k+vat , this includes the car itself.!! The cars are costing us £12k to build, but with our Time Attack Championship winning success in 2009 and our sponsors loyalty we can bring you into the fold and with your help we will create a "no brainer " series. for both the sponsors and YOU the drivers. One of our Buddyclub EK4s won the Prestigeous Macau Grand Prix ... Yep! We also won the Time Attack 2009 NA Championship with 4 wins from 5 races and P1 qualifying at EVERY round in our DC5... One of our newest Buddies won the Ten Of The Best FWD Trophy only last week, and he has only been racing for two months....you can now be part of the historical team in a never to be repeated "too good to be true offer". Because we want to find the fastest driver to be part of our inner core of Champions..... We will take you higher..!

With drivers signing up and buying cars already we forsee a healthy grid. We are doing it differently than other one make series in as much as we are building the cars first ,unless they are bought up in advance, we have currently 5 cars in the que to be converted and two are caged and going for paint right now, then the suspension and safety parts will be fitted, the third was sold on Monday and will be started next week., we are actively looking for standard unmodified low mileage cars as we see this as the most reliable option.

Red Dragon will also be offering FREE race entries for any Buddyclub Cup car that is ready to race before the end of this season, so get your orders in and get some advanced FREE practising in under real race conditions..
We will be offering race day insurance and support on the day (in 2011) for a minimal fee of £100 labour. so you will not go home with a broken rotor arm or radiator...We will also be offering a spare car free of charge for things that we cant fix.!! We must be stupid )) (conditions apply!! meet us half way....buy the bloody insurance).

Please feal free to call for information as I am always on hand to chat.., (do not rely on forum replies for car sales or build info as we are really busy).01772 299820, Paul

More details on Cup Cars...


Honda Civic VTi Cup Car

New build ready for next years Civic Cup fully conforms with regs.

Honda EK Hatch 1996-1999
Stripped out and full weld in Custom Cage fitted and gusseted
Front and rear Towing eyes fitted
Fully painted white inside and out
New FIA seat fitted
New FIA Harness fitted
New P1-Racing white wheels fitted
New Federal RSR tyres fitted
New FIA plumbed in fire system fitted
Battery cut off fitted
New Buddyclub N+Coil overs fitted
New Buddyclub front and rear camber adjusters fitted
New discs and Brake pads fitted
‘A’ Frame towing points fitted.

Call us on 01772 299820 for full car specs or email enquires to info@buddyclubuk.com, sale of car is subject to entry in the civic cup.





Now, thats a cracking deal to bring people in to an established championship. Thats whats needed in club racing right now!

Edited by emicen on Monday 16th August 15:19

micron750

845 posts

233 months

Tuesday 17th August 2010
quotequote all
The Nippon Challenge is superb so maybe i was wrong everything else seems to have worked being on with them...............just bring it back to combe we loved it this yearsmile

andy97

4,703 posts

223 months

Tuesday 17th August 2010
quotequote all
emicen said:
Quoting from another forum:

New Race series..... for all Honda fanboys hehe Will be part of the Nippon Challenge calender in 2011.

http://nipponchallenge.14.forumer.com/viewtopic.ph...


Basics:

We (SPD/BuddyClub) have teamed up with Red Dragon Race Club to offer Ready built Honda Civic EK4 cars with ALL the sponsorship that you will ever need (but you may bring your own also if elegible). We have taken the hard work and hard cash out of club racing.

We are offering fully prepared EK4 mini Touring car spec turn key and go cars for as little as £6k+vat , this includes the car itself.!! The cars are costing us £12k to build, but with our Time Attack Championship winning success in 2009 and our sponsors loyalty we can bring you into the fold and with your help we will create a "no brainer " series. for both the sponsors and YOU the drivers. One of our Buddyclub EK4s won the Prestigeous Macau Grand Prix ... Yep! We also won the Time Attack 2009 NA Championship with 4 wins from 5 races and P1 qualifying at EVERY round in our DC5... One of our newest Buddies won the Ten Of The Best FWD Trophy only last week, and he has only been racing for two months....you can now be part of the historical team in a never to be repeated "too good to be true offer". Because we want to find the fastest driver to be part of our inner core of Champions..... We will take you higher..!

With drivers signing up and buying cars already we forsee a healthy grid. We are doing it differently than other one make series in as much as we are building the cars first ,unless they are bought up in advance, we have currently 5 cars in the que to be converted and two are caged and going for paint right now, then the suspension and safety parts will be fitted, the third was sold on Monday and will be started next week., we are actively looking for standard unmodified low mileage cars as we see this as the most reliable option.

Red Dragon will also be offering FREE race entries for any Buddyclub Cup car that is ready to race before the end of this season, so get your orders in and get some advanced FREE practising in under real race conditions..
We will be offering race day insurance and support on the day (in 2011) for a minimal fee of £100 labour. so you will not go home with a broken rotor arm or radiator...We will also be offering a spare car free of charge for things that we cant fix.!! We must be stupid )) (conditions apply!! meet us half way....buy the bloody insurance).

Please feal free to call for information as I am always on hand to chat.., (do not rely on forum replies for car sales or build info as we are really busy).01772 299820, Paul

More details on Cup Cars...


Honda Civic VTi Cup Car

New build ready for next years Civic Cup fully conforms with regs.

Honda EK Hatch 1996-1999
Stripped out and full weld in Custom Cage fitted and gusseted
Front and rear Towing eyes fitted
Fully painted white inside and out
New FIA seat fitted
New FIA Harness fitted
New P1-Racing white wheels fitted
New Federal RSR tyres fitted
New FIA plumbed in fire system fitted
Battery cut off fitted
New Buddyclub N+Coil overs fitted
New Buddyclub front and rear camber adjusters fitted
New discs and Brake pads fitted
‘A’ Frame towing points fitted.

Call us on 01772 299820 for full car specs or email enquires to info@buddyclubuk.com, sale of car is subject to entry in the civic cup.





Now, thats a cracking deal to bring people in to an established championship. Thats whats needed in club racing right now!

Edited by emicen on Monday 16th August 15:19
But is this the same thing as the OP was talking about? He implied a brand new series, you seem to be talking about the Nippon challenge.

Edited by andy97 on Tuesday 17th August 11:58

RogueMotorsport

246 posts

189 months

Tuesday 17th August 2010
quotequote all
andy97 said:
But is thi the sam thing as the OP was talking about? He implied a brand new series, you see to be talking about the Nippon challenge.
The Nippon Challenge was designed as a breeding ground for new race series based around Japanese cars. As soon as a certain group of cars reached the point where it could feasibly sustain it's own grid it would be spun off as a standalone series. If attendance reduces it can then be folded back into the Nippon.

emicen

8,599 posts

219 months

Tuesday 17th August 2010
quotequote all
andy97 said:
emicen said:
Quoting from another forum:

New Race series..... for all Honda fanboys hehe Will be part of the Nippon Challenge calender in 2011.

http://nipponchallenge.14.forumer.com/viewtopic.ph...


Basics:

We (SPD/BuddyClub) have teamed up with Red Dragon Race Club to offer Ready built Honda Civic EK4 cars with ALL the sponsorship that you will ever need (but you may bring your own also if elegible). We have taken the hard work and hard cash out of club racing.

We are offering fully prepared EK4 mini Touring car spec turn key and go cars for as little as £6k+vat , this includes the car itself.!! The cars are costing us £12k to build, but with our Time Attack Championship winning success in 2009 and our sponsors loyalty we can bring you into the fold and with your help we will create a "no brainer " series. for both the sponsors and YOU the drivers. One of our Buddyclub EK4s won the Prestigeous Macau Grand Prix ... Yep! We also won the Time Attack 2009 NA Championship with 4 wins from 5 races and P1 qualifying at EVERY round in our DC5... One of our newest Buddies won the Ten Of The Best FWD Trophy only last week, and he has only been racing for two months....you can now be part of the historical team in a never to be repeated "too good to be true offer". Because we want to find the fastest driver to be part of our inner core of Champions..... We will take you higher..!

With drivers signing up and buying cars already we forsee a healthy grid. We are doing it differently than other one make series in as much as we are building the cars first ,unless they are bought up in advance, we have currently 5 cars in the que to be converted and two are caged and going for paint right now, then the suspension and safety parts will be fitted, the third was sold on Monday and will be started next week., we are actively looking for standard unmodified low mileage cars as we see this as the most reliable option.

Red Dragon will also be offering FREE race entries for any Buddyclub Cup car that is ready to race before the end of this season, so get your orders in and get some advanced FREE practising in under real race conditions..
We will be offering race day insurance and support on the day (in 2011) for a minimal fee of £100 labour. so you will not go home with a broken rotor arm or radiator...We will also be offering a spare car free of charge for things that we cant fix.!! We must be stupid )) (conditions apply!! meet us half way....buy the bloody insurance).

Please feal free to call for information as I am always on hand to chat.., (do not rely on forum replies for car sales or build info as we are really busy).01772 299820, Paul

More details on Cup Cars...


Honda Civic VTi Cup Car

New build ready for next years Civic Cup fully conforms with regs.

Honda EK Hatch 1996-1999
Stripped out and full weld in Custom Cage fitted and gusseted
Front and rear Towing eyes fitted
Fully painted white inside and out
New FIA seat fitted
New FIA Harness fitted
New P1-Racing white wheels fitted
New Federal RSR tyres fitted
New FIA plumbed in fire system fitted
Battery cut off fitted
New Buddyclub N+Coil overs fitted
New Buddyclub front and rear camber adjusters fitted
New discs and Brake pads fitted
‘A’ Frame towing points fitted.

Call us on 01772 299820 for full car specs or email enquires to info@buddyclubuk.com, sale of car is subject to entry in the civic cup.





Now, thats a cracking deal to bring people in to an established championship. Thats whats needed in club racing right now!

Edited by emicen on Monday 16th August 15:19
But is thi the sam thing as the OP was talking about? He implied a brand new series, you see to be talking about the Nippon challenge.
I'm talking about a series being formed within the Nippon grid.

I'm perfectly aware of what the OP was talking about and also how pretty unfeasible it is right now to set up a series with nothing behind it. Its not a case of "if you create it, they will come". It needs a breeding ground like Rogue mentioned.

The OP's post seemed a bit too "JDM/VTEC Yo!" quite frankly. Whats the point in a Honda/VTEC series? The reason there are successful Ford or MG series' is because they have classes for cars which have been raced over the years. Fords have XR2s/XR3s/RS1800 etc all of which had their own one make series back in the day. Same for MG ZRs and F/TFs. Now you can group them on the one grid and have multiple classes to bring the costs down. But the structure is there in the first place, like the series I posted above would create, its a 1 make/model series within the bigger Nippon grid keeping costs down.

What categories would you have in an open field VTEC grid? Theres too broad a spectrum of cars, which whilst providing easy access to people who own the cars, make it a nightmare to create sensible categories. CRX del Sol vs. EK9 Civic Type R vs. MB4 Civic VTi-S vs. DC2 Teg vs. DC5 Teg vs. EP3 Civic Type R etc etc etc. Then someone comes along with a highly modded NSX straight off the boat and wipes the floor with everyone.

The link I posted gives people an opportunity to start out in a class thats within a big grid so they can gain experience, with minimal mods so the racing should be close and down to driver skill and costs sensible and it may grow in to its own grid.

If that had been available when I started back in to racing this year I'd have given it serious consideration!

anonymous-user

55 months

Tuesday 17th August 2010
quotequote all
the man with the biggest wallet will win.

what i do not understand is the need for a new series just to cater for honda fans, there are lots of good club series around at the moment like the tin tops, golf gti or MR2s, why start another for a specific type of car just because a few people on an internet forum think it would be a good idea.... first year will be ok, second year will have a few more cars, then money gets spent at the front of the grid, the back of the grid get disillusioned, third year suffers from massive drop in competitors... series folds, you read it here first...

what next?, someone with a burning passion for a daewoo develops the daewoo matiz racing championship?

MMC Andy

527 posts

222 months

Tuesday 17th August 2010
quotequote all
Actually, you can't knock individuals for having the passion & 'get up and go' to make it happen - it's the clubs like the BARC that say "Yep, come and join us, no problem". They have a responsibility to protect motorsport in this country; but are being mis-managed and probably unaware themselves of what else is racing in the UK.