Jonathan F
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Snetterton 300: August 26th/27th (Rounds 9 and 10 of BARC’s VTEC Challenge)
The vast “300” layout at Snetterton played host to rounds 9 and 10 of the VTEC Challenge over the bank holiday weekend of the 26th and 27th August.
Set in the county of Norfolk, the recently re-developed circuit at Snetterton would be running the near 3 mile configuration, which would give the drivers a challenging mixture of flat out straights and complex corners.
Entrants:
01 - Andy Smith – Production - Accord Type R (ATR)
09 - Chris Olive – Super Tuner – Civic (EK9)
24 - Richard Voaden - Super Tuner - Integra (DC2)
26 - Rob Williams – Production - Civic Type R (EP3)
31 - Phil Wright – Production - Accord Type R (ATR)
39 – Rob Burkinshaw - Production - Integra (DC5)
64 - Richard Chilton – Production - Integra (DC2)
70 - Michael Clark – Super Tuner - Civic (EG6)
73 - Stuart King – Production – Integra (DC2)
83 - Lee Bennett-Neal – Invitational – Integra (DC2)
85 - Stewart Hutchinson – Tuner - Integra (DC2)
98 - Mark Chese – Production - Civic Type R (EP3)
Qualifying:
After missing out on the action at Croft, Stuart King returned to the grid for Snetterton, having put the Integra on a serious diet before the event, stripping a large amount of weight from the car and improving the already potent power to weight ratio in the process.
Not out since Pembrey, Chris Olive was welcomed back to the fold with his EK9 Civic, looking blow the cobwebs off and put his new suspension to the test.
With growing competition from several of the guys, Rich Voaden had given his Integra a thorough going over to try and get to the bottom of his drive shaft issues. With time running out before the event, it was hoped that the last minute development work would pay off.
Perhaps his fellow competitors are keeping him busy at “Performance Autoworks” on purpose, just to deny him the chance of working on his own car! In the run up to the weekend, the garage at PA looked like a mini grid for the VTC.
Having lost 3rd gear at Croft, the EP3 Civic of Mark Chese was back with a full compliment of gears for the weekend ahead, and would be looking for class battles.
Running one of the biggest changes was series organiser Mike Clark, who had ousted the B16 from his lightweight EG Civic, to replace it with a fully built K22! With a wicked power to weight ratio, he would be one to watch come race time.
Having set pole and showed his metal at Croft, newcomer Rob Burkinshaw was out to show it was no fluke and would be taking the fight to the series front runners.
As the drivers peeled out of the assembly area and took to the track, no one could have anticipated the events of the coming 48 hours.
Taking time to become accustomed to the circuit layout, everyone completed the out lap safely, and then began to push on to set their quickest times.
Unfortunately for “VTEC Directs” Andy Smith, qualifying was over before it had really begun, with the Accord coasting to a halt in a cloud of smoke at the entrance to the pit lane. A later diagnosis of a dropped valve appeared to be the cause of the early retirement.
Setting the early pace was Rich Voaden in his DC2, with Mike Clark close by in the “R-Motion” Civic, which was now running in “Super Tuner” thanks to the installation of a K22 engine.
On lap 4, trouble hit Phil Wright’s ATR as a conrod punched its way through the engine block. The resulting small fire was quickly dealt with by the Snetterton marshals; however it now looked as though both Accords would be heading home early.
Two laps later and Rich Voaden came unexpectedly into the pits with clutch issues and a disturbing vibration from the engine/gearbox.
With Rob at ease with the circuit he began to push on as the pack opened up, allowing the driver from Sheffield to utilise the clear track.
Lap 7 saw Stewart return to the pits after suffering with fuel starvation on the circuit’s long bends, which badly affected his overall lap times. As a result 8th place was as high as he could manage.
As the results came out, it was shown that Rob Burkinshaw had again put his DC5 on pole, nearly a full second ahead of Mike.
Pole: Rob Burkinshaw
2nd: Rich Voaden
3rd: Mike Clark
With all cars recovered, discussions soon turned to the issues with Andy’s, Phil’s and Rich’s cars. All 3 looked to be out of contention for the races taking place on the Monday, but the guys had other ideas.
It was time to cue the “A-Team” music as a plan came together!
With the first race 18 hours away, Andy jumped into his van and headed back to the “VTEC Direct” HQ in Cheshire to load up with all of the necessary parts and tools needed to carry out two engine swaps. That included the two H22 engines that he had stored back at the factory!
Mike and Kris commandeered 4 garages, and willing volunteers pushed the stricken Accords into the bays ready to be stripped.
Rich’s Integra slotted in next door, where it was found to be in need of a new clutch. Thankfully Rich had a replacement; however this was back at “Performance Autoworks” in Gloucester!
As Andy headed north, Rich and Deb headed south to retrieve their parts and anything else that might be needed to help rebuild the Accords.
Returning shortly before midnight, Andy unloaded the van and grabbed a few hours sleep.
After a 400 mile round trip, Rich worked through the night to fit a new clutch, to ensure he would make the grid come race day. No sooner had he finished with his own car, Rich moved garages to help strip the Accords and begin the mammoth job of rebuilding them both.
At first light, both Accords were stripped of their engines, and the mammoth task of swapping over the ancillaries and refitting the engines began.
Working side by side, the teams pressed on as the time to the first race ticked down.
First to fire was the “VTEC Direct” steed, to the sound of rapturous applause. Apart from a small oil leak from the driveshaft (which was quickly resolved) there were no further issues, and the car was taken for a quick spin to ensure all was well.
All attention then turned to Phil’s engine swap, where thankfully an overrunning timetable meant the last minute problems that were thrown up, could be addressed, with the Accord bursting into life minutes before the race started.
It was a phenomenal achievement by all involved to ensure all 3 cars made it back on circuit, but make it they did.
Race 1:
With everyone assembled and ready to go out on track, rain began to fall.
Everyone was set up for a dry race, so handling would be interesting to say the least! Heading out on to the track directly after the truck race wouldn’t help matters either, as they are prone to leaving deposits of diesel and water on circuit, which we know don’t mix well!
On pole, Rob was lined up to lead the pack to “Riches” and then the drag down to the hairpin of “Montreal”.
Following the customary green flag lap, everyone lined up on the grid waiting for the lights to change and the race to start. With drizzle steadily falling, track conditions worsened.
With the lights out, the pole sitting Integra of Burkinshaw struggled for grip despite a low rpm launch and ended up loosing ground to those around him.
Rich Voaden seized the opportunity and slotted himself into the lead, with Mike Clark 2nd and Mark Chese sneaking through to take 3rd.
Storming through from last place, Andy Smith and his “Franken-cord” ATR made an impressive start and carved down the outside of the pack to join the front runners and on to take 6th place before the end of lap 1.
Around “Montreal” for the first time it was Voaden from Clark, Chese and Burkinshaw who had managed to find some grip in the treacherous conditions.
Coming through from 8th, Hutchinson in his DC2 became boxed in at hairpin which dropped him back to 11th. Not one to give up, Stewart then began to pick his way through the field and had fought his way up to 5th place by lap 2. Unfortunately a slight off at “Hamilton” on the following lap undid all the good work and dropped him a couple of places, leaving him it all to do again. Now in 7th place Stewart regained his pace and pushed on to climb back up to 4th place at the time of the chequred flag, with some fantastic overtaking manoeuvres in the process.
With his EP3 not liking the conditions, it was all Mark could do to keep the black and green civic on the track, which meant he slowly dropped down the running order as grip eluded him.
Rob Williams took up the reigns for 5th place, with Andy Smith closing hard and fast. Stu King and Rich Chilton began a race long dice as the laps unfolded, with both DC2 being evenly matched.
The battle between Williams and Smith continued, both playing to their car’s strengths and suffering at the hands of their weaknesses.
Smith closed up on Williams, and took to the outside of “Coram” to take 4th place on lap 3, but the EP3 Civic reclaimed the place as the ATR was unable to answer the extra turn of speed shown by Williams.
With Clark keeping Voaden within reach, he began to make his intentions clear and planned for the overtake. Watching his mirrors as well as the track ahead, Voaden had to anticipate Clark’s move, however on lap 4 the conditions got the better of Voaden as he braked hard for “Brundle” and found the Integra unwilling to respond to the drivers input. The resulting spin allowed both Clark and Burkinshaw to pass, and Voaden re-joined in 3rd place.
Another struggling for grip was Chris Olive in his EK9 Civic, who whilst pushing from the back of the grid and climbing, spun and damaged the front end of the car, dropping him back to 11th.
With his newly installed engine untested, Phil Wright was happy to be racing, and climbing a couple of places in the process. Crossing the line in 10th place, Wright described it as the “race of his life”!
Not on the pace of the rest of the grid, local racer Lee Bennett-Neal closed out the race.
Out front, Clark maintained his lead over a closing Burkinshaw, with Voaden taking 3rd place overall.
1st: - Mike Clark – EG Civic - Super Tuner
2nd: - Rob Burkinshaw – DC5 Type R - Production
3rd: - Rich Voaden – DC2 – Super Tuner
Class wins were awarded to:
(Invitation) Lee Bennett-Neal
(P) Rob Burkinshaw
(ST) Mike Clark
(T) Stewart Hutchinson
Fastest lap – Rich Voaden - 2.21.990 on lap 6 of 6 (Check on TSL)
Thankfully everyone returned to the paddock, with only Chris Olive requiring some remedial panel repairs and a check of the car’s diagnostics.
Race 2:
With the green flag waved to signal the start of the race, everyone set off on their warm up lap of the circuit.
Unfortunately upon rounding the hairpin, the ATR of Phil Wright started to miss-fire, creating the need for a split decision to be made. Not wanting to hold up the start of the race, or cause any unnecessary damage, Phil decided to park up.
With the remaining car’s lined up on the grid, engine rev’s rose as everyone waited for the lights to go out. It was race 1 winner Clark that showed the others the way, as he buried the throttle in his K22 powered EG Civic.
With better conditions than the first race, Voaden was close on the bumper of Clark, with Hutchinson catching a fantastic start to the race and jumping ahead of Burkinshaw’s DC5 into 3rd place.
Around “Montreal” and it was the two Rob’s that battled side by side. Down to “Palmer” nothing separated them, but it was Rob B who held the inside line and took 4th place behind Hutchinson.
Having a better 2nd race, Chris Olive climbed up the leader board as he battled with Andy Smith, Mark Chese and Rich Chilton. Smith was finding his lack of power a significant disadvantage in the relative “heavy weight” Accord and found he was unable to close up on the top runners. Despite this, a race long battle ensued between all 4 cars.
With Clark out in front, Voaden kept to within about half a second of the speeding Civic and in doing so pulled out a significant gap on the 3rd and 4th placed pairing of Hutchinson and Burkinshaw, as well as the rest of the field.
Rob Williams held on to his 5th place, despite a concerted effort from a closing King. With barely any gap between the pair, it was down to the wire as they crossed the line.
In a reversal of fortunes form race 1, Voaden began to build pressure on Clark as the race drew to a close and seized his opportunity on the entry to “Montreal” and squeezed past Mike to take the lead on the last lap!
Despite his best efforts, Mike would have to settle for 2nd place overall, ahead of a hard charging Hutchinson who took the final podium spot.
1st: - Rich Voaden - H22 DC2 - Super Tuner
2nd: - Mike Clark – EG Civic - Super Tuner
3rd: - Stew Hutchinson – DC2 - Tuner
Class wins were awarded to:
(Invitation) Lee Bennett-Neal
(P) Rob Burkinshaw
(ST) Rich Voaden
(T) Stewart Hutchinson
Fastest lap – Rich Voaden - 2.13.346 on lap 5 of 7
Summary:
The weekend’s event at Snetterton has to go down as one of the most action packed in VTC history with an unequivocal show of the team spiritedness that thrives within the series and its members.
There are names too numerous to mention here, however a special note of thanks has to go out to Andy and Ben at “VTEC Direct”, and Rich Voaden from “Performance Autoworks” who’s efforts saw the seemingly impossible made possible.
Thanks again go out to the BARC, and sponsors Yokohama Tyres, HEL, VTEC Direct, Hendy Performance, Petronas Oils, R-Motion and Total Honda for their continuing support.
The VTEC Challenge heads to Mallory on the 30th September for the penultimate event and rounds 11 and 12.
See you there, if you can handle the pace!
The vast “300” layout at Snetterton played host to rounds 9 and 10 of the VTEC Challenge over the bank holiday weekend of the 26th and 27th August.
Set in the county of Norfolk, the recently re-developed circuit at Snetterton would be running the near 3 mile configuration, which would give the drivers a challenging mixture of flat out straights and complex corners.
Entrants:
01 - Andy Smith – Production - Accord Type R (ATR)
09 - Chris Olive – Super Tuner – Civic (EK9)
24 - Richard Voaden - Super Tuner - Integra (DC2)
26 - Rob Williams – Production - Civic Type R (EP3)
31 - Phil Wright – Production - Accord Type R (ATR)
39 – Rob Burkinshaw - Production - Integra (DC5)
64 - Richard Chilton – Production - Integra (DC2)
70 - Michael Clark – Super Tuner - Civic (EG6)
73 - Stuart King – Production – Integra (DC2)
83 - Lee Bennett-Neal – Invitational – Integra (DC2)
85 - Stewart Hutchinson – Tuner - Integra (DC2)
98 - Mark Chese – Production - Civic Type R (EP3)
Qualifying:
After missing out on the action at Croft, Stuart King returned to the grid for Snetterton, having put the Integra on a serious diet before the event, stripping a large amount of weight from the car and improving the already potent power to weight ratio in the process.
Not out since Pembrey, Chris Olive was welcomed back to the fold with his EK9 Civic, looking blow the cobwebs off and put his new suspension to the test.
With growing competition from several of the guys, Rich Voaden had given his Integra a thorough going over to try and get to the bottom of his drive shaft issues. With time running out before the event, it was hoped that the last minute development work would pay off.
Perhaps his fellow competitors are keeping him busy at “Performance Autoworks” on purpose, just to deny him the chance of working on his own car! In the run up to the weekend, the garage at PA looked like a mini grid for the VTC.
Having lost 3rd gear at Croft, the EP3 Civic of Mark Chese was back with a full compliment of gears for the weekend ahead, and would be looking for class battles.
Running one of the biggest changes was series organiser Mike Clark, who had ousted the B16 from his lightweight EG Civic, to replace it with a fully built K22! With a wicked power to weight ratio, he would be one to watch come race time.
Having set pole and showed his metal at Croft, newcomer Rob Burkinshaw was out to show it was no fluke and would be taking the fight to the series front runners.
As the drivers peeled out of the assembly area and took to the track, no one could have anticipated the events of the coming 48 hours.
Taking time to become accustomed to the circuit layout, everyone completed the out lap safely, and then began to push on to set their quickest times.
Unfortunately for “VTEC Directs” Andy Smith, qualifying was over before it had really begun, with the Accord coasting to a halt in a cloud of smoke at the entrance to the pit lane. A later diagnosis of a dropped valve appeared to be the cause of the early retirement.
Setting the early pace was Rich Voaden in his DC2, with Mike Clark close by in the “R-Motion” Civic, which was now running in “Super Tuner” thanks to the installation of a K22 engine.
On lap 4, trouble hit Phil Wright’s ATR as a conrod punched its way through the engine block. The resulting small fire was quickly dealt with by the Snetterton marshals; however it now looked as though both Accords would be heading home early.
Two laps later and Rich Voaden came unexpectedly into the pits with clutch issues and a disturbing vibration from the engine/gearbox.
With Rob at ease with the circuit he began to push on as the pack opened up, allowing the driver from Sheffield to utilise the clear track.
Lap 7 saw Stewart return to the pits after suffering with fuel starvation on the circuit’s long bends, which badly affected his overall lap times. As a result 8th place was as high as he could manage.
As the results came out, it was shown that Rob Burkinshaw had again put his DC5 on pole, nearly a full second ahead of Mike.
Pole: Rob Burkinshaw
2nd: Rich Voaden
3rd: Mike Clark
With all cars recovered, discussions soon turned to the issues with Andy’s, Phil’s and Rich’s cars. All 3 looked to be out of contention for the races taking place on the Monday, but the guys had other ideas.
It was time to cue the “A-Team” music as a plan came together!
With the first race 18 hours away, Andy jumped into his van and headed back to the “VTEC Direct” HQ in Cheshire to load up with all of the necessary parts and tools needed to carry out two engine swaps. That included the two H22 engines that he had stored back at the factory!
Mike and Kris commandeered 4 garages, and willing volunteers pushed the stricken Accords into the bays ready to be stripped.
Rich’s Integra slotted in next door, where it was found to be in need of a new clutch. Thankfully Rich had a replacement; however this was back at “Performance Autoworks” in Gloucester!
As Andy headed north, Rich and Deb headed south to retrieve their parts and anything else that might be needed to help rebuild the Accords.
Returning shortly before midnight, Andy unloaded the van and grabbed a few hours sleep.
After a 400 mile round trip, Rich worked through the night to fit a new clutch, to ensure he would make the grid come race day. No sooner had he finished with his own car, Rich moved garages to help strip the Accords and begin the mammoth job of rebuilding them both.
At first light, both Accords were stripped of their engines, and the mammoth task of swapping over the ancillaries and refitting the engines began.
Working side by side, the teams pressed on as the time to the first race ticked down.
First to fire was the “VTEC Direct” steed, to the sound of rapturous applause. Apart from a small oil leak from the driveshaft (which was quickly resolved) there were no further issues, and the car was taken for a quick spin to ensure all was well.
All attention then turned to Phil’s engine swap, where thankfully an overrunning timetable meant the last minute problems that were thrown up, could be addressed, with the Accord bursting into life minutes before the race started.
It was a phenomenal achievement by all involved to ensure all 3 cars made it back on circuit, but make it they did.
Race 1:
With everyone assembled and ready to go out on track, rain began to fall.
Everyone was set up for a dry race, so handling would be interesting to say the least! Heading out on to the track directly after the truck race wouldn’t help matters either, as they are prone to leaving deposits of diesel and water on circuit, which we know don’t mix well!
On pole, Rob was lined up to lead the pack to “Riches” and then the drag down to the hairpin of “Montreal”.
Following the customary green flag lap, everyone lined up on the grid waiting for the lights to change and the race to start. With drizzle steadily falling, track conditions worsened.
With the lights out, the pole sitting Integra of Burkinshaw struggled for grip despite a low rpm launch and ended up loosing ground to those around him.
Rich Voaden seized the opportunity and slotted himself into the lead, with Mike Clark 2nd and Mark Chese sneaking through to take 3rd.
Storming through from last place, Andy Smith and his “Franken-cord” ATR made an impressive start and carved down the outside of the pack to join the front runners and on to take 6th place before the end of lap 1.
Around “Montreal” for the first time it was Voaden from Clark, Chese and Burkinshaw who had managed to find some grip in the treacherous conditions.
Coming through from 8th, Hutchinson in his DC2 became boxed in at hairpin which dropped him back to 11th. Not one to give up, Stewart then began to pick his way through the field and had fought his way up to 5th place by lap 2. Unfortunately a slight off at “Hamilton” on the following lap undid all the good work and dropped him a couple of places, leaving him it all to do again. Now in 7th place Stewart regained his pace and pushed on to climb back up to 4th place at the time of the chequred flag, with some fantastic overtaking manoeuvres in the process.
With his EP3 not liking the conditions, it was all Mark could do to keep the black and green civic on the track, which meant he slowly dropped down the running order as grip eluded him.
Rob Williams took up the reigns for 5th place, with Andy Smith closing hard and fast. Stu King and Rich Chilton began a race long dice as the laps unfolded, with both DC2 being evenly matched.
The battle between Williams and Smith continued, both playing to their car’s strengths and suffering at the hands of their weaknesses.
Smith closed up on Williams, and took to the outside of “Coram” to take 4th place on lap 3, but the EP3 Civic reclaimed the place as the ATR was unable to answer the extra turn of speed shown by Williams.
With Clark keeping Voaden within reach, he began to make his intentions clear and planned for the overtake. Watching his mirrors as well as the track ahead, Voaden had to anticipate Clark’s move, however on lap 4 the conditions got the better of Voaden as he braked hard for “Brundle” and found the Integra unwilling to respond to the drivers input. The resulting spin allowed both Clark and Burkinshaw to pass, and Voaden re-joined in 3rd place.
Another struggling for grip was Chris Olive in his EK9 Civic, who whilst pushing from the back of the grid and climbing, spun and damaged the front end of the car, dropping him back to 11th.
With his newly installed engine untested, Phil Wright was happy to be racing, and climbing a couple of places in the process. Crossing the line in 10th place, Wright described it as the “race of his life”!
Not on the pace of the rest of the grid, local racer Lee Bennett-Neal closed out the race.
Out front, Clark maintained his lead over a closing Burkinshaw, with Voaden taking 3rd place overall.
1st: - Mike Clark – EG Civic - Super Tuner
2nd: - Rob Burkinshaw – DC5 Type R - Production
3rd: - Rich Voaden – DC2 – Super Tuner
Class wins were awarded to:
(Invitation) Lee Bennett-Neal
(P) Rob Burkinshaw
(ST) Mike Clark
(T) Stewart Hutchinson
Fastest lap – Rich Voaden - 2.21.990 on lap 6 of 6 (Check on TSL)
Thankfully everyone returned to the paddock, with only Chris Olive requiring some remedial panel repairs and a check of the car’s diagnostics.
Race 2:
With the green flag waved to signal the start of the race, everyone set off on their warm up lap of the circuit.
Unfortunately upon rounding the hairpin, the ATR of Phil Wright started to miss-fire, creating the need for a split decision to be made. Not wanting to hold up the start of the race, or cause any unnecessary damage, Phil decided to park up.
With the remaining car’s lined up on the grid, engine rev’s rose as everyone waited for the lights to go out. It was race 1 winner Clark that showed the others the way, as he buried the throttle in his K22 powered EG Civic.
With better conditions than the first race, Voaden was close on the bumper of Clark, with Hutchinson catching a fantastic start to the race and jumping ahead of Burkinshaw’s DC5 into 3rd place.
Around “Montreal” and it was the two Rob’s that battled side by side. Down to “Palmer” nothing separated them, but it was Rob B who held the inside line and took 4th place behind Hutchinson.
Having a better 2nd race, Chris Olive climbed up the leader board as he battled with Andy Smith, Mark Chese and Rich Chilton. Smith was finding his lack of power a significant disadvantage in the relative “heavy weight” Accord and found he was unable to close up on the top runners. Despite this, a race long battle ensued between all 4 cars.
With Clark out in front, Voaden kept to within about half a second of the speeding Civic and in doing so pulled out a significant gap on the 3rd and 4th placed pairing of Hutchinson and Burkinshaw, as well as the rest of the field.
Rob Williams held on to his 5th place, despite a concerted effort from a closing King. With barely any gap between the pair, it was down to the wire as they crossed the line.
In a reversal of fortunes form race 1, Voaden began to build pressure on Clark as the race drew to a close and seized his opportunity on the entry to “Montreal” and squeezed past Mike to take the lead on the last lap!
Despite his best efforts, Mike would have to settle for 2nd place overall, ahead of a hard charging Hutchinson who took the final podium spot.
1st: - Rich Voaden - H22 DC2 - Super Tuner
2nd: - Mike Clark – EG Civic - Super Tuner
3rd: - Stew Hutchinson – DC2 - Tuner
Class wins were awarded to:
(Invitation) Lee Bennett-Neal
(P) Rob Burkinshaw
(ST) Rich Voaden
(T) Stewart Hutchinson
Fastest lap – Rich Voaden - 2.13.346 on lap 5 of 7
Summary:
The weekend’s event at Snetterton has to go down as one of the most action packed in VTC history with an unequivocal show of the team spiritedness that thrives within the series and its members.
There are names too numerous to mention here, however a special note of thanks has to go out to Andy and Ben at “VTEC Direct”, and Rich Voaden from “Performance Autoworks” who’s efforts saw the seemingly impossible made possible.
Thanks again go out to the BARC, and sponsors Yokohama Tyres, HEL, VTEC Direct, Hendy Performance, Petronas Oils, R-Motion and Total Honda for their continuing support.
The VTEC Challenge heads to Mallory on the 30th September for the penultimate event and rounds 11 and 12.
See you there, if you can handle the pace!
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