ECHC 04/03-04/04 Article By: David Teague Back | The weekend started off very cold in the morning for the first Knowledge Performance East Coast Honda Challenge presented by Grassroots Motorsports. Counting up the ECHC had 20 competitors, including the usual suspects from last year and seven new competitors make their first appearance in the ECHC. Qualifying took place before the lunch break after the weather had warmed up some, and to the surprise of everyone including the driver, Corey Jacobs won the overall pole in his H1 SMS/Cobalt Friction Prelude, Corey only ran a few laps in qualification due to some brake issues. The Qualification times were close between the top three. When it came time to race NASA decide to let the ECHC return to its roots with a standing start, even though they were splitting the group, the rest of the group would do a rolling start, this was the first time NASA-VA did this and it went off with a hitch. When the green flag flew 20 Honda/Acuras flew into turn one. Corey Jacobs spun his tires hard as the "Tank" fought hard for traction. This allowed Pete Curpier in the Curpier Motorsports H1 Civic to get next to him in turn one with John Whitaker's Carbotech/RoadRaceGear H1 Civic close behind. Jason Franza had the pole in the Carbotech H2 Type R, however the Curpier Motorsports Type R of Adam Curpier was able to get by Jason Franza on the start for the lead in H2. H3 was a class alone as the Phillips Tire Service Integra GSR of Phil Phillips was the sole competitor. H4 was also another good race as the JE Import Performance Civic of Lynoel Kent held the lead over Jon Kofod's Flatout Racing Integra battle at the start with Lynoel Kent hold his lead. H5 was a battle between David Harrsion's CRX taking the lead over the KingRat Motorsports car of Kim Ratcliffe. Jacobs was able to hold his lead after a slippery start and pulled away from Pete Curpier. Adam Curpier led H2 for the first few laps, then Jason caught him in Turn One by out braking Adam on the outside. However he was not able to keep the inside line closed down and Adam pulled a beautiful move and turned inside of Jason to hold his position. On the next lap, Jason was able to out brake Adam and learning from his earlier mistake was able to prevent Adam from re-passing him, holding on for the rest of the race. While this was going on the H1 battle was heating up as the Curpier Motorsports car was getting stronger and Pete was able to get by Corey coming into turn one and held on for the win. In H4 Lyonel Kent and first time ECHC competitor John Kofod were racing hard for the lead, as well as Jerry Birchmore, battling with ECHC Rookies Andrew Zimmerman, James Mazzone, and Karl Kondor. Lyonel set a track record while racing against Jon Kofod, however Jon was able to get by Lyonel and stretch his lead for a win as Lyonel had a tire give way. The battle for third place was being hard fought between an Old Geezer, Jerry Birchmore's nickname, and three rookies. Jerry went off in Turn 11 allowing Karl Kondor, James Mazzone and Andrew Zimmerman to get by. Karl then also went off in 11 letting James Mazzone and Andrew Zimmerman get by. On the white flag lap, James went into turn one too hard and let Andrew get by. He went on for a third place finish. David Harrison was able to hold his advantage from start to finish to take the win in H1. Sunday morning for the second Knowledge Performance East Coast Honda Challenge Presented by Grassroots Motorsports was very windy but sunny. The wind got stronger as the day progressed and times in qualification were affected as everyone seemed to be about two seconds slower due to the strong headwind blowing down the back stretch. When the qualification results were posted, Warren Wang in his H1 SGT Racing Type-R was on the pole. However the next three competitors were all with in .4 tenths of a second, John Whitakers Carbotech/Road Race Gear H1 Civic, The Curpier Motorsports car of Pete Curpier and Corey Jacobs in the Cobalt Friction SMS H1 Prelude was fourth in H1. This would lead to a very close race. When the green flag dropped, Warren held the lead and Corey passed Pete for third. These cars proved how close they were as for the first five laps they were all with in a car length of each other. Warren Wang held the lead until he had an off in Turn Four and lost three positions, giving John Whitaker the lead. Pete Curpier was getting faster as the race went on and passed Corey Jacobs for second. Warren Wang was able to get by Corey Jacobs for third. With Curpier closing in on Whitaker, he could not let up but was able to hold off Pete Curpier and take the win, giving us two races and two different winners in what looks to be an exciting and close year in H1. H2 was a battle of Phoenix Yellow Type R's. The Carbotech H2 Type R of Jason Franza had the pole however Adam Curpier in his H2 Type R qualified right next to him. At the start Adam Curpier was able to take the lead, however by lap two Jason had closed and like Saturday, he tried to out brake Curpier going into turn one. Adam was ready and as Jason out braked him he pulled behind Jason then cut inside and was able to retake his position as quick as he lost it. From there he was able to stretch his lead out. Unfortunately it was not to be as engine trouble jumped up and Adam Curpier pulled his car off into the grass in turn one with two laps to go, allowing Jason Franza to cruise to the win. Phil Phillips was in a Class by himself in H3 and got two easy wins this weekend in the Phillips Tires Service H3 Integra GSR. H4 was the second largest class and once again Lyonel Kent in the JE Import Performance H4 Civic was on the pole, Rookie James Mazzone was next to him qualifying second, with Saturday's race winner, Jon Kofod, starting in the back of the field due some engine trouble. At the start Kent was able to pull away from Mazzone. Due to some tires issue, Lyonel Kent was on some borrowed rubber, which would play heavily in the outcome of the race. Rookie Karl Kondor was able to close on Mazzone and take second, however that only held for a few laps as the charging Jon Kofod passed Karl a lap later and took up the chase for Lyonel Kent. Jon Kofod was able to close in as Lyonel's borrowed tires were starting to give way. Jon Kofod was able to pass Kent for the lead, leaving Lyonel and rookie Karl Kondor with a fight on their hands. Lyonel was able to hold on for second and Jon Kofod won his second race in two days. H5 was won by David Harrison who spent most the day battling with some of the H4 cars keeping them between him and the King Rat Motorsports Civic driving by Kim Ratcliff. The East Coast Honda-Challenge would like to thank NASA-VA, Carolina Motorsports Park, all corner workers, drivers, crew, and spectators for making Round One so enjoyable. |