The East Coast Honda Challenge made its second visit to the Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course in Lexington, Ohio for round 2 of the 2006 points season. The drivers were looking forward to getting some preparatory experience for the National Championships later this year.

The Saturday practice session was a wet one, which made the freshly paved Mid-Ohio pavement extremely slick. The clouds soon moved out though, and the competitors would be delighted to see much sunshine for the remainder of the weekend.

In H1, Chad Slagg would qualify on the pole with a time of 1:43.1 in his #01 K20 powered Civic SI. Pete Curpier in his #42 LS-Vtec Civic coupe would take the 2nd spot, while Kevin Helms in the #05 LS-Vtec Civic hatchback would be slotted in 3rd. Jason Franza in the #06 ITR, John Oldt in the #75 S2000, Kelsey Smith in the #12 S2000, and Kelley Mossgrove in the #31 Civic would round out the H1 grid, respectively. Slagg, Curpier, Helms, and Franza would remain fairly close to one another for the majority of the race. With just five laps to go, an axle problem forced Franza to retire, while engine trouble would end the day for Curpier. Slagg would hold on for the win, while Helms, Oldt, Smith, and Mossgrove would round out the finishing order respectively.  

H2 would see a battle between two Integra Type R. John Whitaker in the #88 would qualify on the pole with a time of 1:51.8, while Mark Stewart in the #55 would take the 2nd spot. Experience would prove valuable for Whitaker, as he would cruise to the win in just his 3rd race in his new car.

In H3, Brian Ehmer in the #42 Prelude would take the class pole by more than a second over Andy Hughes in the #99 Civic SI. Ehmer would be have an easy day, and would cruise to the checker and take the win.

In H4, Colin Botha would take the class pole in his #96 CRX with a qualifying time of 1:47.9. Clifton Chang in the #44 CRX would take 2nd, while Andrew Zimmerman in the #81 Integra and Matt Filkins in the #77 Integra would round out the H4 grid. Botha would have a relatively easy day and would take the win, while running a speedy fast lap of 1:46.6. Ching would take 2nd, while Zimmerman and Filkins would claim 3rd and 4th, respectively.

H5 was a battle and like so many races before, it would come down to the wire. Tom Lamb would claim the class pole in the #91 CRX with a time of 1:51.2. Slotted in 2nd, with his #52 CRX, would be Adam Mouradian. Claiming the 3rd spot on the grid would be David Lee in the #90 Integra. Zephyr Belski in the #517 Civic, Beno Rubin in the #8 Civic, and Kim Ratcliffe in the #84 Civic would round out the H5 grid. In a heated battle for the entire race, Mouradian would be able to overtake Lamb for the win, while Belski would claim 3rd. Lee, Rubin, and Ratcliffe would take the 4th, 5th, and 6th positions.

Much rain fell throughout the early morning hours, but all was dry at the time of the first green flag Sunday. The track was dry, fast, and the competitors were eager to get their craft out in the optimal conditions. In preparation for the National Championships in September, a “qualifying race” format was used. This format takes the competitors’ finishing positions in the qualifying session, and sets the race grid accordingly, as opposed to a more traditional “fast lap” format.

Slagg would yet again earn the pole in H1 with a time of 1:42.6, with Curpier and Smith rounding out the top 3. Oldt, Mossgrove, Martin, Helms, and Franza would round out the H1 grid. Although Curpier would apply intense pressure on Slagg for the entire race, Slagg would once again hold on for the class win. Curpier would earn the 2nd, while Franza would come from 8th in class to finish 3rd. Mossgrove, Helms, Martin would complete the finishing order. Oldt and Smith were forced to retire after suffering contact just after the section of track known as “Thunder Valley”.

H2 saw a repeat of Saturday, with Whitaker yet again taking the pole. Stewart would start from the 2nd spot on the grid. Whitaker would again display a dominant performance, and would complete a double-win weekend.

Similar to H2, H3 would essentially remain unchanged from the day before. Ehmer would yet again take the class pole, while Hughes would be slotted in 2nd. Ehmer would yet again take the win.

In H4, Zimmerman would claim the pole due to Botha and Ching being disqualified by the NASA stewards in the “qualifying race” session. Trevor Melville, who had not participated in the Saturday race, would claim the 2nd spot on the grid, with Filkins and Bambach taking the 3rd and 4th spot. In the race, with impressive determination, Ching and Botha would charge to the front to claim the 1st and 2nd spots. Zimmerman would claim another 3rd place finish, with Bambach, Filkins, and Melville taking the 4th, 5th, and 6th positions.

H5 saw yet another photo finish. Mouradian would claim the pole, while Lee, Belski, Lamb, and Rubin rounded out the top 5. In the race, as you probably could have guessed, yet another intense battle was had. Lee would be able to take the win from Mouradian, who would claim 2nd. Rubin would end his weekend on a high note with a solid 3rd place performace, while Belski and Lamb rounded out the H5 finishing order.

The East Coast Honda Challenge travels to Carolina Motorsports Park for Rounds 5 & 6  of the 2006 points season on May 6th and 7th. For more information, please visit www.honda-challenge.com .

The East Coast Honda-Challenge would like to sincerely thank King RAT Motorsports, NASA Mid- Atlantic, Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course , all corner workers, drivers, crew, and spectators for making Rounds 3 and 4  so enjoyable.