Back at the beginning of March, you may recall that we were on our way to pick up the donor car that would become our fourth KONI Challenge entry (you can read that blog article here). What I didn't mention was what platform we would use for our new steed.

Given that we already have a stable of three competitive Acura TSXs, common logic would be that we'd add another. Not so, because 2008 marks the last year of the current TSX model! So if we're not building another TSX, what the dickens have the crew been busy with since March?

At last year's Grand-Am banquet in Las Vegas, we had the pleasure of hosting a couple of Honda's top brass, who were on hand to receive a trophy for the KONI Challenge Manufacturer's Championship (which our four firsts helped win). Over the course of the evening, we chatted about the future of street stock racing, and how that fits within Honda's over-all position in the motorsports world.

When I look at the Honda brand in motorsport, I think it has a very solid presence in top-tier open-wheel racing through Formula One and the IRL. At the grassroots, there's the Honda Challenge, an entry-level series that's great fun for folks starting out in regional racing. But in North America, the rest of the motorsports efforts have (for the most part) been put towards the Acura brand, which is supported in the ALMS P2 category, SPEED World Challenge Touring, and KONI Challenge Street Tuner.

So my thought is that there's a good opportunity to utilize the Honda brand in one of the professional street stock series. Since SWC Touring and KONI ST play to a similar demographic, why not run the TSX in one series and a Honda product in the other?

The end result is that Honda is going to support both the existing TSX and the new Honda Civic Si in the KONI Challenge. We're pretty excited about this, as we know our Acuras are competitive, and we'll have the opportunity to develop a new platform that Honda can use for marketing its master brand.

We like the new Civic Si a lot. It's a pretty amazing piece of kit, right off the showroom floor. It's an ideal ride for a car enthusiast on a budget, combining fun-through-the-twisties with enough practicality for weekly trips to the grocery store with the family.

I think the Civic provides a platform that can punch above its weight against cars in more premium market segments. In Street Tuner class, we've got BMW 330is and Z4s, Subaru Legacy's, Mini Cooper S's, Mazda RX-8s and MX-5's Miatas, all more expensive than the little Honda. If we can make the Si competitive, I think we'll have a great story to take the marketplace. All of which is good for Honda, the Civic and the Grand-Am KONI Challenge, raising the profile of each.



I'm excited about running the new car. Although the team has built cars from the ground up before, this is the first one we've done since we combined the Compass360 Racing and Kensai efforts at the end of last year. And it's going to be the car that I drive, starting with Lime Rock!

Given that my co-driver (Travis Walker) and I are leading the Driver's Championship, and Compass360 is in the Team lead, we're really hoping our little Civic is going to be competitive. Knowing that our three TSXs are in capable hands (really solid driver line-ups in each car, including last year's champions!), gives me confidence for the rest of the year, even if the Civic proves to need more development than we expect.

We'll have a better idea in the next few weeks. But in the meanwhile, I can't wait to get behind the wheel of our new Honda.

Labels: gablog