Arena Motorsport

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Arena Motorsport
Motor racing team
Founded 1999
Country Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
Team Principal(s) Mike Earle
Current series Le Mans Series
A1 Grand Prix
British F3
Former series BTCC
12 Hours of Sebring
24 Hours of Le Mans
European Le Mans Series
Drivers' titles -
Teams' titles 2001 ELMS

Arena International Motorsport is a British motor racing team founded by Mike Earle. The team made their racing debut in the British Touring Car Championship in 1999, where they ran for many years before moving to become a factory-supported Zytek sports car team in the Le Mans Series in 2007.

Contents

[edit] BTCC

Arena's first season saw the team running a year-old Renault Laguna for Russell Spence, who was later replaced by Will Hoy. The team disappeared from the series for a while, but in 2001 approached Honda about running a Civic on an independent basis. However, Honda chose to give the team full manufacturer backing for the 2002 season, with Alan Morrison and Andy Priaulx driving. There was some initial success, and in 2003 newcomer Matt Neal finished third in the standings for them, in what was Arena's best year in the BTCC with six wins and finishing second in the Teams' and Manufacturers' Championships.

However Honda chose to reduce their support, leaving Arena running a single car for Tom Chilton in 2004 and claim two wins. Honda's support was gone altogether in in 2005 but despite missing the opening and closing meetings of the year Chilton went on to take four wins in the 2005 season before they decided to sell off their Civic to Fast-Tec Motorsport, although Arena provided some assistance with setting up the car. Arena then moved on to a full time sports car team.

[edit] Sports car racing

In 2003, Arena chose to enter sports car racing, being chosen to represent Audi Sport UK. The team would run an Audi R8 at the 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans. A driving team of Mika Salo, Jonny Kane, and Perry McCarthy were able to take sixth place at Sebring, but the team's fortune at Le Mans turned sour as Frank Biela mistakenly missed his pit stop and ran out of fuel early in the race.

For 2004, Arena initially planned to run a privateer Dome prototype at Le Mans, but the plan did not come together and their entry was withdrawn. A second attempt in 2005 with a new Zytek also did not occur. Finally, in 2007, Arena was able to purchase a Zytek 07S, with plans to enter the full Le Mans Series season as the factory squad in LMP1 with Tom Chilton and Hayanari Shimoda.

Arena's 2007 effort would suffer mechanical setbacks early, with the team struggling to finish races due to throttle cable linkage failures. The team was also forced to withdraw from Le Mans when a heavy accident during testing damage the car so badly that repairs could not be completed in the two weeks prior to the race. Arena was however able to finish in eighth place at the Nürburgring, earning them their first points of the season.

Le Mans Series results[1]
Year Class Car Drivers Wins Poles Fast laps Points T.C.
2007 LMP1 Zytek 07S-Zytek 2ZG408 4.0L V8 Flag of the United Kingdom Tom Chilton
Flag of the United Kingdom Max Chilton
Flag of Japan Hayanari Shimoda		 0 8 8th*
  • D.C. = Drivers' Championship position, T.C. = Teams' Championship position.

[edit] Formulas

In 2006-07, Arena join the young A1 Grand Prix series maniaging both A1 Team India[5] and A1 Team Greece[6] but this last one didn't race all season.

Arena involve in 2007 in British Formula Three Championship with Max Chilton[7] without success.

British Formula Three Championship Results[8]
Year Car Drivers Wins Poles Fast laps Points D.C. T.C.
2007 Dallara-Mecachrome Flag of the United Kingdom Max Chilton[7] 0 0 0 0 NC NC
A1 Grand Prix results[9]
Year Car Team Wins Poles Fast laps Points T.C.
2006-07 Lola-Zytek Flag of India A1 Team India 0 0 0 13 16th
Flag of Greece A1 Team Greece 0 0 0 0 24th
2007-08 Lola-Zytek Flag of India A1 Team India 2
  • 2007-08 is the current season.
  • D.C. = Drivers' Championship position, T.C. = Teams' Championship position.

[edit] References

  1. ^ LMS complete results wsrp.ic.cz
  2. ^ 2003 24h of Le Mans results wsrp.ic.cz
  3. ^ 12h of Sebring 2003 results wsrp.ic.cz
  4. ^ ELMS complete results wsrp.ic.cz
  5. ^ A1 team India informations a1podium.com
  6. ^ A1 team Greece informations a1podium.com
  7. ^ a b Chilton career results driverdb.com
  8. ^ British F3 complete results speedsportmag.com
  9. ^ A1GP complete resultsresults.a1gp.com

[edit] External links

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