- Sticking To The Rules
- The Ichishima Connection
- Cooler, Faster, Stronger
- Setting The Pace
- Brains Over Brawn
It’s been 18 years since the inaugural 25 Hours of Thunderhill took place and kicked off an annual event that’s equal parts preparation, skill, and staying power. Created by NASA’s Jerry Kunzman and Ali Arsham, the idea of the day-plus race was to put drivers, teams, and machines to the ultimate test through a grueling event that would serve as the longest closed road race in U.S. history.
In all those years, the event has seen vehicles of all types competing in various classes including Spoon Sports USA, which took part in the 2013 race with a Honda CR-Z. The fully prepped chassis was powered by its native hybrid power plant and, eight years later, the stateside outfit decided to give it another try, this time behind the wheel of a Civic Type R.
Sticking To The Rules
In a joint effort with Spoon Sports Japan, the vehicle was built in Southern California to NASA ST3 specs in order to compete in the E0 class. Guidelines are strict and very clear, prohibiting the use of nitrous oxide, aero that protrudes too far beyond the width of the body, etc.
The group at Spoon relied on longtime partner Chris Eimer of Eimeer Engineering for much of the chassis build-up, along with Kelvin Yong on the U.S. end, with engineering input from Daisuke Jomoto and Tsuyoshi Hara of Japan.
The Ichishima Connection
The driver squad consisted of seven participants that would trade piloting duties throughout the 25-hour affair. Of that group, Dai Yoshihara would be on duty, as would the legendary Tarzan Yamada. In addition, Spoon founder and president, Tatsuru Ichishima would take on driving duties. A longtime fan of this event, his favorite to compete in, the Japanese tuning icon would enjoy favorable timing: He would be celebrating his 70th birthday from behind the wheel. And, if you’re at all invested in otherworldly numerical values, you can pull some inspiration from tallying up Mr. Ichishima’s 70th birthday with the 25 Hours of intended track time, which magically equates to Spoon Sports’ race number of 95.
What started as a standard Type R right off the dealership parking lot was torn down and prepped for battle using much of the Spoon Sports catalog and plenty of custom touches. What you can easily spot in the photos are Spoon front and rear bumpers, the crane neck spoiler, aero mirrors, and 18-inch SW388 wheels. What might slip by you are the lexan windows, dry carbon fiber roof and trunk, and lightweight composite doors. Local paint guru Signature Autobody did an excellent job of hiding everything with Spoon’s signature paint colors remixed into a digital camo-style that modernizes the classic scallops.
Cooler, Faster, Stronger
The original K20C1 engine received Spoon’s larger turbo fed by a prototype air guide system with exhaust moving out quicker with an RV6 downpipe and to the Spoon N1 muffler kit. Cooling was a major concern and addressed with a trio of GReddy Performance Products with their intercooler, oil cooler, and transmission cooler, in addition to the Spoon radiator. Hondata’s trusty FlashPro allowed for fine tuning and power is transferred through an OS Giken clutch, LSD and Spoon axles.
The Spoon part numbers continue into the car’s suspension but the majority of upgrades come from other manufacturers, like the KW Competition three-way Motorsport dampers with Swift springs, HPD rear upper arms, and a slew of RV6 bushings, arms and links. Inside the driver’s quarters, a custom roll cage built by Rob “Chairslayer” Parsons surrounds a Sparco Circuit seat and proper safety equipment like a window net, fire suppression system, and more were integrated into the build.
Thursday prior to the race is used as an open practice day for teams to get acquainted with the track and iron out any issues before competing. The Spoon Sports team arrived and set up Wednesday night so that it could get started early on Thursday. The entire driver roster got its share of seat time during testing, starting with the Japanese drivers who had yet to encounter the car in person. Avid track pilots, they acclimated quickly to the left-hand drive layout and seemed to be settling in nicely. The rest of the team was busy taking data on fuel consumption and engine vitals while the mechanics on hand from Japan rehearsed their pit stop procedures.
Setting The Pace
Friday served as another practice day, followed by official qualifying sessions. Tarzan Yamada took the wheel and qualified the Spoon FK8 in P2 in their class. Immediately after, the team was let loose on the car to inspect and re-torque all crucial components, each of which was paint penned, a process that lasted until one in the morning.
On Saturday, all the preparation and theory gets put to the test. Once again, Tarzan was on duty and held second place comfortably without any vehicle issues along the way. At close to 50 laps, the class leader experienced a failure and wasn’t able to get back on track, leaving the top spot for Spoon Sports. However, a new challenger appeared—a Mustang from DIG Motorsports charging hard lap after lap.
Brains Over Brawn
That Mustang proved to be a few seconds faster per lap, but this is where endurance racing gets interesting. Head-to-head, the Ford had the speed advantage, that was obvious based on the numbers coming back, but where Spoon made up the time difference and moved ahead was in its lightning quick refueling, tire changes, and driver swapping, as well as the CTR’s reliability. Add to that a little bit of luck in that during a corner worker changing of the guard, pit lane was closed, however, Spoon had just completed a pit stop the lap prior, saving them even more time and securing the lead position. Things came to a halt at about 6:45 p.m. on Saturday as event organizers felt the heavy incoming fog was just too thick to continue racing through the night.
A 30-minute warning was issued to all teams at 4:00 a.m. with the race ready to resume. Most of the Spoon Sports team had not rested, as the race could have restarted at any point throughout the night. Nevertheless, morale remained high and adrenaline kept everyone alert and ready for action. As the race progressed, the Spoon team’s lead continued to pull further away from the closest competitor. With 12 laps left, driving duties were graciously handed off to Tatsuru Ichishima who would go on to take the Spoon Sports Civic Type R to victory in the E0 class and a very impressive 10th place overall standing. Not a bad way to celebrate your 70th birthday, behind the wheel of a race program cultivated from 2 different continents that your legacy helped fuel.
Keyword: 25 Grueling Hours at Thunderhill in Spoon Sports' Honda Civic Type R