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Arena Motorsport

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United Kingdom Arena Motorsport
Founded1999
Founder(s)Mike Earle
Folded2012
BaseLittlehampton, West Sussex, England
Team principal(s)Mike Earle
Former series12 Hours of Sebring
24 Hours of Le Mans
European Le Mans Series
BTCC
Le Mans Series
A1 Grand Prix
British F3
WTCC
Noted driversUnited Kingdom Tom Chilton
Sweden Stefan Johansson
United Kingdom Alan Morrison
United Kingdom Tom Onslow-Cole
United Kingdom Matt Neal
United Kingdom Andy Priaulx
United Kingdom Guy Smith
Teams'
Championships		2001 ELMS
2010 BTCC Ind. Team.
Drivers'
Championships		2010 Ind. BTCC(Chilton)

Arena International Motorsport was a British motor racing team founded by Mike Earle. Earle originally ran the Onyx Formula One team from the same base in Littlehampton, before selling the team. At the end of 2012 the team's new owners, Capsicum Racing Limited, placed the company into CVA.[1]

Earle also created 3001 International and Grand Prix Design, which later morphed into Arena International Motorsport. 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. They returned to the BTCC running the Team Aon operation, until switching to the World Touring Car Championship for the 2012 season.

BTCC

Renault Laguna (1999)

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 then disappeared from the series.

Honda and Team Honda (2001–2005)

In 2001 Arena 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 2005 but despite missing the opening and closing meetings of the year Chilton went on to take four wins in the campaign 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.

Team Aon Ford Focus (2009–2011)

Arena-run Ford Focus at the 2009 BTCC Festival in Edinburgh.

On 25 November 2008, Arena Motorsport announced it would be running a pair of Ford Focus STs for the 2009 season. The team's lead driver was Tom Chilton along with Alan Morrison also returning, running under the Team Aon banner (Aon Corporation being their primary sponsor). Morrison left the team during the season and was replaced in certain rounds by Tom Onslow-Cole. The team struggled with the car at the beginning of the season, but were on the pace at the end of the year. For 2010, the cars will run under LPG-power from Calor, with Chilton and Onslow-Cole continuing as drivers. They saw a massive leap in performance. Winning 7 races & securing 4th & 5th in the drivers championship & 2nd in the teams championship.

  • D.C. = Drivers' Championship position, T.C. = Teams' Championship position.

WTCC

The team switched to the World Touring Car Championship for 2012, with Tom Chilton and James Nash driving. The season was unsuccessful, with the car struggling for pace during the majority of the season.

This season would turn out to be the team's last, as during the final weeks of 2012, the team was formally closed.

Sports car racing

In 2001, Arena ran the Gulf branded Audi R8 in the European Le Mans Series and at Le Mans for Johansson Racing. The drivers Stefan Johansson, Patrick Lemarié and Tom Coronel were unsuccessful at Le Mans but the team did win the European Le Mans Series championship that year.

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

Formulas

In 2006–07, Arena joined the young A1 Grand Prix series managing both A1 Team India[6] and A1 Team Greece[7] but this last one didn't race all season.

Arena were involved in 2007 in British Formula 3 Championship with Max Chilton[8] without success.

British Formula 3 Championship Results[9]
Year Car Drivers Wins Poles Fast laps Points D.C. T.C.
2007 Dallara-Mecachrome United Kingdom Max Chilton[8] 0 0 0 0 NC NC
A1 Grand Prix results[10]
Year Car Team Wins Races Poles Fast laps Points T.C.
2006–07 Lola-Zytek India A1 Team India 0 22 0 0 13 16th
Greece A1 Team Greece 0 22 0 0 0 24th
2007–08 Lola-Zytek India A1 Team India 2 20 1 0 61 10th
  • D.C. = Drivers' Championship position, T.C. = Teams' Championship position.

References

  1. ^ Hudson, Neil (5 January 2013). "Arena International Motorsport closes its doors". TouringCarTimes. Mediaempire Stockholm AB. Archived from the original on 7 January 2013. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  2. ^ LMS complete results Archived 22 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine wsrp.ic.cz
  3. ^ 2003 24h of Le Mans results Archived 19 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine wsrp.ic.cz
  4. ^ 12h of Sebring 2003 results Archived 19 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine wsrp.ic.cz
  5. ^ ELMS complete results Archived 24 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine wsrp.ic.cz
  6. ^ A1 team India information Archived 31 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine a1podium.com
  7. ^ A1 team Greece information Archived 29 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine a1podium.com
  8. ^ a b Chilton career results driverdb.com
  9. ^ British F3 complete results Archived 2 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine speedsportmag.com
  10. ^ A1GP complete Archived 26 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine resultsresults.a1gp.com
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