The story below was taken from an article by Peter Brock that was published in the February 2001 issues of Sport Compact Car magazine. I modified some wording and added pre and post 2000 history for context.
24 hours of Spa Francorchamps History & Significance
There are several 24-hour races in the world, each with its own special character. Le Mans in France is perhaps best known in the United States because of several well-publicized attempts over the last several decades by Americans to win there, along with the fact that it is the oldest of all the classic 24-hour enduros. But just four weeks after Le Mans, an equally important but less well-known (in America) event takes place in Belgium on one of the fastest and certainly most beautiful circuits in the world. Spa/Francorchamps, home of the famed Belgian Grand Prix, also hosts another classic European enduro, the grueling 24 Hours of Spa.
It’s the world’s most important race for sport compact sedans, popularly known in Europe as “touring cars. What’s unusual about the Spa 24 is the size and quality of the field. Since Belgium has no national automotive industry of its own, it has, over the years, become known as neutral territory in terms of sales and competition. Practically every manufacturer in the world with an ounce of sporting blood in its pedigree fields a team at Spa. A huge grid of some 80 cars of relatively equal performance are on the super-fast track for 24 hours; competition is extremely fierce and wearing on both drivers and equipment.
How European Racing Is Different then its American Counterparts
There is nothing comparable in America to the enthusiasm for Touring Car racing in Europe, unless you consider the early days of NASCAR when stock cars were really stock. Crowd size is certainly comparable, but from there on it’s completely different. Road courses like Spa require some very special tuning, no mean feat considering that almost all the basic equipment must be derived from the original chassis! To knowledgeable European fans, the results from Spa have a considerable influence on sales. They understand that what they see racing is quite similar to what can be purchased off the showroom floor, consequently manufacturers, distributors and even dealer-sponsored teams put a huge effort into winning this most important enduro of the season.
The rules are another unique factor about Spa and the European Touring Car Championship. Since the entrants come from all over Europe, local rules and production car specs vary from nation to nation. As a result, the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium and the FIA combine several sets of national rules into two acceptable international classes for this series. Slight modifications are allowed to cars in the Super Production category and almost no changes are permitted in the FIAs Group N. The rules are so close that some Group N cars are as fast as some of the slower Super Production teams, which pretty much keeps the speed differential between classes negligible. Cars that may be allowed special gear sets or transmissions under British rules, for example, are denied the wider wheels, which they normally run under home court regulations. The balance of combined regulations has been worked out over time, so competitors feel comfortable when they meet on Spa’s neutral territory. Generally, about half the field falls under the Super Production category, which requires most of a car’s components to remain relatively stock. This does not mean they can’t be modified; they can, but these improvements fall more under the heading of “blueprinting” than outright modification or replacement with true racing equipment.
American production class racing, like Speedvision’s World Challenge and Motorola’s World Cup are similar in concept to the European Touring Car Championship and Group N, but what really sets the European events apart from the U.S. races are tires. Since the American events are heavily supported by tire manufacturers, the American races are run on spec street tires, while the European races, like Spa, are all run on racing rubber. As a result, speeds are far higher in Europe and chassis tuning is quite bit more sophisticated than in America.
Mark Hein & the Ti Racing/SpeedStar Racing Team – Why Race in Europe?
Mark Hein’s Ti Racing / SpeedStar Racing Team, out of Clearwater, Fla. has run Honda/Acuras in American production sprint and enduro racing since the early 80’s. But Hein was tiring of the repetitiveness of the Speedvision and Motorola events. “It’s very competitive here in the States,” said Hein, “but in many ways, it’s still club racing. We’d heard about the professionalism of the European events and about the high average speeds at Spa for several seasons. We wanted to raise our sights a bit and see what the competition in Europe was doing.” As a result, Hein took a couple of weeks off last season and went to Belgium to check out the European series. “I knew as soon as we arrived at Spa that we had to race there! The circuit is just unbelievable – so fast and demanding. There’s nothing like it in America; it’s a real driver’s circuit. And the level of competition was so intense… and the variety of cars, just astounding.”
Hein could also see the European teams were way ahead of the Americans in terms of preparation, but also found an unexpected willingness by the locals to help him prepare his Acura Type R for Spa if he wanted to come over. “I had no idea the European privateers and especially Honda of Europe’s motorsports division would be so helpful to an American team. That attitude convinced me to make the commitment to bring our Speedstar team to Belgium.” Hein’s decision to race at Spa may someday be remembered with the same importance that is now placed on Briggs Cunningham’s first efforts at Le Mans in the early ‘50s. Prior to that point, few in America had ever heard of the now famed French enduro and as a result of Cunningham’s pioneering efforts to run in France, Le Mans is now a favored target for many American teams looking for more international exposure
“The potential for Spa is perhaps even better than Le Mans,” continued Hein, “Nobody that we talked to in America, prior to my first trip there, had ever run at Spa with an American team, but there was a lot of interest here when I got back. As soon as returned from that exploratory trip, other drivers began asking what it was like and expressing an interest in racing over there with me.” John Green, one of Hein’s regular co-drivers in the Speedvision series was the first to commit to running with the SpeedStar team in Europe. “Mark convinced me that we should take the chance,” said Green. “We knew going in that we’d be out-classed at the start, but we looked at it as a three-year challenge. We figured if we could even finish the 24 hours in our first year we’d consider the foray a success.” Hein and Green convinced another Florida racer Gary Blackman to join them in the adventure. “We also figured it would be an important learning experience that would give us a substantial advantage when we returned to race in America. Those guys in Europe are very serious professionals; they’re super-fast and way trick, compared to the level of preparation we see over here,” explained Hein. “It was a ‘no lose’ deal for us, because we knew we’d come back much smarter and quicker than when we went over.”
Building a Race Car to European Standards
Hein’s race cars had become a dominant force in American racing, having won numerous championships and major races over the past three years, so he figured he could build a car that would last the 24 hours and might even be competitive with the Europeans. But he clearly understood that he was entering a whole new level of competition. “The best part about racing Integra Type Rs is the engineering potential of the engine and chassis,” said Hein, who does most of the work on his team cars himself.
“The initial cost is a bit higher than some of the cheaper production stuff that’s available, but the way I figure it, it costs a lot less over the season because the Acura is designed to go fast. It’s very reliable and doesn’t require a lot of time and reengineering trickery to make it really quick and reliable. Another advantage is Honda’s interest in our endeavors, these guys at the factory, and in the European and the US. offices are all racers and take pride in what they design and sell. If we call and ask questions, there’s always someone there who takes an interest in what we’re trying to do.”
Hein knew, because of the international structuring of Honda, that if he tried to solicit any serious support or interest in his then secret project to race his Acuras in Europe that it might take months for approval. Because the American office would gain no direct sales benefit from his overseas foray, he initially put the entire project together with his main sponsors, SpeedStar wheels of Japan and his co-drivers John Green and Gary Blackman. As the project came together he was able to elicit strong product support from Honda, Dunlop Tires, Pagid brakes, Spa Techniques, H&R Springs and Red Line Oil.
Normally, Hein does most of his own preparation at home in a small shop behind his house, but for the European adventure, he thought it best to have a professional build his engines for Spa. “I’d raced against Cliff Duval’s engines during the past several seasons and had gained a lot of respect for his work, so I decided that his experience was our best insurance for Belgium.”
Two 1800cc DOHC VTEC Type R engines were sent to Cliffs shop in Calif. for blueprinting, while Hein and wife Vickie concentrated on converting a brand-new Acura Type R into what they hoped would be a successful Spa enduro racer. With a mostly volunteer crew for his American races, Hein has been remarkably successful. “I have an amazing team,” he smiled. “My co-crew chiefs Mark and Mike Scharnow have put in hundreds of hours of work and it’s paid off, but not everyone could afford to take the time off to go to Europe.” For the SpeedStar Team’s first expedition to Belgium, he also contacted his British friend and ace fabricator Graham Dunford.
“We only had a few months to build and prepare the car for Spa, so Graham agreed to help us run the car in Belgium and do any last-minute fab work that we found necessary once we tested at Spa. Other than that, Mark, Mike and myself prepared the car in less than 12 weeks of evening work after our day jobs.”
Getting the Team and Car to Europe
Hein took his entire 40-foot Kenworth truck and trailer to Belgium. “The Kenworth created a lot of interest over there,” he laughed, “Few had ever seen an American big rig with a sleeper cab. By taking the truck, we were able to ensure that we’d have all of our spares as well as the tools to work on the car.” But it’s not always as easy as it sounds. His American freight forwarders had a glitch in the paperwork that prevented the rig from being released once it arrived in Amsterdam! “You just have to be prepared for any eventuality,” said Hein. “We lost a full day on long distance telephone calls, negotiating with the Belgian customs officials and then had to put up a huge cash bond to release the truck. That put us hours behind. We were so tired after all the red tape that we lost our way to Spa the middle of the night.” Before they realized their mistake they’d gone more than 200 miles past their turn-off! And that was just the beginning.
We Were Wrong, They Were Right
“When we arrived in Spa,” said Hein, “We found the RACB officials very easy to work with, even though our car wasn’t quite up to spec on several details in the European rules. For example, we had to equip the car with back-up lights, which are required on all touring cars under Belgian law! The racecars over there also have to be equipped with catalytic converters. We received tremendous assistance from William De Braekeleer the head of Honda Europe’s motorsports division and Marc Vanderghen of ELR*, the fast Honda guys in Belgium. They made all the trick parts available so that we could comply with the local regulations.” It took a couple of hours to go through tech in downtown Spa. After that, cars were placed in the “Parc Ferme” so they couldn’t be modified before they reached the track; once there, they fell under the supervision of track marshals. “They have a really great tradition at Spa,” said Hein. “After all the cars complete tech, the Parc Ferme is opened and all the cars are driven several miles out to the circuit with a police escort! The roads are closed down and the townspeople line the road all the way out. The police want to clear the roads as soon as possible, so the pace is pretty rapid.” *Coincidently, ELR is the same team that built and raced my other racecar in 1998, and won the manufactures championship for Honda.
When the SpeedStar team finally arrived at Spa and practice began, they realized just how far off the pace they were. “Spa is super quick,” said Hein, “But we didn’t realize just how quick. We’d set the car up like we would for the fastest tracks America and when the first practice was over, we were stunned to find ourselves 12 seconds off the pole!” That was a Dutch and British prepared 2.0-liter Honda built to the English regs. “We knew our 1800cc would be slightly off in power but the real difference was in the chassis set-ups.”
Hein had built his car with 4 degrees of negative camber to compensate for high-speed roll. “In America, 4 degrees with street tires is a lot. We weren’t even close!” One of the fastest corners in Europe is Eau Rouge, a fast downhill ess just past the pits. The fast guys were going through there flat-out; they were running 6 degrees! Again, the locals pitched in to help. Dunford and the Scharnows removed the Integra’s uprights and gave them to the Belgian ELR team who took them back to their shop and overnight rebent them to 6 degrees. “That mod chopped a few seconds off right there; we were able to really improve our cornering speed,” said Green. “But we lost practice time doing the change, so we still didn’t get everything right before it was time to qualify.” But with every session, the team was showing constant improvement.
The SpeedStar Acura started 50th, about halfway back in the field. Considering the level of competition, that really wasn’t too bad as the first five works racers; a BMW, a Honda, an Alfa, a Peugeot and another Honda were all within a second and there were as many strategies concerning fuel and tire wear as there were ideas on the best pace to win.
Lost in Translation
When the race started, Hein was almost immediately beset by two problems, cooling and oil pouring out of the breathers. There had been no sign of problems in practice, but so much time had been spent on tuning that there had been no time to string a long series of laps together. Heating was a simple and time-consuming matter of purging the cylinder head of an apparent air bubble in the system. The crankcase pressure problem was less easy to solve. Hein had followed the rules to the letter of the English translation, which stated that -6 Hoses were required for oil breathers. Hein had always used larger hoses on his engines in America and now the restriction was causing a problem. The hoses were diverted to a hastily attached catch can and Hein returned to the race some 26 minutes down, almost in last place. A careful reread of the rules in Belgian, with a local translator, indicated that breather hoses had to be -6 or larger! In Hein’s notes for next year is the notation, “question all rules translations!”
Making Progress
After the first stint, Gary Blackman took over from Hein with the car in 69th place and drove three hour-and-a-half stints during the night to bring the car up to 26th! “I hadn’t much time to practice ‘cause of all the last-minute work on the car,” said Gary, “So it was a matter of learning the circuit at night. It took about 15 laps to get comfortable and then I began to work on traffic. I’d try to tuck in behind the factory Peugeots as they were really going fast. I learned a lot and the car was working pretty well. I lost it once down on Turn 11 and spun into the gravel trap but they had me out pretty quick.”
Blackman’s midnight sojourn into the toolies may have been the team’s undoing. “I may have torn a CV boot off the right front driveshaft as it packed up sometime later and the resulting delay again dropped the car into the middle of the pack.” Later, another boot was split, again on the right front and the team lost even more time. “That’s the thing about endurance racing, though,” said John Green, “You never quit, ‘cause everyone has some sort of problem and the tide can turn pretty quickly.” After that, the yellow #38 began a steady rise on the charts that showed the team’s true potential. “It’s always a big ‘if in racing,” said crew chief Mike Scharnow, “But we calculated our position as if we hadn’t had those problems and we’d have been definite podium contenders for the overall.”
We’re In It to Win It
By dawn the next morning, almost half the field was gone, and the SpeedStar Acura was still running mid-pack in the remaining group. What was even more interesting was the realization that the team would be in contention for one of the race’s most prestigious awards, the Coupe du Roi, or King’s Cup. This award, one of the oldest in racing, is awarded to the most consistent marque, regardless of team affiliation. The fastest three teams of the entire aggregate of single-marque entries wins the prize. There were other faster teams with different types of cars, but the slower teams driving the same brand lowered their average, so overall, the Hondas were doing better than the rest of the field. Hein’s SpeedStar team was surprised by the news when the officials announced they’d be in contention for the win. “After all our initial problems said Hein, “We thought we’d be completely out of contention for anything, but racing in Europe is quite different they reward consistency and perseverance as much as outright speed.”
Winners & Unexpected News – End of an Era
And they got it. At the awards ceremony, the coveted “Coupe du Roi” was awarded just after the overall winners. “It was a great honor to win anything at Spa and definitely convinced us that we have to return next year!” Hein had plans to go back to Europe in 2001 with a two-car team but unexpectedly the European Touring Car Championship (“Belgian Procar Series” and the “24hrs of Spa – Touring Car Championship”) were cancelled and subsequently replaced with a GT only series.
2000/2001 - Change of Plans
In late 2000, after discovering the 24hrs of Spa Francorchamps would now be a GT only series, Hein decided to enter the yellow Type R in the Speedvision/SPEED World Challenge. Since the car wasn’t built for SCCA/World Challenge specifications, various modifications and weight penalties were assessed against the car. The wheels started with the original 15x7 inch SSR Type C but were wrapped in street compound “series spec” rubber. The 15 inch wheels were later replaced with larger series mandated 17 inch wheels. The headlights and exterior endurance lighting were removed and replaced with carbon fiber block off panels. The rear spoiler was replaced with a series mandated HPM design and the front bumper chin spoiler was replaced with a larger design that incorporated a carbon Kevlar and aluminum honeycomb air splitter. The European mandated catalyst was no longer needed and subsequently removed and various other modifications were made to the suspension and transmission (gearing) to be optimized for American tracks and sprint racing.
Speedvision Touring Car Series 2002
In 2001, Mark drove the car in 5 out of 10 events and finished with 26 points and in 30th place out of 64 cars. The car ran under #31, Mark’s personal number. Mark also campaigned the #38 Foss-Tech built Type R which was driven by John Green. #38 is John’s personal number and also the number they used for multiple driver/enduro events that John was involved with. The Foss-Tech car competed in four events and finished with 27 point and in 29th place, one place ahead of Mark. Both cars ran their best at Laguna Seca and Sears Point but struggled to be competitive in the series because of the limited racing schedule, European centric setup and SCCA weight penalties that were imposed. The aforementioned Foss-Tech car is different than the ELR/Foss-Tech car I also own.
Speed Channel Touring Car Series 2002
In 2002, Mark drove the car in 4 of 11 events and finished with 11 points and in 48th placed out of 70 cars. Similar to 2001, the car struggled to be competitive in the series because of the very limited racing schedule, European centric setup and SCCA weight penalties that were imposed.
Second Chance at Europe
In 2003, Hein would get another chance by racing in the one-time 2003 miles of Spa Francorchamps, effectively a 25hr enduro race for Touring cars. Once again he shipped his team and big rig to Belgium but this time using two cars; the infamous yellow #38 Integra Type R and his new #38 Civic Type R. The Civic Type R was built in Europe and featured the larger 2.0l K-series motor, an Arceaux Thuebaut roll cage and a fully prepared chassis by ELR.
The plan was to race both cars but after seeing the lap times in practice, they realized the Integra Type R was well off pace, mostly attributed to the inferior and lower horsepower B-series motor. Instead, they used the Integra for practice and the Civic for the race. The decision was a good one as the team took first place in their class and would eventually go on to win numerous other races with the Civic chassis in both the Speedvision/SPEED World Challenge, USTCC (United States Touring Car Championship) and various global enduro events such as the 24hrs of Silverstone and Daytona.
Moving on & Sold the 2nd owner (Ben Schaffer - Maryland)
In November 2003, having no major series to competitively race the car in, Mark sold it to Ben Schaffer who wanted to try racing it in the 2004 Speed Channel Touring Car Series with Neal Sapp behind the wheel (#33 entry – GTR Motorsports). In winter of 2003 and early 2004, Ben replaced the original motor with a new 2.0L B-series motor that featured a modified crank, forged pistons, lightened rods, high-lift camshafts, a custom exhaust manifold and an Electromotive ECU and ignition system. To further help it be competitive, the car also went on a diet by removing the door windows and motors, the hood was replaced with a carbon unit, the rear metal hatch was replaced with a carbon unit and the rear window was replaced with lexan. The air jacks, Foss-Tech 3pc front sway-bar, heater/blower and the power steering system/rack were also removed. Additionally, when Mark sold the car, he also supplied it with boxes and boxes of spare parts. A major of those parts were sold on Honda-Tech to help fund the race preparation.
During practice in the first race of the season at Sebring (March 2004), Neal lost control at turn 3 on the very first lap and hit the wall head on. While the damage wasn’t major, it was severe enough to end the weekend before it even started. Ben transported the car back to his shop in Woodbine, Maryland for repairs. After fixing the front end damage (using a majority of the remaining spare parts), Ben decided a switch to a TSX/RSX chassis he was planning to debut later that season. As a result, he sold the Type R in August 2004.
Sold the 3rd owner (Jeremy Hawkins – Maryland) - ownership length: 4yrs
Ben sold the car in August 2004 to Jeremy Hawkins with the intention of using it for private HDPE events. The exact usage is still unknown at this point.
Sold the 4th owner (Anthony Garmont – Florida) - ownership length: 4yrs
In November 2008, Jeremy listed the car for sale on eBay and Anthony Garmont of Florida purchased it. His intention was to use it for Chin Motorsport HPDE events with limited driving experience. He ended up using for two or three HPDE events before the motor spun a rod bearing and punched a hole in the engine block while being tuned on a dyno. With no mechanical experience or interest in costly engine repair work, he decided to sell the car through the Chin Motorsports forum in October 2012.
Sold to the 6th owner (Wirewheels.com resale broker – Florida) - ownership length: less then a month
In October 2012, Anthony sold the car to Wirewheels.com. Wirewheels (race car broker) purchased the car with the intent of building interest online and reselling it for a profit.
Sold to the 7th owner (James Innes/IPG – Florida) - ownership length: 2yrs
James Innes (IPG Racing owner) purchased it from Wirewheel.com in October 2012. He purchased the car with the broken motor and a handful of spare parts and wheels. In early 2013 IPG removed the motor and installed a new JDM spec bottom end, repaired the cylinder head and inspected the transmission. They also removed the Electromotive ECU and added a Hondata system with a custom Wireworx engine harness. After a quick engine tune and string alignment they got it back on the track at a local HPDE event for some testing. They immediately struggled with a cylinder head and crank case issue, likely attributed to a faultily repair job on the valves. Due to numerous shop projects they had going, they never got a chance to drive it once motor was finally working. In early 2014 James listed the car for sale on various motorsport forums.
Sold to the 8th owner (Mike Marsey (me) – California) - ownership length: 3yrs and counting
In Nov 2014 I purchased it as a joint venture between myself, Ryan Conley and a friend/co-worker. Roughly six months into the ownership I bought out the other two owners and started a full restoration process.
More to come………
Before and after pictures
Circa 2000 @ 24hrs of Spa Francorchamps:
Circa 2001 in the Speedvision World Challenge
Circa 2002 in the Speed Channel World Challenge
Circa 2003 at the 2003 miles of Spa (25hr race) - shortly before the car was sold:
Before: Late 2014 when I purchased the car (before the restoration started):
After: June 2016 when the restoration process was complete:
