Vtec Club Rd.2 2021 Recap

May 21st, 2021 at Streets of Willow, Willow Springs International Raceway

Words: Amir Bentatou // Photos: Danny Nguyen

The second round of Vtec Club brought competitors to the tight and technical Streets of Willow. A favorite for many competitors, the layout plays to the strengths of the lightweight and agile golden era cars.

It has been almost 3 years since Vtec Club has been on the clockwise configuration of Streets, and records were expected to fall. The competition was fierce with close battles in almost every class.

Group N2 provided the closest competition, with the podium separated by less than half a second. One of the shock results of the weekend was Kristian Wong taking the victory as a hired driver in the Wheelseek EG.

His blisteringly quick 1:24.670 was enough for the win and a new record. This was an impressive feat considering Kristian had never driven the car before, he missed the first session, and it was the EG's first time on track.

Robert Choo is a familiar name in N2, owning nearly every record and was the favorite coming into the weekend. Robert was edged out and finished in second place with a 1:24.790. Missing the top spot by only a tenth of a second and not being able to better his time in the later sessions.

It is notable, that earlier in the day Robert was kind enough to lend his extra set of tires to a fellow competitor who flat-spotted theirs; which makes you wonder if Robert could have snagged 1st had he kept the tires for himself! Either way, we commend Robert for his competitive spirit and selflessness in true Vtec Club fashion.

Round 1's winner Daniel Fuentes and his Visual Automart EK finished the day with a 1:25.119.  His lap beat the old record by a second, but was only enough for third place.

It’s wild to think how far Group N2 has come in terms of lap times. It was always been one of the more competitive classes and we are seeing the rule book being completely maximized by competitors in recent years.

Another Midori EK of past and present, Duane Bada’s Group N2 B20 powered EK is now owned and driven by Abraham Sandoval, making sure the proven setup still has a home on track and not wasted in someone else’s hands.

There was a mix of rookie and veteran competitors on the N1 podium. Dustin Nocum made the trip for Northern California for his first Vtec Club event. He found success at his maiden event finishing on the top step of the podium with a 1:24.051. His lap reset the Jason Kim's previous N1 record by almost 1.5 seconds.

Long time Vtec Club competitor and EK die hard Michael “Sassy” Caputo managed to run a 1:24.897, earning him second place. Sassy has had various engine setups over the years but we believe he is now running an untouched B18C, proving a simple and reliable powerplant can get the job done.

Ed Macedo's 1:25.998 and his Fa5 finished in 3rd place for the second event in a row. Attempting to not do the same for Round 3, Ed's engine build is underway and he's looking to fight for the win when his car is back in action.

He’s also working on doing a full JDM FD2 conversion because looking cool is most important and BattleCraft literally will not sponsor his car the way it looks here.

The fastest lap of the event almost always comes from the heavy hitters in Group A. Round 2 was a different story with Group N running 3 of the fastest laps of the event along with fastest time of the day. Nicky Hays is new to Vtec Club, but is quickly becoming the driver to beat.

With a background in Karting and Formula 4, he and his CRX were well equipped to take on competition. Nicky ran a 1:19.729, earning him the win in N, a new record, and the fastest time of the event. This is the first time the fastest time of the event has ever been set by a car in Group N and we’re excited to see what he can do at future events.

John Cruz from Visual Automart and his infamous EG “Goldy” finished second with a 1:22.224.

To put that into perspective, John's lap was fast enough to beat the previous records in both Group N and Group A2.

Ricky Hernandez, the winner of Round 1 found himself in third place with a 1:23.160, running the 4th fastest lap of the event.

Group N is a battlefield with some truly impressive drivers and builds.  We are looking forward to seeing how the competition in Group N progresses and whether someone can take the challenge to Nicky. 

The A2 podium was filled with new faces and the first A2 victory in a non Honda chassis. How Te's Toyota MR-S is the perfect pairing of Toyota's Mid Ship platform and Honda's powerful K24. His MR-S was on the top step of the podium with a 1:26.035.

Louis Hoang in his mildly built FK8 Civic Type R finished in a close second with a 1:26.897.

And rounding off the podium spots for Group N we have Nicolas Serra and his S2000 that finished in 3rd place with a 1:28.055.

Jose Mejia made progress on his Group A campaign. He finished in second place at round 1 after suffering a turbo failure, but landed on the top step of the podium at Round 2 with a 1:20.602.

Jose was aiming for a lap in the teens, but was thwarted by a transmission failure during his fast lap attempt. Very unfortunate for Jose but the perfect chance to upgrade his transmission internals to better suit the power he’s making now.

Nissin Performance Brakes is a new sponsor for the 2021 season, and brought out their Supercharged FA5 street car to showcase their 6 piston big brake kit.

The FA5 was piloted by Duane Bada and finished in second place with a 1:28.781, showing the potential of this mildly built street car with full interior and A/C.

Mario Mojica took the third spot on the podium in his turbo fit with a 1:29.296.  Mario's 3rd place finish was the first time a Fit has finished on the Group A podium. 

Next time you see Mario and his Fit we suggest you take a closer look at it. The high end parts used and show level build quality are top notch and cool to see.

That’s it for the podium recaps but here’s a few photos and cars we particularly enjoy.

Always an honor to have Dave bring out his immaculate OEM+ EK build that he built to fully enjoy.

The morning driver’s meeting led by Grid Master Billy Jang and Technical Director Amir Bentatou sets the pace for the rest of the day.

Colin Len is pictured here checking his oil after his last session and heating up his burrito right before lunch…

If it isn’t obvious already, Vtec Club is big on aesthetics. Here is David Timeteo and boy does he have a looker with his FD2 converted Civic.

Although most TSX’s aren’t completely stripped and gutted to maximize their potential, clean examples like this one remind us that coming out to Vtec Club is still loads of fun whether you’re running in the podium places or not.

The pandemic has been rough but we’re glad to see familiar and new faces again at the track. Thanks for sticking with us and this community because Vtec Club is about it’s people.

And we’re in the business of having fun.

Vtec Club Round 3 marks the return of the “Autumn Speed Festival” at Big Willow on October 1st, 2021, so save the date! Registration opens next week so keep an eye out on our Instagram to stay up to date and secure your spot. See everyone soon!