 | |
| Founded | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | Mike Earle |
| Folded | 2012 |
| Base | Littlehampton,West Sussex, England |
| Teamprincipal(s) | Mike Earle |
| Former series | 12 Hours of Sebring 24 Hours of Le Mans European Le Mans Series BTCC Le Mans Series A1 Grand Prix British F3 WTCC |
| Noted drivers |  Tom Chilton Stefan JohanssonAlan MorrisonTom Onslow-ColeMatt NealAndy PriaulxGuy Smith |
| Teams' Championships | 2001 ELMS 2010 BTCC Ind. Team. |
| Drivers' Championships | 2010Ind. BTCC(Chilton) |
Arena International Motorsport was a British motor racing team founded byMike Earle. Earle originally ran theOnyx 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 theBritish Touring Car Championship in 1999, where they ran for many years before moving to become a factory-supportedZytek sports car team in theLe Mans Series in 2007. They returned to the BTCC running the Team Aon operation, until switching to theWorld Touring Car Championship for the 2012 season.
Arena'sfirst season saw the team running a year-oldRenault Laguna forRussell Spence, who was later replaced byWill Hoy. The team then disappeared from the series.
In 2001 Arena approachedHonda about running aCivic on an independent basis. However, Honda chose to give the team full manufacturer backing for the2002 season, withAlan Morrison andAndy Priaulx driving. There was some initial success, and in2003 newcomerMatt 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 forTom Chilton in2004 and claim two wins. Honda's support was gone altogether in2005 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.
On 25 November 2008, Arena Motorsport announced it would be running a pair of Ford Focus STs for the2009 season. The team's lead driver was Tom Chilton along withAlan 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 byTom 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. For2010, the cars will run underLPG-power fromCalor, 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.
| British Touring Car Championship results | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Car | Drivers | Wins | Poles | Fast laps | Points | D.C. | T.C. |
| 1999 | Renault Laguna | Russell Spence | 3 | 18th | 8th | |||
| Will Hoy | 15 | 15th | ||||||
| 2002 | Honda Civic Type-R withHonda Racing | Andy Priaulx | 1 | 3 | 1 | 116 | 5th | 4th |
| Alan Morrison | 1 | 1 | 68 | 9th | ||||
| 2003 | Honda Civic Type-R withHonda Racing | Matt Neal | 6 | 2 | 5 | 148 | 3rd | 2nd |
| Alan Morrison | 1 | 2 | 125 | 5th | ||||
| Tom Chilton | 70 | 9th | ||||||
| 2004 | Honda Civic Type-R with TeamHonda | Tom Chilton | 2 | 116 | 9th | 5th | ||
| 2005 | Honda Civic Type-R | Tom Chilton | 3 | 175 | 5th | 5th | ||
| 2009 | Ford Focus ST with Team Aon | Tom Chilton | 1 | 55 | 13th | 9th | ||
| Tom Onslow-Cole | 4 | 21st | ||||||
| Alan Morrison | 2 | 24th | ||||||
| 2010 | Ford Focus ST LPG with Team Aon andCalor | Tom Onslow-Cole | 4 | 4 | 4 | 200 | 4th | 2nd |
| Tom Chilton | 3 | 5 | 2 | 191 | 5th | |||
| 2011 | Ford Focus ST with Team Aon | Tom Chilton | 2 | 1 | 1 | 135 | 7th | 4th |
| Tom Onslow-Cole | 61 | 13th | ||||||
| Andy Neate | 15 | 18th | ||||||
The team switched to theWorld Touring Car Championship for 2012, withTom Chilton andJames 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.
In 2001, Arena ran theGulf brandedAudi R8 in theEuropean Le Mans Series and at Le Mans for Johansson Racing. The driversStefan Johansson,Patrick Lemarié andTom 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 representAudi Sport UK. The team would run anAudi R8 at the12 Hours of Sebring and24 Hours of Le Mans. A driving team ofMika Salo,Jonny Kane, andPerry McCarthy were able to take sixth place at Sebring, but the team's fortune at Le Mans turned sour asFrank Biela mistakenly missed his pit stop and ran out of fuel early in the race.
For 2004, Arena initially planned to run a privateerDomeprototype 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 aZytek 07S, with plans to enter the fullLe Mans Series season as the factory squad in LMP1 withTom Chilton andHayanari 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 theNürburgring, 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-Zytek2ZG408 4.0L V8 | Tom ChiltonMax Chilton Hayanari Shimoda | 0 | 8 | 8th* | ||
| 24 Hours of Le Mans results | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Class | No | Tyres | Car | Drivers | Pole | Fast lap | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
| 2003 | LMP900 | 52 | M | Audi R8-Audi 3.6L Turbo V8 with Audi Sport UK[3] |  Frank BielaPerry McCarthy Mika Salo | no | no | 28 (DNF) | 46th | 15th |
| 12 Hours of Sebring results | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Class | No | Tyres | Car | Drivers | Pole | Fast lap | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
| 2003 | LMP900 | 9 | M | Audi R8-Audi 3.6L Turbo V8 with Audi Sport UK[4] | Mika SaloJonny KanePerry McCarthy | 351 | no | no | 6th | 4th |
| European Le Mans Series results[5] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Class | Car | Drivers | Wins | Poles | Fast laps | Points | T.C. |
| 2001 | LMP900 | Audi R8-Audi 3.6L Turbo V8 with Johansson Motorsport | Stefan JohanssonGuy Smith | 1 | 2 | 2 | 115 | 1st |
In2006–07, Arena joined the youngA1 Grand Prix series managing bothA1 Team India[6] andA1 Team Greece[7] but this last one didn't race all season.
Arena were involved in2007 inBritish Formula 3 Championship withMax Chilton[8] without success.
| British Formula 3 Championship Results[9] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Car | Drivers | Wins | Poles | Fast laps | Points | D.C. | T.C. |
| 2007 | Dallara F307-Mecachrome | 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 A1GP-Zytek |  A1 Team India | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 16th |
 A1 Team Greece | 0 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24th | ||
| 2007–08 | Lola A1GP-Zytek | A1 Team India | 2 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 61 | 10th |
