Responsible for the successful C1 Trophy and the Single Seater Series (the only formula competition in Portugal), Motor Sponsor has a new project for 2022: a Civic ATOMIC Cup.
This new competition will bring back to national tracks the Honda Civic Type R (EP3) — marketed between 2001 and 2006 — and has TRS as a technical partner, with the competition kit being marketed by Atomic-Shop Portugal.
In total, the Civic ATOMIC Cup will have two or four races, 25 minutes each, for each of the five rounds over the next season. As for the teams, these may consist of one or two pilots.
If the number of participating cars is less than 15, Motor Sponsor has a solution to ensure a full grid, having reached an agreement with the National Association of Classic Car Drivers so that, in that case, the participants compete as part of the Super Challenge grid.
The Civic Type R has been updated
Already quite fast, the Civic Type R that will integrate the Civic ATOMIC Cup were the target of some updates.
In this way, they received an auto-blocking from Quaife, competition dampers from Bilstein, a performance exhaust line and the obligatory safety arch with FIA approval.
As for the numbers of these Civic Type R, the 2.0 l that equips them has 200 hp and 196 Nm. Sending power to the front wheels we have a manual gearbox with six relations. All of this makes it possible to reach a maximum speed of 235 km/h and accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 6.6s.
The costs
In total, riders have two possibilities to compete. Or buy a Honda Civic Type R road and buy the competition kit from Atomic-Shop Portugal or buy a car ready to race.In the first case, the kit costs 3750 euros, a value to which you have to add the price of the safety equipment (seat, belts, etc.) and the Civic Type R. In the second option, the car costs 15 thousand euros.
As for the other costs, gasoline is 200 €/day; registration costs €750/day; tires 480 €/day (Toyo R888R in size 205/40/R17), supplied by Dispnal.
The front and rear brakes, provided by Atomic Shop Portugal and which last two days, cost, respectively, 106.50 euros and 60.98 euros. Finally, the FPAK license (National B) costs 200 €/year and the technical passport amounts to 120 euros.
the natural evolution
About this new project, the head of Motor Sponsor, André Marques, considered it “a step up in the company's history and raising the bar to a competitive level”.
To this he added: “We have had several requests from our drivers to create something with more power. After analyzing several options, we decided to opt for the Honda Civic, which is a car that has an unbeatable cost/performance ratio. On top of that, they are very reliable cars”.
Finally, he stated: “Although it is only starting in 2022, we wanted to present this initiative in advance so that teams have time to prepare everything. We cannot fail to thank TRS and ATOMIC for the way they gave everything to make this project a reality”.