Western Michigan Honda Meet 2014!!!
Western Michigan Honda Meet is a grassroots track day that brings beginners and experts together to share experiences, knowledge, and above all their love for the “H” badge. Honda Meet takes place annually at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, Michigan. Gingerman is known as one of the safest tracks in the country with plenty of runoff room, which allows drivers to push their skills to the limit without worry of obstacles like trees, guardrails, or tire walls.
Photo courtesy of Jesse Hang
The goal of Honda Meet was to just have fun with friends on the track while keeping costs at a minimum and covering expenses. Honda Meet started in 2001 as a BBQ and became an annual event. In 2004 Honda Meet hosted its first one-day, weekday, track event at Gingerman. Over the years Honda Meet merged from a one-day weekday event, to a one-day weekend event, to a two-day weekend event to include overnight stay and camping, to what it is today! This year’s Honda Meet was sponsored by www.WhoopeeDooRacing.com, Eibach Springs, Hasport, THMotorsports, and One6 Motorsports.
I was fortunate enough to attend this year’s Honda Meet, which took place on July 18-20th. Honda Meet 2014 consisted of three full days of pure track bliss with approximately 125 drivers and 30-35 instructors participating, and two nights of camping, shenanigans, a bounce house kidz zone, BBQ, raffle prizes, chop-tops, pit-bikes, spud guns, and best friends in one place for a whole weekend of good times.
Photos courtesy of Neil Bautista
For the track portion of the weekend, drivers were classified into five different classes based upon previous tracking experience, with approximately 25 drivers in each class. Classes include Beginner, Intermediate I, Intermediate II, Advanced I, and Advanced II. Drivers in the beginner class got instructors for the whole weekend, if needed. All intermediate drivers start the first session with an instructor, but are on their own after the first session.
Friday consisted of intermediate and advanced classes running clockwise in the morning and counter clockwise in the afternoon; while Saturday and Sunday included all run groups.
Photos courtesy of Neil Bautista
This years Honda Meet was unique in that it included the first ever Honda Meet S2000 Time Attack Battle. The S2000 Battle utilized a point system based upon modifications to classify drivers into three run groups: street class (0-60 Points), modified class (60-80 Points), and unlimited class (80+ Points). The points were calculated as follows:
Ap1 S2000 – 0 base points (AP1 Models were classed with 225 width tires and 7.5 inch wide wheels)
Ap2 S2000 – 20 base points (AP2 Models were classed with 245 width tires and 8.5 inch wide wheels)
S2000 Club Racer – 35 base points (CR Models were classed with 255 width tires and 8.5 inch wide wheels)
Tire and Wheel Points:
• For every 10mm Extra width of tire = +5 Points
• For every .5 inch of wheel width = +2.5 Points
Tire Compound Points:
• 5 Points for 150-200 UTQG
• 7.5 Points for 101-149 UTQG
• 12.5 Points for 100 UTQG
• 17.5 Points for 51-99 UTQG
• 20 Points for 50 or less UTQG
Engine and Power Modification Points:
• Forced Induction (no additional points counted for intake, test pipe, and header for turbocharged vehicles) = +10 Points
• F22C Engine = +5 Points if swapped into AP1
• Aftermarket ECU = +5 Points (FlashPro for DBW model cars is considered aftermarket ECU)
• Air Intake System = +2.5 Points
• Aftermarket Header = +2.5 Points
• Catback Exhaust = +2.5 Points
• Test Pipe = +2.5 Points
• Aftermarket Engine Internals = +5 Points
Suspension Modifications
• Basic Spring and Shock Combo (Non Adjustable) = +2.5 Points
• OEM S2000 CR Suspension (No additional Points for CR models) = +2.5 points
• Single Adjustable Coilover Setup = +7.5 Points
• Double Adjustable Coilover Setup (Kw V3, Moton, Penske, etc) = +12.5 points
Aerodynamic Modifications
• CR Front Lip (no additional points for Club Racer models) = +2.5 Points
• Front Splitter = +5 Points
• CR Rear Wing (no additional points for Club Racer models) = +2.5 Points
• GT Style Rear Wing = +7.5 Points
• OEM Hardtop (no additional points for Club Racer models) = +2.5 Points
• Aftermarket Hardtop = +5 Points
• Rear Diffuser = +2.5 Points
Weight Reduction
• Carpet Removed (no additional points for sound deadening removal) = +2.5 Points
• Spare Tire Removed = +1 Points
• Passenger Seat Removed = +2.5 Points
• Aftermarket Seats (Pair) = +2.5 Points
• Removed Door Panels = +1 Points
• Dashboard Removed = + 5 Points
Unfortunately all of the high-tech timing equipment was stolen enroute to the track, however, the participants made the best out of an unfortunate situation and timed using stopwatches.
One of our own, Alex Westergaard won the S2000 Battle in the Street Class run group with a winning lap time of 1:46.51! Congrats Alex!
Here’s the video of Alex’s winning lap:
Photo courtesy of Neil Bautista
Chris Stewart, the organizer of Honda Meet, mentioned to me that the S2000’s have not always been the biggest participating group at Honda Meet over the years. But according to Chris, the last four years the S2000 group has been the biggest. Chris described us as a community within the community and he expressed his gratitude that Honda Meet has become a big part of s2ki.com.
Photos courtesy of Neil Bautista
Photo courtesy of Jason Dominguez
All in all, Honda Meet 2014 was easily one of the best weekends of my summer! Here are some thoughts from other attendees: “felt like a true vacation, it was a nice relaxed event;” “one of the best weekends of the year;” “it’s the one track event that is a must. If you can only go to one event all summer, it has to be WMHM;” “it was awesome!!! Monday is not even phasing me, had such a great weekend;” “I smiled so much this weekend my face still aches;” “I’m taking Monday off next year. Favorite weekend of the year, every year;” “what a fun weekend…had a blast!;” and “awesome weekend! WMHM keeps getting better and better.” I think I can speak for everyone involved when I say that I can’t wait to return next year for Honda Meet 2014!!!
Photos courtesy of Chris Munao