This month, “Ask the Experts” sat down with Edmun Laurea, President/Founder of Opak Racing, to discuss Spoon-Opak’s partnership and their involvement in the longest endurance race in the U.S. - 25 Hours of Thunderhill.

Please tell us a little about your relationship with Spoon Racing?

“Opak Racing is Spoon’s authorized importer and motorsports partner in the U.S. The Spoon-Opak team has been successfully racing together since 2003.Just to give you a bit of background, Spoon Sports Japan is a producer of high-quality products and has been a top Honda tuner for more than 25 years.The founder, Mr. Ichishima, is a 30-year road racing veteran with numerous successes in endurance and sprint racing. After many years of circuit racing, Ichishima started to develop and produce products for Honda. These products focus on quality, reliability and longevity, and provide excellent use for circuit racing.”

How did you get started with Spoon Racing?

“We began our partnership with Spoon Japan in 2002. The following year we competed in our first two endurance races - the 12 hour endurance race and the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. We ended up winning our class in both races, and from there we continued our winning tradition capturing the 2005 USTCC championship and several more wins as well.”

You have established a great relationship with BFGoodrich^® Tires. How important is it to you and your company to have the support of companies such as BFGoodrich Tires and does this add to the success of your business?

“Strong support from sponsors such as BFGoodrich Tires is critical to winning in motorsports and they are an integral component of a championship team. With the support of BFGoodrich Tires and high brand awareness, we are confident that we can succeed as a team. Furthermore, our association with BFGoodrich adds strong credibility to our image as a top tuner provider of high performance parts.”

Please tell us about the upcoming 25 Hours of Thunderhill?

“The NASA (National Auto Sports Association) 25 Hours of Thunderhill is the longest road race in the U.S. This endurance race takes place every first week in December with more than 70 teams participating and fielding over 80 cars in various classes. Companies such as Honda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Ford, GM along with top media publications such as Road &Track, Car and Driver, have been participating since 2003.”

How long has Spoon-Opak been competing in this challenge?

“This is our fifth year of participation in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill race. This year is a very significant event for the Spoon-Opak team as we will be entering the race in a new Spoon Honda Civic Type-R. This very unique car was recently introduced by Honda in Japan and will make its debut for the first time in North America at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill race.”

You are going to be running BFGoodrich^® g-Force™ R1™ tires, why did you choose them for this project?

“The Civic will be equipped with what are, in my opinion the best racing tires out there, the BFGoodrich g-Force R1. The tire offers excellent overall performance on track with no warmup or break-in required. The g-Force R1 tire is ready for competition from lap one with little fade through the last lap, wearing very evenly, making it an excellent choice for endurance - or sprint - racing. Endurance racing requires overall reliability and consistency for not only the car but the driver too, and using the right tires will mean that Spoon will finish at the front of the pack. For me it comes down to two things: the g-Force R1 tires have better grip and give more laps than any other tire out there on the market, and we can choose any tire we want. All of these factors are very important and play a very important role in why we have chosen them for the 25 Hours of Thunderhill competition.”

Can you fill us in a bit more on the Civic Type-R car you will be using in the competition?

Below are the specs on the FD2 (Civic Type-R) Racecar: