Before heading to the World Time Attack Challenge in August, I had my sights set on a couple of track days with my garage-built grassroots circuit car, the CR-X.
One of those events was the D Series Cup. I first heard about it from Grant at Honed Performance, and when I saw that Round 3 would be held at Winton Raceway—their first interstate event—Lets get it!
I showed up at the event barely knowing anyone, started unloading the CRX (next to the most beautiful 911 GT3 RS) to get ready for the day.
It didn’t take long to feel at home. I was surrounded by some of the coolest people I’d ever met – All there for the same reason. Right in the middle of it all was Jonathon Chow, the guy who made the whole D Series Cup happen.
I was lucky enough to sit down with Jonathon and get the inside scoop on his story, his passion for the scene, and how the event came to life.
Can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what got you into racing?
I’m Jono Chow, just a regular guy who loves Honda’s. I first got involved with racing back when jdmyard hosted private practice days at wakefield park. As a student at the time, I also spent a lot of my spare time at the workshop where I guess my exposure to the boys there developed my passion for tuning and racing. I was fascinated with making setup changes and testing them on the track. And through those experiences made some solid friendships along the way.
What is D series cup? Why Hondas, and in particular, D series motors?
The D series cup is a racing league dedicated to the Honda D series engine. It gives D series owners an opportunity to be competitive in a league of its own in the spirit of racing.
Also, the Honda community is amazing. We have an amazing wealth of knowledge and enthusiasts so willing to share with one another. Plus it’s cheap racing, true grass-roots and entry level.
The goal of the series is to build a core group of racers and to support entry level and budget friendly racing.
Was it just yourself who started it? And why did you start it?
The term DSC actually started as an inside joke between Yonas at Jdmyard and myself. It started when I started to buy suspension components to upgrade my d16 civic for Honda Nationals. The boys couldn’t understand why! 😂
So we all made the trip together. The ek drove down to Winton on 1 tank of fuel…
It worked out about 6.5L/100. It smashed out two track days, got a 1.45 on worn ad08r and then straight home for work Monday.
At this point I saw how cheap racing could be, compared to what I was spending on my previous setups (B18 turbo and K-swap) which was still affordable on my university student/part time budget. I also saw that this current younger generation do not have access to more powerful platforms like the B and K series due to parts availability and cost. This has driven TRUE entry level racing away from Honda platforms. So it did start as a joke and then I decided to give it a shot and started the Facebook group. Chris helps me run the group, he’s been the legend in the background getting things done.
Where can we learn more?
You can learn more by joining our D series cup Facebook group and coming along to our events in any capacity. To spectate or race, we are open to everyone!
Jonos Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JCYT
D series cup Socials: https://www.instagram.com/dseriescup/
https://www.facebook.com/share/g/15SfQm3zpZ/
So with the day in full swing, Jono came up to me and advised that i was sitting P1 with a 1:45-6ish with only a few tenths between myself and my closest competitor – (Definitely a PB for me) – I was absolutely stoked, it definitely gave me way more confidence to send it just that little bit harder… Keeping in mind i still had to drive 7 hours north to Western Sydney for WTAC that evening…
A couple more sessions went by and I had fallen to P2, I hadnt bested my times earlier in the day, and the field was starting to catch up and quick! It all came down to the final session… The clouds had come over, we thought we were going to catch some rain, so I rushed to pre-grid to be at the front of the queue and get a laptime in before any rain came down. Boom! There it was, a 1:44.1 – in a basically stock, stripped out, ED9 CRX. My closest competitor was 1:44.6 – I took my first ever Podium!
Massive shoutout to @garagework25 for letting me use his film photos! This post wouldnt be here without him!