Temple of VTEC Rumors and News - RealTime Racing to Debut RSX Race Car

Saukville WI ? October 3, 2002 ? Following a six-month development program, RealTime Racing owner Peter Cunningham has announced RTR will debut the team?s first Acura RSX in the SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship race on October 11 at Road Atlanta, near Gainesville, Georgia.

Cunningham also announced that former RTR hotshoe Kevin Schrantz, of Boulder, Colorado, has been selected to drive the RealTime RSX in its maiden voyage.

?Kevin won the SPEED World Challenge Rookie of the Year award in 1999, while racing an RTR Integra, and we have always respected his ability,? said Cunningham. ?He came back with us in 2000 and finished third in the Touring Car Championship points. This year, he?s driving for Bob Hagestad?s Metro Volkswagen team, and came out of the box strongly, but developmental engine problems were going to prevent Kevin from driving at Atlanta. Fortunately for us, he was able to give us a hand!?

The sleek RSX is a clean-sheet-of-paper coupe that replaces the Integra line, which RealTime has raced since 1997. The high revving 200-horsepower RSX has a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder engine utilizing Acura?s all-new ?i-VTEC? (?intelligent? Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control) system, which varies camshaft timing as well as cam lobe profile. The new engine replaces a 1.8-liter model used in the Integra, and is only the second four-cylinder Honda engine with a crankshaft that spins clockwise, like the Honda S2000 roadster. Driving matching Integra Type Rs, RealTime teammates Cunningham and Pierre Kleinubing are first and second in Touring Car Championship points, with two races remaining in the season.

?With the points as tight as they are, Pierre and I were hesitant to make a switch this late in the year. By having someone else debut the new car, Acura can showcase their latest generation product, without taking any chances in the points battle,? Cunningham said.

?Yes, we?ve tested the RSX, at four different racing circuits, in fact. And on certain tracks, it is slightly faster than the Integra. We feel Road Atlanta would be one of the tracks where the additional 200cc displacement in the RSX engine can make a difference. More importantly, in all the miles of testing, the RSX?s reliability has been 100%.

?The entire team is excited to see the RSX raced before the end of the year, and to have it debut at Road Atlanta on Petit Le Mans weekend should provide a large appreciative audience,? Cunningham added.
Since RTR began competing in the World Challenge series in 1993, the team?s drivers have won a series record seven Driver Championships. Their effort has led American Honda and its Acura Division to seven Manufacturer Championships, also a series record.

Jerome Zimmermann, crew chief for RealTime?s Touring Car effort, has spearheaded the development program of the RSX. ?We have ten full-time team members dedicated to the race program,? Zimmermann said, ?and each has played an important role in the RSX project. Team members like Duane Wickham, Matt Moga, Andy Kanael and Curt Jung have put in many long hours, trying to make certain when the RSX hits the track, it will be a car of the quality that race fans have come to expect from RTR.?

See our page_number=1" >interview with Peter Cunningham on the RSX Touring car. -tn