Hasport's 1995 Acura Integra

Functional and fast. Both are words that describe the Hasport '95 Integra sedan that carried Bernardo Martinez to victory in the 2007 NASA Honda Challenge Championship. There's little on it that doesn't belong-in other words, no bling for bling's sake-it's all about lap times and reliability. In Bernardo's world, finishing and finishing first are all that really matter.

The relationship between Hasport and Bernardo began in 2003. Keith and Brian Gillespie of Hasport have each been active racers for many years. They saw the emerging interest in time-attack events as a perfect showcase for their company's products. Unfortunately, the demands of business and their families left them with little time to develop their own cars beyond the initial build. Bernardo had been working closely with Progress Group developing suspension for his multi-championship winning CRX. The Progress guys played matchmaker and recommended Bernardo to ease the load. The combination of his setup skills, his driving record and his familiarity of the same track where the time-attacked events were being held was ideal. Fast-forward a few years and the relationship has proven to be quite successful. Bernardo has taken the four-door Integra to First Place honor in three out the last five Super Street Time Attacks and placed second in the remaining two.

The buzz surrounding the car at the NASA Nationals was about the HyTech-built, S2000-pistoned, K24 engine powering it. A mandatory dyno test at nationals revealed what everyone already suspected. It had more power to the wheels than any other H1 car in history but to attribute Bernardo's victory to the engine alone would be overlooking much of what makes this car a champion. What is missing from that narrow view is the rest of the winning package. The suspension, brakes and aero get it through the turns as well as the engine pulls on the straight. There are plenty of tricks below the skin that are hidden from view.

Grip is a combination of the tire's contact patch size and the suspension's ability to keep that patch in contact with the track surface. Corner speed, of course, is all about maintaining grip. In this case, the contact patch comes from steamroller-sized 255/40-R17 Toyo Proxes RA-1 on all four corners. It's easy not to notice all that rubber on 17x9 5Zigen wheels because they are tucked so neatly beneath the fenders. That is accomplished by a head-scratching +43mm offset and rear-trailing arms that have been notched to provide the necessary tire clearance. Camber adjustment is achieved with a pair of Skunk2 upper control arms in front and SPC adjustable upper links in the rear. Progress spherical bearings at both ends limit deflection and ensure the suspension geometry is consistent regardless of load.

Honda Challenge rules add a 75-pound weight penalty for any car running remote reservoir shocks. That's a price worth paying as far as Bernardo is concerned. The orange and gold Moton shocks he runs on the car provide a level of damping and adjustability that simply can't be found in self-contained units. Triple adjustable dampers on the front allow separate adjustment for high- and low-speed compression in addition to a full range of rebound adjustment. Double adjustables used at the rear provide 15 positions of bump and 15 more of rebound. Front and rear spring rates are 1,200 and 1,300 pounds, respectively. That may seem like a lot but aerodynamic downforce is a factor and plays a major roll in this Integra's setup. A stock anti-sway bar up front helps with transitional weight transfer, although most of the body roll is controlled by the springs. A 22mm Progress bar helps the car rotate in low-speed corners. The high-speed bends are tuned by trimming the car's aero package.