Arena Motorsport
 |
|
| Founded | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | Mike Earle |
| Folded | 2012 |
| Base | Littlehampton, West Sussex, England |
| Team principal(s) | Mike Earle |
| Former series |
12 Hours of Sebring 24 Hours of Le Mans European Le Mans Series BTCC Le Mans Series A1 Grand Prix British F3 WTCC |
| Noted drivers |
 Tom Chilton Stefan Johansson Alan Morrison Tom Onslow-Cole Matt Neal Andy Priaulx Guy Smith
|
| Teams' Championships |
2001 ELMS 2010 BTCC Ind. Team. |
| Drivers' Championships |
2010 Ind. BTCC(Chilton) |
Arena International Motorsport was a British motor racing team founded by Mike Earle. Earle originally ran the Onyx Formula One team from the same base in Littlehampton, before selling the team. At the end of 2012 the team's new owners, Capsicum Racing Limited, placed the company into CVA.
Earle also created 3001 International and Grand Prix Design, which later morphed into Arena International Motorsport. The team made their racing debut in the British Touring Car Championship in 1999, where they ran for many years before moving to become a factory-supported Zytek sports car team in the Le Mans Series in 2007. They returned to the BTCC running the Team Aon operation, until switching to the World Touring Car Championship for the 2012 season.
Arena's first season saw the team running a year-old Renault Laguna for Russell Spence, who was later replaced by Will Hoy. The team then disappeared from the series.
In 2001 Arena approached Honda about running a Civic on an independent basis. However, Honda chose to give the team full manufacturer backing for the 2002 season, with Alan Morrison and Andy Priaulx driving. There was some initial success, and in 2003 newcomer Matt Neal finished third in the standings for them, in what was Arena's best year in the BTCC with six wins and finishing second in the Teams' and Manufacturers' Championships. However Honda chose to reduce their support, leaving Arena running a single car for Tom Chilton in 2004 and claim two wins. Honda's support was gone altogether in 2005 but despite missing the opening and closing meetings of the year Chilton went on to take four wins in the campaign before they decided to sell off their Civic to Fast-Tec Motorsport, although Arena provided some assistance with setting up the car. Arena then moved on to a full-time sports car team.
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