Once a year, the best time attack teams in the world congregate in Australia. Welcome to Sydney Motorsport Park. An event which draws in crowds and competitors from all across the nation and abroad.
This is Day 2 of the World Time Attack Challenge 2014!
It’s 7am. Had to get in early for the parade lap photo shoot. Good lighting for beautiful photos…
Scorch Racing Nissan S15 (JPN). The car reminds me of a samurai. A warrior-like owner, Under Suzuki.
I think we got every angle covered?
It’s the final day to lay down some serious lap times!
WTAC is held on the Gardner Circuit (Grand Prix Circuit) as there are many different types of configurations. The length is 3.93 km (2.44 mi), with 11 turns.
The First WTAC event started in 2010. 4th year running and it’s growing bigger each year!
Lots of big name Japanese tuners make the trip across to test their builds against the best of the best! [Matyi: I'd say this is one of the reasons so many people love WTAC!]
Advan A050 Control Tyre – Pro Class (Scorch Racing S15)
Different control tyres were set for each class, to try and keep it an equal and level playing field.
I wonder what the total tyre bill was for each team?
Voltex checking and doing repairs to damaged aero parts. We’ll have a Voltex special coming soon, stay tuned!
Special Race Fuel. Blue in colour
I’ve been told Royal Purple Oil are good!
Does it really make a difference to the car? I’d like to know…
ARK Racing USA’s R32 GTR (Pro Class)
Driver: Steve Glenny (AUS)
Their campaign actually started back in 2012 but their shipping container was sent to the wrong country and ended up in China! Finally the car is here after 2 years of further development. Eric Hsu and his team arrived early into the country ahead of the event to do the final touches to the car. Unfortunately this is where the electrical gremlins started.
The electrical problem also shorted out the main and backup ECU. They were then forced to buy a new ECU from a store vendor on track and make a new harness so it can talk to the car. These guys have had no sleep since arriving in Australia. Now the next problem, no ECU maps for this new computer. Need to re-tune, but how with no dyno?
They eventually did make it out on track, but the car was in limp mode with a 6k rev limiter. All they could do was try and gather any data possible. A very unfortunate situation for a bunch of great guys who traveled all the way from America… All because they LOVE time attack! We hope to see them next year.
Event Hosts were a first for WTAC…
Hosted by Annette Melton an actress/model.
Toshi Hayama was technical director for ‘Fast and Furious 3′
Mad Mike’s MADBUL RX-7 always draws a crowd wherever it goes around the world. It ticks all the boxes for a cool car! There was also Formula Drift to run after the time attack event for the first time. Saturday Night is Qualifying & Sunday brings together the Top 26. I’ll do a separate post for that, stay tuned!
The Show’n'Shine.
Queen St Customs’ R35 GTR & Lamborghini Murcielago. It was nice to see the Liberty Walk creations in person.
Many high-end customers buy supercars for status, but giving such luxury an edge is where Kato finds his purpose for Liberty Walk.
This is ‘bosozoku’, an old trend from Japan. It has that cool speed racer feel. I dig it!
Don’t let the rust fool you, this thing was throwing flames doing the Turbosmart Flying 500 (fastest terminal speed in 500m).
“I am a car and motorcycle enthusiast with a difference.” – Nigel Petrie owner of Engineered to Slide, and a true craftsman.
EG with a longitudinally mounted SR20?!
Lets go back in time…
Over the 2 days, competitors were divided into 5 classes. They are Pro, Pro Am, R35 GTR, Open and Clubsprint Classes.
Jeff Blakeley Racing – Nissan 240Z (Open class) Driver: Jeff Blakeley Finished: 33rd in Class
JET 3LT VL Commodore (Open class) Driver: Jason Clements Finished: 21st in Class
Ford GT40 in Gulf colours. Epic.
Demo Laps! The Mazda 767B was built to race at Le Mans 24 Hour in 1989. Warming up the engine… that quad rotor sound!
Changing spark plugs after warming up the engine.
Rotary race engines require different heat range plugs to warm up vs race! These are the warm up plugs.
Mazda entered 4 cars into the Le Mans. This actual car finished 9th in the race! No.202
Imagine what it would be like to drive this thing around the track? Especially with that beautiful 4 rotor engine behind you?
This guy knows what it’s like…
Maiham Media did a movie on this car driving wild on the streets of Japan. If you haven’t seen it, check it out!
“Real Racing Machines were built for the track, that is where they belong.” – Senji Hoshino Owner/Driver
The sound!
Say hello to Alex Kelsey and his insane, hand-built Renault Sport V6 powered Peugeot rally car. Can you believe he built this in his barn back home in New Zealand and he’s only 21 years old!
Keeping the fans entertained
There was also the Miss World Time Attack competition.
Many people choose to help out and become a volunteer official. Best seats in the house. Thumbs up to these guys next time you see them!
I saw many Japanese teams living off these cup-ramen noodles. Oishii Desu Ne?
The last part of the day which is the most exciting part of the time attack challenge is the Superlap Shootouts! The Superlap shootouts are ten minutes sessions where the top five cars in each class get one final opportunity to lay down their fastest lap of the competition. Starts off with Clubsprint cars then Finishes off in the Pro Class.
I saw a few girls get behind the wheels, and one was drifting down the straight! Bring on more female drivers.
Insight Motorsport Holden Astra (Pro Class) Driver: John Boston (AUS)
The quality of these builds are amazing, pushing the limits with time attack cars.. It’s best recorded time for the weekend was 1:44.671.
I grew up around Hondas and have always had a soft spot for them. In a field of AWD & RWD cars, you think the FWDs don’t stand a chance… But you’d be wrong.
JDMyard Honda EG Civic (Open Class) Driver: Adam Casmiri (AUS)
Powered by a K24A + Rotrex supercharger + PPG Dogbox, the team was flying the Honda/FWD flag for its inaugural flight this year. The guys netted a personal best and a competitive 1:33.03 lap time, placing them 8th in Open Class. Not knowing what it was capable of, it has surpassed all expectations to the team at JDM Yard! Unfortunately they suffered a mechanical failure during their second session on the final day, but they will be back in 2015 bigger, lighter, faster and all guns blazing.
BYP Racing Integra DC2 (Open Class) Driver: Benny Tran (AUS)
Very simple and tidy setup!
Benny finished 5th in class with a lap time of 1:31.491. This makes it the Fastest FWD car in the whole competition!
Just +0:01.060 sec off the Open Class winner. Not bad for a Honda!
Powertune R32 GTR (Open Class) Driver: Dean Lillie (AUS)
Dean pushed Lightning McQueen to take 2nd spot in the open class with a lap time of 1:30.986.
Powertune R34 GTR (Open Class) Driver: Dean Lillie (AUS)
The second car Dean put on the podium, the Powertune R34 GTR took 1st Place in Open Class with a lap time of 1:30.431
Pro Am Class
Mighty Mouse Honda CRX (Pro Am Class) Driver: Rob Nguyen (AUS)
Rob brings with him his racing experience and applies it to every inch of this car. He has even re-positioned the drivers seat to get an even weight distribution.
Fact: The Mouse can take turn 1 flat out at 220km/h.
It’s impossible to do all this on your own. You need support. Varun of 101 Motorsport in the centre. The boys also brought out the famous 18OMU R32 GTR, which competed in the Flying 500, smoking all 4 the whole way down the straight.
The 101 guys had Rob’s back for the event. Having dramas on Friday with the undertray of the car, but the guys were able to fix it overnight to have Rob competing again on Saturday.
Rob missed the podium by 0.2 seconds, finishing in 4th place with a blistering 1:31.843. Keep an eye on the Mighty Mouse in 2015!
Kyushu Danji R34 GTR (Pro Am Class) Driver: Miyata Sumihiko (JPN)
They came to WTAC after winning a local time attack event held at Tsukuba.
The win also gave them free Yokohama tyres support for the whole weekend!
Miyata Sumihiko took 3rd Place in the Pro Am Class with a lap time of 1:31.685. He did well considering it’s his first time driving here.
Sutton Bros Racing Nissan S15 (Pro Am Class) Driver: Wayne Sutton (AUS)
The Sutton brothers are known as much for their impeccable vehicle preparation as they are for their insanely fast lap times and for this reason they have a huge following within the Silvia community. This has to be up there for best looking time attack cars!
An improvement from last year’s time, but it wasn’t enough to get them top spot. They achieved 2nd place with a lap time of 1:30.476.
PMQ Racing Lancer Evo (Pro Am Class) Driver: Mick Sigsworth (AUS)
This Evo was at one stage outright quickest! It has undergone lots of development since last year.
1st place for the Pro Am Class with a lap time of 1:25.276. A huge 5 second gap to the next fastest rival.
GTR Pro Class
Out of the 7 GTRs, it came down to a shootout between two legendary Japanese tuners, HKS and Top Secret.
HKS R35 GTR (GTR Pro Class) Driver: Nob Taniguchi (JPN)
Top Secret R35 GTR (GTR Pro Class) Driver: Tarzan Yamada (JPN)
Tarzan Yamada jumped in the Top Secret R35 GTR and pushed it to its limits (1:31.725) but his efforts would fall just under a second short of Taniguchi’s time in the HKS R35 GTR, with a lap time of 1:30.838
Nob Taniguchi 1st in the HKS R35 GTR.
Last minute changes. Team Tilton Racing reverting back to last year’s front aero as they were having problems with downforce causing the car to bottom out. I’ve never seen a bumper get changed so quickly!
Tilton Racing Lancer Evo (Pro Class) – ‘The Defending Champions’ Driver: Garth Walden (AUS)
RE Amemiya Mazda RX-7 (Pro Class) Driver: Max Orido (JPN)
Top Fuel Honda S2000 (Pro Class) Driver: Nob Taniguchi (JPN)
MCA Suspension Nissan S13 Silvia (Pro Class) Driver: Shane Van Gisbergen (NZ)
Scorch Racing Nissan S15 (Pro Class) Driver: Under Suzuki (JPN)
The pit area was buzzing with excitement as the teams prepare for the final shootout battle. The 2014 WTAC winner was decided on this very last session.
Just having a little nap before the Shootout! Everyone is tired at this stage and it’s only the excitement that keeps (some) people going.
Max Orido Drove the RE Amemiya to come 5th overall with a lap time of 1:27.341. That’s 2.5 seconds quicker than Nob Taniguchi’s time last year.
Disappointed he didn’t get a podium but the fans were cheering him on!
Top Fuel opted out of the shootout due to engine issues. Things weren’t going smoothly at the Top Fuel camp.
So they had to settle with Tanaguchi’s best time of 1:26.870 to take 4th Place.
Shane Van Gisbergen piloting the MCA Suspension S13 Silvia
Back home in New Zealand, Shane’s daily/track car is an S15, so he is a big fan of JDM cars & drifting. He was also competing in the Formula Drift after WTAC in the Drift Syndicate V8 Commodore.
Finished in 3rd place with a lap time of 1:25.709. Shane shaved a full second off his PB in that last session. Murray Coote (bright pink) owner of MCA Suspension congratulating Shane Van Gisbergen for a fantastic drive.
Under Suzuki (JPN) has competed since WTAC 2010, and is still chasing a podium finish. Always smiling and a very nice guy, he has become one of the fan favourites. We all want him to do well!
This year we saw many changes to his aero package, designed by Andrew Brilliant of AMB Aero.
Suzuki-san and his Scorch S15 improved from their 1:25.71 best during a Friday morning session, but they waited to do it in dramatic fashion during the Pro Class Superlap Shootout. He knew what Tilton’s fastest time of the day was (1:24.94) and had his mark. His final and fastest lap time of 1:24.88, set on the last lap of the day, and was over three full seconds better than his 2013 time when he finished 4th. So we had a new champion! Right?! Well not exactly, because behind Suzuki, Tilton was on a hot lap of their own!
Tilton went out on the Superlap Session at the top of the leaderboards, but they did not know Suzuki would be surpassing their best time.
In Garth’s mind he had the best time of the day as he prepared to run his final hot lap of the 2014 WTAC.
With very low visibility, Garth took the Evo out one last time with his eyes set on the track record. The entire venue was at the edge of their seats with one eye on the live feed and the other on the timing and scoring leader board. As the Evo turned the final corner of the track before lining up for the front straight it seriously seemed like the entire place went dead silent and all you could hear was the low pitch grunt of the angry Evo. As he blazed past the timing beacon everyone stared at the timing and scoring screen…
1:24.841. A NEW CLASS RECORD!!!!
It was truly an electric atmosphere and something that you just had to be there to appreciate. Suzuki’s excitement and hopes for a first place finish would be short-lived as he was given the news over the team radio that Garth had beaten his just-set best lap time and the course record.
It was a special moment as all the fans were clapping and cheering! Finally a podium for Suzuki-san, a 2nd place with 1:24.880.
I’m sure all his fans around the world will be happy with the result!
1st Place Pro Class!
It’s always good to see support from family!
Akihiro Nakajma (right), the owner of Voltex, was shaking the water bottle saying ‘Champagne!’. After the problems they had all weekend with the aero on the Tilton Racing Evo, this pretty much sums up his feelings!
2014 World Time Attack Challenge Champions!
“Bro! You almost gave me a heart attack!” said Kosta, the owner of the Tilton Racing Team. The difference between 1st and 2nd was just 0.04 seconds!
Over the weekend, one thing in common with everyone I met was everyone was doing what they love. When like minded people get together, this is what you get! 2 days of living the dream. This pretty much sums up WTAC 2014 for me. See you in 2015!
Phillip Nguyen
phillipnguyenphotos@gmail.com