Well I'm back in Japan after what was whirlwind visit to Australia last week and now that Rod, Casey and I have had a chance to go through more of our pictures from the World Time Attack Challenge it's time to dive in deeper into some additional coverage from what turned out to be a really exciting event.
On top of the top level "Pro" class everyone was out to see there were of course a ton of equally impressively built track cars at Eastern Creek and throughout most of the event I made sure I checked everything the pits and paddock had to offer. I couldn't stop looking at Benny Tran's EG Civic, which managed to get a best lap of 1:41:236 in the Motor Magazine Open Class. Loudest car at the event by far and one of the coolest looking.
AWD machines are always among the favorite in Time Attack with Lancer Evo's and Subaru Imprezas being the most popular.
The two R35 GT-Rs racing in the Clubsprint class were both running 1 minute 45 second laps, putting into perspective just how fast Tarzan's winning 1:30.587 lap really was.
Jacky Yick in the Link International/Pro Concept S15 was running similar times to the new GT-Rs with a best of 1:45:168.
My attraction to any S13 Silvia soon had me finding Luis Poblete's ride…
…a car usually used for drifting but doing its best to grip around Eastern Creek. Best time Luis managed was a 1:49:120
I couldn't get over how professional the Sierra Sierra Lancer Evolution looked. I see so many highly modified 4G63s in Japan but there was something very different about this motor, like it was one level up from your regular tuned cars.
It was much the same story around the car with the exotic carbon body panels lowering curb weight dramatically. Inside I may well have been looking at a fully-fledged race car with pushed back seating position to line up the driver with the B-pillar, carbon dash and a beautifully constructed roll cage.
Now that's a diffuser!
Here is driver David Epringham getting ready to go out for one last attempt late on Saturday afternoon.
A driver's concentration is just as important as the car's outright performance. Just look at the determination in his eyes!
Despite the Cosworth tuned engine boasting more power than the Cyber Evo, the team was unable to edge closer to Tarzan's record-braking time (a massive 1.297 sec faster!). Their second position was well deserved.
Import Tuner's Editor Carter Jung taking a shot of one of Sierra Sierra's mechanics.
Sure looks the part out in action.
The pink Mal Rose Racing Holden Commodore, wearing the very recognizable pink Donut King livery, was one car many were talking about before the event. It was interesting to see how the V8 race car stacked up against the best purposely built time attack cars from Australia, Japan and the US.
Racing fuel tank in the trunk and what looks like an oil tank for the V8's dry sump.
With Mal Rose behind the wheel the Commodore managed a best of 1:39.323 putting it in 12th pace in the Wynn's Pro Class the top cars were competing in.
It was all looking so promising for the Panspeed team on Friday afternoon but it seemed like everyone else stepped the game up on Saturday. Here is one of the mechanics doing some last minute telemetry checks to see what could be changed to give Sasaki-san a better shot at lowering his time.
Kouta Sasaki drives the R&D Sport Legacy B4 in the GT300 class of Super GT back home in Japan.
He managed a best of 1:32:454 landing him and the Panspeed team in 5th position.
Like the Commodore, as well as the Falcon we will see further down, the GT3 specification Lotus Exige of Prep'd Motorsport was a pure race car. I didn't quite understand what these cars were doing at an event I thought was reserved for modified street cars, but it was nonetheless interesting to see how they all compared against each other.
With Warren Luff at the wheel it managed to lap in a fastest time of 1:32:273, allowing it to slot in front of the Panspeed car in fourth position.
I'm sure Kinoshita Mitsuhiro would have been able to do so much more with the beautifully prepared R-Magic RX-7. A few small problems kept them from getting the best out of the FD3S on the Friday practice session but it was ultimately a gearbox failure that drastically put an end to their hopes.
This is probably the car that got the best reception out of the Japanese cars present, the new wild wide-body kit inspiring rotary fanatics! R-Magic guys, if you are reading this, please do us all a favor and put that kit into production!!
Staring in admiration.
To throw in some variation into the event and to keep the crows entertained the organizers also run a short drift competition on the series of corners before the main straight. We will be taking a look at the above drift cars in action in Part 3.
Mark Berry and his Advan/Hi Octane Racing R34 GT-R was one of the favorite locals. People cheered every time he headed out onto the track…
…but problems kept him from getting the best out of the black widebody BNR34.
After the head gasket problem on Friday the car was back out on Saturday and managed to record a fastest lap of 1:34:109 putting him in 7th position.
I found this Ford Falcon of Fernandez Motorsport to be extremely cool. Having seen so many of these big sedans out on the streets of Australia it was a pleasure to see a race version out in action at the WTAC. Powered by a turbocharged 4L straight six it seemed the driver, Jose Fernandez, had some traction issues. This big six-cylinder motor is becoming very popular in the Australian professional drag scene, able to take some serious power!
By late Friday afternoon the Garage HRS/Cyber Evo's hopes were beginning to look pretty doubtful. A blown engine meant they had to replace it with one they managed to source at the track and were up all night mapping it on the Haltech dynamometer.
But as soon as Tarzan took it out for the first morning session on Saturday he shocked everyone by posting the fastest lap straight out of the bat. Here he is coming into the pits as a swarm of mechanics from Garage HRS and Voltex rush to check the car over.
Hirayama-san of Garage HRS looking on as Tarzan heads out for another crack at the lap record.
Tarzan was of course driving both the Cyber Evo as well as the Tomei/Cusco/Voltex Imrpeza and to allow him to do so the organizers put the Tomei car in Group 2. As soon as he was done with the Evo it was a quick drink to hydrate before jumping into the Impreza.
Warp speed!
Despite having blown the gearbox the day before, the Impreza performed well on Saturday allowing it to secure a third position, landing Tarzan the double podium finish.
Here is Jason Round, Editor of High Performance Imports, chatting to fans of his tuning magazine.
Despite the Police and the Government doing everything in their power to stop people enjoying and modifying their cars the Australians seem to have an admirable passion that keeps them going. It was inspiring to see just how many publications catering to all the different scenes and styles there are out there.
Out of all the GT-Rs this red BNR32 from drgtr.com.au had to be my favorite.
I spotted D1 driver and president of T&E, Takahiro Ueno, out on the paddock enjoying some nice company from the Royal Purple girls! Thumbs up for sure!
Among all the show cars on display in the concrete paddock area it was this little orange NA Roadster sporting a pretty aggressive stance that stood out the most.
At one point a plane began pulling crazy stunts in the clear blue skies above Eastern Creek. It was pretty cool when it shot down at full speed and seemed to almost touch the tops of the green hills at the center of the track.
More to come tomorrow in Part 3 as we look at some more behind the scenes stuff as well as some drift action.
World Time Attack Challenge Coverage on Speedhunters
-Dino Dalle Carbonare