Hankook :: NSW Time Attack 2013

Grant — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 06:12:41 +0000

It seems Australia is fast becoming the time attack capital of the world with so many ground breaking builds, passionate people and of course some truly great businesses supporting the scene.

The most recent race was the second leg of the Hankook Tyre Time Attack series, teams from all over Australia made their way to Wakefield Park Raceway, NSW for two days of flat out, foot to the floor racing against the clock!

Some of the countries highest profile cars were out to set some blisteringly low lap times, the BYP DC Integra is proof that knowledge is greater than money.
The BYP boys have built one of the most reliable and quickest cars around and it took out the number 1 spot at the last round of this series in Victoria!

Another serious Honda build also from Sydney is the newly completed JDM Yard DC5, this is an all out no expense spared build with strong focus on simple additions to the motor and plenty of aero mods.
The car still retains a naturally aspirated engine and is everything a die hard Honda fan would come to expect from a workshop such as JDM Yard!

After the odd Honda, Skyline or Subaru the rest of the field was of course littered with Mitsubishi Evo’s!!
The mighty AWD sedan is still one of the most potent packages to come out of the land of the rising sun, out of the Evo’s competing. Over 10 years separated the oldest from the newest model!
Proving they got it right back then and haven’t messed with it’s success since!!

Performance doesn’t come cheap, every car was packed full of the latest and best tech and gadgets. Check out the Haltech dash!!

Friends of GSS and all round cool guys, the Road Track Rally crew made the drive up from Vic with their very well put together street class Evo.

The team has been fine tuning and tweaking their Evo in preparation for the upcoming World Time Attack in October, Entering again in the club sprint class we hope to see the boys finish on the podium once again.

Now this was an interesting sight, a bright yellow Evo 6… We were in love!

Hiding behind the number plate was this very sneaky Billion cold air intake!! Also you can just see the edge of an oil cooler in a very snazzy anodized blue to keep the colour scheme going.

Out on track the little yellow Evo almost lifted a rear wheel flying flat out through the corner!!

As the BYP Integra was heading out you could see the determination in Benny’s eyes as he prepared himself for maximum attack, with cold conditions and wet weather setting in the early sessions were the ones to make count before things got wet!

After the first session the boys ran a respectable 1:02.7, still a few seconds shy off their best time around Wakefield there was still plenty of room for improvement. Weather permitting of course!!

JDM Yard were off to a good start with at least four turbocharged Evo’s still a few seconds behind them, their N/A Integra was well under the 1:10 mark and was consistently getting quicker!

Behind the wheel of the JDM Yard DC5 was of course Adam Casmiri who has helped pilot the car through some very quick lap times this year, the car is set to go under the knife again before WTAC.
No time attack car is ever really complete or finished, it seems even over just the course of a race day each cars goes through significant changes. Just as a golfer changes his clubs time attack cars go through different size tyres, damper settings and even minor aero adjustments.

It’s amazing how quickly the aero game has stepped up in Australia over the last two years, the Integrity signs Evo 7 has a setup that would have been consider over the top and very extreme just a few years ago.
Now nearly every car has had a wing/fin added to pretty much every panel to help lower those lap times, to the untrained eye it might look like a case of ‘more means quicker times” but each individual piece of aero has been painstakingly tested to ensure it is making a difference and improving the handling of the car at high speeds.

Chasing down the Evo’s was one very well put together Skyline from Victoria, John “Richo” Richardson has been taking his love of speed to the track for years!

His once very standard GTS-T R33 has taken on a heap of enhancements which have helped propel John to some super quick lap times, his Skyline is definitely not to be underestimated.
The heavy AWD system on a GT-R isn’t needed to drop those lap times, John constantly proves that with the right driver a nice RWD setup can do very, very well.

Between all the Evo’s we did enjoy the occasional fly by from Kieran and his 350Z, while not the most popular car to be using at a time attack event the car held it’s own with a very respectable 1:09.1!!

The only Mitsubishi out on track with only two wheels pulling it along, this tiny 1.5L FWD Ralliart Colt managed some very quick times amongst it’s peers. Nearly breaking into the 1:10 mark and below!!
It certainly made for a great show lifting it’s leg like a small dog about to do some business!

After two sessions it was time for many cars to come back in for a quick check up, oil change…

… And even some fresh tyres, this 350Z made full use of it’s sticky Hankook Ventus R-S3’s.

Showing the Evo’s that Subaru still has some pretty quick chassis was of course the big green hulk… The Autotech Engineering WRX.

Armed with some seriously wide tyres, huge Project Mu breaks and one massive wing, we were excited to see Bruce Banner transform into the angry hulk and SMASH those lap times!

Jason Naidoo proved that expensive aero and big budget builds will never be a replacement for an experienced driver…

Jason steered the subtler looking Xtreme Motorsports Evo 8 through a stupid quick time of 1:03.8!!

Hamish’s Ev0 8 was probably the most ‘streetable’ car in the club sprint class, despite the cars stock standard appearance it’s still good for a flat 1:08 lap time.
We wouldn’t mind driving something that quick to the shops for some milk in the morning!

The oldest car competing during the weekend was Owen’s 1977 Toyota Celica, after a long weekend the car smashed out a 1:10.5!!

The fastest Subaru on track, The Ultimate Tunes 99′ WRX. Jason wrestled with the pro class car all weekend and so close to cracking the sub one minute mark!!
The team finished on a lap of just 1:00.2!!!!!!

Even in factory form any Lotus is a force to be reckoned with out on the track, after Southern Motor Works tinkered with this Exige the volume had certainly been turned up to 11!!
Driver John secured 3rd in the open class with speedy lap of just 1:01.8!

Even though drivers were racing against the clock and not each other, there was plenty of overtaking happening given the short layout of Wakefield.

So how did the Hulk go? Jason scored 2nd place in open class just .2 of a second in front of the bright orange Lotus, the final lap was a not too shabby 1:01.6!

Adam and the JDM Yard Integra missed out on a podium finish, landing them in 6th place with a lap of 1:04.2.
With WTAC in the team’s sights the car has already been pulled down after this event in preparation, we can’t wait to see how this N/A Honda goes against the worlds best!

We’re happy to report that Darrin and the RTR Evo X finished in 3rd in the club sprint class with a 1:04.7!

The number one car for the weekend was Rick Bates in the Vsport/GoPro Evo X, Rick was the only driver who managed to break the one minute barrier… Not once, but twice!!
The final lap that scored him the win overall and for the pro class was an astonishing 59.9790!!

We’re wrapped that more and more is happening each year on the Australia time attack calendar, with support from companies like Hankook the future is very bright for all time attack racing enthusiasts.
Bring on WTAC and then bring on 2014!!
For the full results check out the Wakefield website.
http://www.wakefieldpark.com.au/bates-blistering-59-second-lap-win-nsw-time-attack.html
Thanks for reading,
Gwyn.
All photos courtesy of Robert Mocchetti | Full Motion Photography

BYP – Gripshiftslide

Hankook :: NSW Time Attack 2013