What a weekend of racing it was at
Yokohama World Time Attack Challenge 2014! This year’s action-packed event turned out to be arguably the best ever, with a classic time attack battle ensuing on Saturday afternoon.
All of the superstars of time attack returned to continue the battle this year, including Yokohama ADVAN drivers Nobuteru “NOB” Taniguchi-san, Manabu “Max” Orido-san and crowd favourite Under Suzuki-san representing Japan, and Garth Walden in the Tilton Interiors Mitsubishi Evo among many others flying the flag for Australia.
Yokohama has been dedicated to time attack racing in Australia since the inaugural Superlap in 2008, and since then we’ve not only helped WTAC to grow, but have also extended assistance to the teams and competitors as well.
Although a competitor in last WTAC 2013, it was Orido-san’s first time driving in the Pro Class, taking over the reins of the RE Amemiya “Hurricane” RX7 from Taniguchi-san who is again driving the Top Fuel S2000.
With a cooling track as the sun dipped below the Eastern Creek horizon, the addition of the Superlap Shootout this year made the final laps of the event the most exciting and memorable yet.
The R35 Pro Class was another new addition, whilst the Pro Am, Open and Clubsprint Classes continued to showcase Australia’s motorsport prowess.
WTAC 2014 began with Practice Day on Thursday, and it was a chance for the teams to flex their muscles and put their pre-season testing to use.
Practice Day was especially important for the international teams, who haven’t stepped foot into Sydney Motorsport Park over a year if it wasn’t their first visit.
Many of the competitors showed promising performance. Under Suzuki-san with his Yokohama ADVAN-backed Scorch Racing S15 returns to WTAC every year with new aerodynamic tweaks in his chase for WTAC glory, but ran into cooling issues after upgrading his engine and running more boost through the turbocharger.
The HKS and Top Secret R35s from Japan for the all new R35 GTR Pro Class also didn’t disappoint, going as hard as expected from the +1000HP machines, though times were definitely expected to fall across every class as the drivers became more acclimatised with their vehicles.
Friday morning signified the official start to WTAC 2014 with the time attack cars roaring to life and punching big numbers around Sydney Motorsport Park from the get-go.
Records are meant to be broken, and that was definitely the case on Day One, with lap times being smashed in the Pro Am and Open Classes, and the Pro Class frontrunners getting closer and closer to the 2014 winning times in the early sessions.
Crowd favourite Under Suzuki-san fired the first shots in Session One of Pro Class, a sign of the things to come from the Japanese privateer. He took the initial lead with a 1:25.71 time, which is less than a second away from the Pro Class record.
Meanwhile in the Pro Am Class, Mick Sigsworth set a blistering 1:28.25 lap time, resetting his own class record by almost 3 seconds, as WTAC regulars the Sutton brothers in their widebody Nissan S15 trailed in second position.
The Open Class also wanted to play in the record-breaking game, with last year’s winner Dean Lillie breaking the class lap record with a 1:30.98 lap time in his Nissan R32 GTR.
Day One didn’t end without any drama, however, as Sigsworth continued to surprise with a time of 1:25.27 to take the outright lead. This time would have won him second place in Pro Class in 2013.
Under Suzuki-san was forced to abandon his final flying lap, which would have been faster than the 1:25.71 he set earlier in the day, when he spun coming out of the last corner in the closing session of the day.
Unfortunately, Prep’d Motorsports’ Yokohama ADVAN Lotus GT3 were having trouble backing up their stellar performances from years past.
Japanese challengers Orido-san and Taniguchi-san were also nowhere to be found at the top of the leaderboard. The Top Fuel S2000 fell from its jacks in the pits, which caused unnecessary drama for the team who were looking for their first podium finish after placing fifth for the past two years.
There were also major problems for the Tilton Interiors Racing team, who suffered from power steering troubles before a loose power steering line sparked a blaze in the engine bay of the defending champion’s Mitsubishi Evo.
They found themselves in third position with a 1:26.68 lap time, less than half a second behind the MCA Suspension Hammerhead in second.
The chances of Garth Walden backing up his 2013 title seemed to dramatically slim, but his team pushed to have the car in tip-top shape and ready to attack again come Day Two.
By carefully chasing the track conditions on Saturday morning, they were able to regain the lead they strived for with a new time to beat: 1:24.94.
“We were pushing hard from the first session on Saturday, but we just weren’t getting the results,” owner Kostya recalled.
Each time Garth came back we would go over the data to try and find a way to go faster.”
All the while, Under Suzuki-san was punching out consistent lap times in the 1:26-range, and ranging closer to Garth Walden’s time with a best time of 1:25.17.
Every Pro Class team pushed hard in an effort to match the dropping numbers, but it took its toll. In the early afternoon session of Day Two, the demons of Sydney Motorsport Park surfaced.
Orido-san was battling with a hot and slick track, and coming into Turn 6 the rear of his RE Amemiya RX7 came unstuck with entry oversteer, sending him into a slow pirouette to the edge of the gravel trap. Seconds later, the Prep’d Motorsports Lotus GT3 arrived at the same corner in almost a carbon copy situation and narrowly missed the stationary RX7.
When everybody thought the chaos was over, the Pulse Racing Evo slowed to a halt at Turn 5 with smoke billowing from under its bonnet. It was game over, as the track marshals worked to extinguish the fire and clear the line of oil left in its wake.
Then came the Superlap Shootout.
All hands were on deck at the front of the Tilton Interiors Racing Evo, as Voltex engineers worked frantically to remedy the aerodynamic problems which had been hampering the car’s speed.
Shane van Gisbergen fired the first shot, bettering Under Suzuki-san’s 1:25.17 lap time by one hundredth of a second.
Would this be a repeat of 2013, when Earl Bamber piloted the MCA Suspension Hammerhead in the dying stages to push the Scorch Racing S15 off the podium?
With only two cars left out on track and the 2012 champion NemoEvo out of the picture in 2014, it should have been smooth sailing for Garth Walden to take home the trophy for the second year in a row.
But Under wasn’t going down without a brutal fight to the end.
With sparks flying as the Tilton Interiors Racing Evo rounded Turn 11, the sound of the front wing flapping violently from the downforce, and the
ADVAN A050's working in overdrive, it flew by pit lane with a near-perfect 1:24.84 lap – a new outright lap record for a roofed vehicle at Sydney Motorsport Park.
FINAL STANDINGS PRO 1. Tilton Racing - Garth Walden - Mitsubishi Evo - 1:24.8412
2. Scorch Racing - Under Suzuki - Nissan S15 - 1:24:8800
3. MCA Suspension - S. Van Gisbergen - Nissan S13 - 1:25:7090
PRO AM 1. PMQ Racing- Mick Sigsworth - Mitsubishi Evo - 1:25.2760
2. Sutton Bros - Wayne Sutton - Nissan S15 -1:30.4760
3. Kyushu Danji - Miyata Sumihiko - Nissan R34 GTR - 1:31.6856
OPEN 1. Powertune - Dean Lillie - Nissan R34 GTR - 1:30.4310
2. Powertune - Dean Lillie - Nissan R32 GTR - 1:30.9860
3. Road Track Rally - John Boston - Mitsubishi Evo X - 1:31.3938
CLUBSPRINT 1. Royal Purple/IS - Dan Farquhar -Mitsubishi Evo - 1:39.9710
2. Tunehouse Racing - David Lord - Subaru WRX - 1:40.6040
3. Superpro - Jason Naidoo - Mitsubishi Evo - 1:40.8890
GTR 1. HKS -Nob Taniguchi - Nissan R35 - 1:30.8380
2. Top Secret - Tarzan Yamada -Nissan R35 - 1:31.7250
3. Willall Racing - Nick Streckeisen - Nissan R35 - 1:36.7770
Yokohama Tyre Australia has been a sponsor of Time Attack racing and a partner with the promoter Superlap Australia since the first Superlap event at Oran Park in 2008. We are proud to be associated with this form of Motorsport and look forward to growing our association over the coming years. Special thanks to Ian Baker and all those that work tirelessly behind the scenes to make this event a true success. We can't wait for the countdown to begin for 2015's event!
LINKS: www.yokohama.com.au www.worldtimeattack.com 
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Mon, 01 Aug, 2011 - 11:29
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