GERMAN TURBO POWER TAKES ON THE WORLD IN TIME ATTACK
ADVAN Neova Cup competitor BMW 135i to take on Japanese rockets
in Clubsprint Class at World Time Attack
01/08/11: THE WORLD TIME ATTACK challenge at Eastern Creek is the land of the Rising Sun; an event
dominated by Japanese machinery. Though he has fought with an oriental arsenal in the past, drifter turned tarmac
rally driver Adam Newton has turned to German weaponry - a BMW 135i - to take on the Clubsprint class.
“There are some pretty intimidating Japanese cars in this category, but I like the Clubsprint concept of the owner
also being the driver and the car needing to be street legal,” Newton explained. “It evens out the playing field, and
also keeps your budget and your car planted in the real world. This type of car – a rear-wheel drive, short
wheelbase turbo six from Deutschland – is a complete unknown quantity. This will be its first race; hopefully this
shakedown will also shake up the competition!”
The Clubsprint class is the most restricted in the WTA field, with cars required to be close to standard form.
Vehicles must be road registered, and the registered owners must drive the cars themselves. Engine size,
aspiration, driven wheels and exhaust must remain as standard, while coilovers, bigger wheels and brakes, mild
aero mods and gear sets can be added.
The build and preparation by Southern BM has resulted in a significant power and torque increase, exceptional
handling, bigger brakes, and an upgraded BMW Performance interior. In adhering to the strict Clubsprint
regulations, Southern BM focused on power and traction, with a Proceede ECU, Quaife LSD, KW V3 coilover
suspension, and an upgraded exhaust. The brakes have been beefed up with a hug set of 355mm Performance
Friction Z Rated Street Kit fronts and BMW Performance rear brakes, framed by 19-inch Advan RZ rims wrapped in
Advan Neova AD08 rubber. Inside, the cabin is decked out with BMW Performance seats, pedals, steering wheel,
gear stick and Sabelt four-point harnesses to tackle the task at hand.
The result is a car for all occasions, with the ECU capable of switching between a 120kW ‘valet’ mode, to a 200kW
street mode, to the hard charging 280kW race mode. From daily driver to racing rocket, the BMW 135i is the
epitome of a Clubsprint car.
Most significantly for the Clubsprint cars are the tyres; the rubber must have a UTQG rating higher than 120. In
other words, a radial or street-legal road tyre must be used. This makes it the perfect playground for Newton’s 135i,
which was originally set up for the new ADVAN Neova Cup series.
The ADVAN Neova tyre has already clocked a 1:44.37 at Eastern Creek Raceway - quite a feat for a street-legal
road tyre - and its competitive track record led Yokohama to set up the Neova Cup: a challenge to the Australian
track-day racer. The only prerequisite for the series is the footwear – the car must be shoed with Neova tyres. No
rollcages, race cars or race suits are required. Drivers simply attend any timed track day using Natsoft timing
equipment, set a lap time, and fill out the ADVAN Neova Cup entry form. The leaderboard at
www.advanwheels.com.au reveals the rest... Winners of each class will be awarded a trophy, and a mystery
major prize will be given to the outright fastest and be added onto the Yokohama ADVAN hall of fame.
Newton just topped the Advan Neova Cup leader board at Winton Raceway with a 1.39.28sec in testing over the
weekend. This is over six seconds faster than the current second placeholder, and puts him in good stead for the
World Time Attack challenge in three days time.
The BMW 135i’s Superlap entry is also supported by Yokohama Advan Neova, Performance Friction Brakes,
Meridian Motorsport, Sublime Graphics, tuning by Racepace Motorsport, and Southern BM*.
*Southern BM is an Independent BMW Service Specialist Mechanical workshop based in Melbourne, Australia.
Southern BM provides BMW servicing, mechanical repairs, maintenance, pre-purchase inspections, programming
and coding, and stocks a large range of BMW tuning and performance products. See
www.southernbm.com.