Greetings from Sydney, Australia! As our regular readers will know, the World Time Attack Challenge is on this Friday and Saturday, and we've sent a four man crew Down Under to ensure you get comprehensive coverage of this big event. I flew in earlier this week and joining me are Casey Dhnaram who arrived from Queensland, Matt Malcolm from Auckland NZ and Dino Dalle Carbonare touched down from Japan at 6am yesterday. We haven't wasted any time as we've been driving around Sydney Speedhunting from the moment we landed. Indeed, I've just rushed back to the hotel to get these posts live, while Dino, Matt and Casey continue to shoot the late night work the teams are doing on their cars.



The first thing on the agenda was to see this year's international combatants arrive at the battlefield. Both time attack and drift cars have been arriving steadily from Japan, New Zealand and the United States, which no doubt posed a logistical nightmare for the organisers.



The Kiwi cars arrived in Cartainers, which are modified containers that maximise every inch possible. The two levels allow for more cars and equipment to squeeze into the shipping containers.



Mad Mike's newly revised Team Need for Speed RX-7 arrived safe and sound from New Zealand. Even at first glimpse, the FD's new livery looks very tough.



See what I mean? This is the first time Mad Mike has brought his RX-7 to Australia, and I'm not sure if Sydneysiders are ready for the deafening sound of its quad rotor! The last time I heard Mike's RX-7 was in the D1GP All-Star World Championships, so I can't wait to hear it come to life again. I spoke to Mike's wife Toni today, who advised the crew arrived a few hours ago. There are some small things to be done and then they'll be ready for the competition.



The RX-7 was crammed full of tools of spares.



Also making its Australian debut is one of the most famous time attack cars in the world: HKS' CT230R Evo.



The Evo will only be used for display purposes, as it's been retired from active competition.



One of the fastest TA cars in the United States is the Sierra-Sierra Enterprise Evo.



In terms of the Japanese contenders, a familiar face in the form of the Pan Speed FD returns, this time sporting some new improvements. More on that in a future post.



One of the crowd favourites (in fact aren't they all crowd favourites?) will be the Scorch Racing S15, which has recently been rebuilt. What makes this car so special is that it's built by a privateer with very little sponsor support. Definitely keep an eye out for this all-carbon S15; Dino's seen it in action at Tsukuba and says it is very, very competitive.



Shipping race cars in containers isn't a straight forward affair, as many things need to be done to ensure they arrive in one piece at the other end. If you've ever seen containers being transported, you'll know how much they swing around. Prior to its journey from Japan, Scorch covered the extremities and taped up all of the vents and louvres.



A handsome gentleman decided to lend a helping hand as the Hankook Revolution RX-7 was unstrapped.



Wow. Nuff said.



Besides some masking tape, raised ride height and some aero removed, the Revolution RX-7 looked the least 'transport spec' out of the Japanese cars.



Last year's reigning champ, the Cyber Evo, has returned to defend its crown. Don't let its stock wheels and ride height fool you though; although its 'retired' the team have done major aero changes in addition to a new motor. The floor beneath the Evo has to be seen to be believed. So we'll show you it shortly.



Time attack racing is taken very seriously, with the teams bringing their own tool chests, tyres and equipment.



Every single nook and cranny is filled with racks, jacks, wheels, tyres, spare motors and transmissions.



Cyber Evo's rims shared container space with Panspeed's.



All of the containers had to go through customs and quarantine inspections before the teams were allowed to unload the vehicles.



This would have to be a rotary fans ultimate garage no?



These two people have done a monumental amount of work behind the scenes. Ian Baker, who runs WTAC, and Greg Selsby, who handled the shipping logistics. I'm sure they're admiring their handy work before heading to the pub for a much earned beverage!

- Charles Kha

Photos by Casey Dhnaram

Since landing yesterday morning in Sydney it's been non-stop speedhunting all the way. We will have much to show you from the shops we are currently visiting, but first things first. We are here for the World Time Attack Challenge after all! So after a busy day shooting some feature cars Casey, Matt and I headed off to Eastern Creek Raceway, while Charles returned to the hotel in order to begin getting some posts online.



We weren't too sure what we would find at the track at 7 pm, but it seemed everyone was still very busy getting their cars and pits in order. It turned out to be a great time get familiar with some of the cars that had already arrived. Needless to say we were very much impressed with this first glimpse!



Ever since landing here yesterday I've been hearing a lot about two very special GT-Rs that will be running at the event. This is one of them, the GT Auto Garage R35.



It's one of the first full-on time attack 35's I've seen, along with Mark Hansens's car that Casey caught testing at a recent shakedown test.



It's great seeing the new-gen GT-R being taken to these levels of tune and I, along with a lot of people out there I'm sure, can't wait to see both of these carbon fiber beasts in action!



We spotted this sinister looking widebody RPS13 quietly parked in one of the first pit garages we walked past.



If pumped fenders and a flat black paint job aren't enough to make an 180SX look mean, an S15-front end conversion will certainly add more appeal.



A quick look inside. I've already began noticing that tuners, various race teams and tuning shops out here have really taken the WTAC very seriously for 2011. Just walking in the pits tonight I saw so many impressive cars! Competition will be fierce this weekend!



A very quiet pit lane. All hell will break loose here from tomorrow.



The Sierra Sierra guys were very busy setting up their Evo and were just about to corner-weigh it to fine tune the weight balance.



All of the Japanese teams and drivers arrived in Sydney early this morning. After a busy day unpacking the cars and organizing their pit areas most returned to their hotels for a much needed rest. We really liked how the Pan Speed...



...and Revolution guys had meticulously set up their spaces in true Japanese efficiency!



Under-Suzuki and his web-famous Scorch Racing carbon S15 Silvia were taking things much easier. We dropped by their pit to say hello...



...just as Suzuki-san was tryoing to figure out where to apply all of his sponsor stickers. Ever since he decided to participate in the WTAC, the Video Option crew has been following all the preparation that has gone into fixing the car after the unexpected engine failure earlier this year.



As Ian Baker, the man behind the WTAC, told me Suzuki-san's car will be looking very different tomorrow. I guess we will have to wait and see what will happen over night!



Option2 editor, Kachi-san has also come downunder to follow the event and cover it for his magazine.



Option2 Crew jackets! How cool!!



Here are Matt and Casey receiving a couple of Option2 magazines and DVDs to add to their JDM collection.



Suzuki-san had two sets of freshly unboxed TE37SLs lined up on the pit floor. They looked so good in dark metallic silver and topped off with anodized red valve stems!



Next door the Unlimited Works guys were busy prepping the Cyber Evo so that Tarzan Yamada can abuse it out on track tomorrow. The winners of last year's event aren't taking any chances and have worked extra hard to guarantee that they have the best package possible to defend their title.



No more blown engines this year! That's a specially buit 4G63 sporting contless Tomei Powered parts sitting in the engine bay, and if this happens to develop problems they have a spare motor ready too.



The guys at Voltex have gone all out in developing this complex carbon undercover that will help suck the car onto the tarmac.



It will be joined by an equally complex front diffuser and special air guides that will direct as much air as possible towards the massive 8-pot Brembo front calipers.



Here is one of the Voltex crew busy at work fabricating mounting brackets.



As we left the track I stopped by where some of the drift cars are being kept and took a little peek at Mad Mike's FD. The car's new livery is nothing short of badass! Can't wait for this event to start and hear all these cars in action!



Make sure you check back daily to keep up to date with our updates from Eastern Creek.



WTAC 2011



-Dino Dalle Carbonare

Things are heating up here at Eastern Creek and yesterday the teams were given the opportunity to test behind closed doors. Of course, Speedhunters was on hand to see how the various teams fared in the lead up to the main event.



Mark Berry's R34 GT-R, which made the trip down from Queensland, is now wearing new aero.



Check out the enormous rear diffuser!



Although this was an informal practice session, the teams were taking it very seriously.



The Cyber Evo had some niggling issues but it was apparent that it will be the car to beat this year.



Of course, the Hankook Revolution RX-7 was equally impressive...



...And as the team dial the car in for the Eastern Creek circuit, I'm sure they'll be looking to replicate their stunning performances seen when competing in Japan's time attack events.



From the US is the SSE crew, how famously broke the HKS stranglehold on the Buttonwillow record.



Their Evo has been under the knife recently, receiving a host of improvements for this year's event.



Flying in with the Sierra Sierra team is well known tuner Eric Hsu. I'm sure he's an ace up the sleeve that many teams would like to have.



One of the crowd favourites from last year was the bright yellow FD of Pan Speed, who have once again made the journey all the way from Japan.



Diminuitive Sasaki-san looked quick. Having raced here last year, there was little need for exploratory laps.



The Scorch Racing S15 now wears ADVAN livery, which the team applied to the carbon body the night before practice.



During testing however, the team suffered a transmission failure. In a great testiment to the time attack community, many of their fellow competitors called up their contacts to get the needed replacement parts.



Usually eating at a race track involves deep fried food of questionable origins. The Cyber team's lunch looked quite appealing however!



Being in Sydney, it wasn't surprising to see so many Evos in the various classes. There's quite a diversity amongst the Evo cars, ranging from street driven weekend racers all the way through to all-out TA builds.



Cyber were considering running onikyan to be the most gangster in the pitlane.



But in all seriousness, the team were tweaking the impressive aero hidden underneath the Evo.



Last year Tarzan drove two cars, and this year he'll be doing the same. Yamada-san will split driving duties between the Cyber Evo and Mark Hansen's carbon R35 GT-R.



Tarzan's immediate feedback after steering the Australian-built R35 was that he was impressed with how light the car is compared to the other Japanese-built GT-Rs he's driven. Considering how quick it looked on track, it was surprising to find out the R35 was only running on low boost.



The R35's centre-exit exhaust obviously gets pretty hot. Check out the frayed edges on the diffuser.



The Coote family will be campaigning two cars at this year's event. Their BN Sports kitted 180SX is entered into the Tectaloy International Drift Challenge, and their newly-finished S13 Silvia will be ripping it up in the WTAC. You would've seen our scoop on its build, and it's great to see their creation circling the track.



Considering the team only have a brief shakedown under their belt, they are doing very well. On the straights it's apparent that the aero is working, with the amount of downforce at high speed causing the front splitter to scrape the asphalt. Speaking to Josh yesterday, he advised the team will be doing some small adjustments to the front suspension to try to alleviate this, but they are extremely happy with how the aero has performed thus far.



Yesterday the Speedhunters team caught up with Team Need for Speed driver Mad Mike, who has brought his quad rotor RX-7 to Australia. The local drift community here has been itching to see both MM and the FD, so he'll likely have quite a few fans in the grandstands.



The drifters only had a short session during the test day. As this is the first time many of the international drivers have been to Eastern Creek Raceway, the test session was used to get familiar with the course and to do systems checks on the vehicles.



Lloyd Smith's V8-powered Corolla is a joy to watch. It's so wrong it's right!



Despite a small spin on one of his runs, Kiwi Fanga Dan looked quite comfortable on the high-speed track. The layout for the drifting is the same as that used in the former Drift Australia competitions, with a 3rd gear (or 4th depending on setup) right-left and then a long, sweeping left onto the main straight. The tricky part is likely to be hitting the first two clipping points and then being able to link the final sweeper.



Bra-bra-bra-bra-braaaaaap-bap-bap-bap! Mad Mike's RX-7 is undoubtedly one of the best sounding drift cars in the world.



Jake Jones, the 'Drift Squid', will be one of the many Australian drifters looking to take out the win on home soil.



The Hankook WRX arrived late in the day, with the team doing their final checks at night.



WTAC's creator, Ian Baker, was running around getting the final touches done to the Eastern Creek track in readiness for the gates opening to the public today. Speaking of which, the cars are now rolling out into the pitlane, so it's time for me to grab my camera and join the rest of our Speedhunters team trackside.

Stay tuned for more coverage.

- Charles Kha

Photos by Dino Dalle Carbonare, Matt Malcolm, Casey Dhnaram and Charles Kha

The Speedhunters team is busy shooting on track, but here's a selection of photos from our latest card dump. The Garage Revolution / Hankook RX-7 is proving extremely competitive and is just three hundredths of a second behind Tarzan's record breaking run from last year.



Last years winner, Tarzan Yamada piloting the Cyber EVO has not been out as much as the other Pro Class teams, but without a doubt will make up for their lost time.



Since yesterday's practice Sasaki-san has looked very consistent and I'm sure driving the track back in 2010 will pay off with some faster times this year.



Here is the Hi Octane R34 GT-R strapping down the back straight into turn 1...



...Closely followed by Mick Sigworth's fire spitting EVO.

-Casey

2011 World Time Attack Challenge

Tarzan Yamada and the Cyber Evo/Unlimited Works team have finished Friday's practice in top spot by setting a very quick 1'30"369 time. That's slightly faster than last year's lap of 1'30"587 which yielded them the 2010 victory. It isn't over yet however, Revolution is right behind them in second spot with a 1'30"616 and the Sierra Sierra guys, after an impressively quick diff fix, managed to set the third fastest time of the day, a 1'30"749. This is a great preview of how close things are going to get tomorrow when all teams will be fighting to set their best time. Will we see them breaking into the 29's?



WTAC 2011 Coverage on Speedhunters



-Dino Dalle Carbonare

Today is the big day: the main event at the World Time Attack Challenge in Sydney, Australia. And things have suddenly become very serious. With cooler temperatures today, the laptimes have come down. In the latest Pro class session, two cars have comprehensively smashed the 1:30 barrier.



Currently at the top of the timing screens is David Empringham, steering the SSE Evo to a staggering 1:29.024.



Tarzan Yamada is currently second with a 1:29.751. To give you an idea of how fast these two cars are, last year's winning time (Yamada driving the Cyber Evo) was 1:30.587.



And literally a few minutes ago the Sierra-Sierra team blocked off their pits from all photography and prying eyes, with the car hidden behind enormous Hankook banners. Before the banners went up, Andrew Foy from Downshift caught a glimpse of the Evo which had its manifold off.

Many of the Pro class cars have only been doing installation laps, so it's going to be a very interesting day as it's now time for everyone to reveal their cards.

- Charles Kha

World Time Attack Challenge coverage

Over the past couple of hours, the temperature in Sydney's west dropped dramatically as ominous clouds rolled over the Eastern Creek Raceway. In the pitlane, a storm was also brewing with the Cyber Evo team asking the scrutineers to check if the Sierra Sierra team was running Nitrous. But was it all mind games?



Cyber Evo opted to sit out the session that SSE ran a 1:29.024, which ended up being seven tenths faster than the Japanese team. A few people in the pits reckon the Cyber team may have been sand bagging.



The afternoon session was halted momentarily when the Scorch Racing team suffered another transmission failure, leaving the all-carbon S15 stranded on track.



The Scorch S15 is currently in the pits with its transmission being pulled out.



As soon as the session resumed, Tarzan Yamada laid down a vicious lap time of 1:28.851, bettering SSE by almost two tenths of a second.



Just minutes after the Cyber Evo pulled into the pits, light rain started to fall. It was only a brief sprinkling though, although the threat of more rains hangs, quite literally, over us. According the Bureau of Meteorology however, no more rain is expected in this area.



Hopping straight out of the car, Tarzan and the Unlimited Works crew posed for Video Option.



It was all smiles in their garage...



...It was hard to tell what was going on in SSE's pit though.



But Matt was able to sneak a shot in.



The Garage Revolution RX-7 had to abort its flying lap because of the red flag, and currently sits in third with a 1:31.240.



Is it game over? Have Cyber and the Unlimited Works crew done enough to win WTAC? Dino has just spoken with the team, and they advised the turbo was damaged during Tarzan's all-out lap. They think they can continue, but may only be able to do another single lap...



There's still time for SSE and the other Pro Class competitors to top the timing sheets.

- Charles Kha

Photos by Matt Malcolm and Charles Kha

The World Time Attack Challenge winner's trophy is once again headed back to Japan, with Tarzan Yamada's 1:28.8510 flyer enough to clinch the win. Congratulations to Tarzan Yamada, Takizawa-san, Unlimited Works and Voltex for their impressive performance.



There was tension in the pitlane as the last Pro Class session got under way, but SSE weren't able to improve on their 1:29.024 laptime. They finished in second place by the narrowest of margins.



Taking the last step on the podium is Garage Revolution, with Mitsuhiro Kinoshita's 1:30.501.



The Tilton Interiors Evo missed out on a trophy by just three tenths of a second. The top five for Pro Class were:

1. Tarzan Yamada, Cyber Evo 1:28.851

2. David Empringham, Sierra Sierra 1.29.0240

3. Mitsuhiro Kinoshita, Garage Revolution Mazda RX-7 1:30.501

4. Garth Walden, Tilton Interiors Mitsubishi Evo 1:30.866

5. Anda Suzuki, Scorch Racing S15 1:31.456

We'll be along with our full report from WTAC 11 in the coming days, but for now it's off to shoot the International Drift Challenge!

- Charles Kha

Photos by Dino Dalle Carbonare and Charles Kha

It's no wonder people have began calling this the event of the year. If you are into tuned-beyond-belief street cars, battling it out for the fastest lap there is pretty much nothing that can touch the World Time Attack Challenge. Japan, Australia and the US each have their own dedicated group of blisteringly fast time attack cars, but nobody has ever seen them all against each other, not until last year when Ian Baker from Hi Octane Racing decided to put this impressive event together. And for 2011 the action got even fiercer with the top teams shaving off a barely believable 2-seconds off last year's record lap of 1'30"587 set by Tarzan Yamada and the Cyber Evo team. For 2011 Ian and the Yokohama Australia guys did a great job in inviting a few more teams over from Japan, tuning shops that are behind some of the fastest cars in the land of the rising sun, like the Revolution RX7 above...



...and the Scorch S15 Silvia, built, set-up and driven by its owner, known in time attack circles as Under Suzuki. Suzuki-san was without a doubt a crowd favorite from the beginning of the event, people barely believing that he has managed to put together such an impressive and capable car by himself. Despite being held back by continuous transmission problems he managed to set a fastest time of 1"31"456 landing him in fifth position in the Pro class.



What became instantly obvious once I took the first few walks through the pits during the practice and set up days was that the Aussies have really began to take this whole event very seriously, the cars most of the teams built unlike anything I had seen even in Japan. And the fact that most have been put together in little over a year makes it even more impressive.



With top teams like Cyber Evo, Pan Speed and Sierra Sierra back to have another go at lowering that lap record, the atmosphere on race day was nothing short of electrifying. Most of the Friday practice session was spent setting up the cars; the majority of teams fine tuning suspension settings to suit the recently resurfaced track at Eastern Creek. With some corners and sections now having newer and grippier tarmac there was potential for much faster times compared to last year.



Team Prep'd Motorsport took things seriously in upgrading their Lotus Exige GT3 for this year's event. This little mid-engine beast has to be seen to be appreciated...



...its light weight alowing it to thunder into corners at an impressive speed compared to come of the heavier cars competing in the same class. The driver, Warren Luff, managed a best of 1'31"916 landing him into 6th position.



Garth Walden with his Tilton Interiors Lancer Evo was right at the top with the big budget Japanese cars, his lap times hovering around the same record time that Tarzan set last year. It might have been entered in the Pro class but this car looked almost street-spec! A complex under body cover, not unlike what was used in Formula 1 during the ground effect era, was helping the car stay stuck to the tarmac.



For the first session of the day Casey, Matt and I took our little golf cart and headed over to turn 2 where the cars come charging towards under full braking after having blasted through turn 1 at almost full speed.



The Cyber Evo/Ulimited Works team seemed to be taking things easy during the morning, waiting to see what kind of times other cars would be setting. Tarzan didn't have a proper go until the second morning session when the times really started to come down once the Sierra Sierra broke under the 1'30" barirer.



Team Pan Speed were back once again with Sasaki-san at the wheel.



Their RX7 was in tip top condition but with most of the other teams having stepped the game up it quickly looked like the little 13B powering the legendary yellow rotary was running out of puff earlier than other cars, their times hovering around the 1'32"s



This could possibly be the most photogenic car of the whole event!



We all know how Revolution set the fastest time at the Lap Battle in Tsukuba last year, but with Eastern Creek being very different from the short Japanese track, nobody really knew what they would be able to achieve.



I'm always impressed by the professionalism of the Aoki-san and the Revolution team and as soon as they arrived in Australia they got down to business and spent the whole Friday session adjusting the car. Behind the wheel was Mitsuhiro Kinoshita, Japan's smallest driver (yes, he is smaller than Nomuken!), who after driving the R-Magic RX7 last year was already one step ahead of the other rookie Japanese team...



...Scorch Racing. Under-Suzuki is obviously a fast learner, his lap times falling consistently after the first morning session. The car, now powered by an all new NAPREC built SR20, looked great in action and was pulling top speeds of over 270 km/h on the home straight.



Last week prior to the event we stopped by Ben Creswick to see how the build of his Hankook Australia WRX was going.



After checking out up close it was great to hear it out at full throttle as driver Dean Evans pulled back on the WRC-spec sequential, machine gunning through the gears.



The car managed a best of 1'35"134, landing it in 14th position, and you have got to give it to Ben and his brother for putting together such a competitive car in their spare time. Here is Dean having a little excursion on the grass while trying to extract a faster time.



Much like last year it became evident early in the day that it would all end up a tight battle between American David Empringham in the Sierra Sierra Evo...



...and Tarzan in the Cyber Evo. The action between these two began to intensify later in the afternoon right after the Sierra Sierra team returned back to the pits with a few problems after setting the fastest time of the day thus far.



They closed off their pits with Hankook banners to get some privacy so they could concentrate in addressing the problem.



And talking of putting cars together it was too bad that Jose from Fernandez Motorsport was unable to finish the crazy Falcon ute that we dropped by to check out two days before the event. This thing will be wild when completed and Jose seems to have even wilder plans for his next project! One to keep an eye out for sure.



Of course one of the biggest spectacles of the event were the two carbon bodied R35 GT-Rs of Mercury Motorsport, above, and GT Auto Garage/HKS Australia. These extremely powerful beasts looked menacing out on track only let down by the use of smaller diameter 18-inch wheels due to unavailability of 20-inch semi slick rubber.



Best time the Mercury Motorsport managed was a 1'33"556 with Mark Hansen at the wheel.



And on the subject of GT-Rs here is Mark Berry in the Advan/Hi-Octane Racing BNR34, looking far more imposing than last year thanks to a revised aerodynamics package, which includes a massive protruding front splitter...



...and a huge rear extractor. The best Mark managed was a 1'31"905, almost 2.5 sec faster than his best time last year!



After spending most of the previous night fitting the Hollinger gearbox back into his car following a failure during the Friday practice, Suzuki looked in full form and ready to go and set an even faster time.



But it was just not meant to be. The gearbox failed again leaving him stranded on track. He had to be towed back to the pits, prematurely ending his first WTAC event. He gave it his best and considering everything, he has come a very long way. In his own words, he will have revenge next year!



During the late morning session the red flag came out a few times, either due to occasional excursions into the grass by competing cars...



...or oil because oil was sprayed along the main straight.

Check back tomorrow to find out how the last afternoon session of the Pro class went, and take a closer look at the podium.



WTAC 2011



-Dino Dalle Carbonare

The last session of the Pro Class is where it all happens. After two days of slowly but surely edging well into uncharted territory at Eastern Creek, the final afternoon outing is where all is won or lost and where teams are prepared to sacrifice their cars in the pursuit of that record braking lap. So with boost turned up to the max and ECUs running their most extreme ignition and fueling maps, teams and drivers were ready to unleash all.



After David Empringham in the Sierra Sierra Evo set the fastest time of the day earlier in the afternoon with a barely believable 1'29"024, Tarzan knew the challenge was on. With falling temperatures and the threat of potential rain later in the day he would have to drive his best in the two afternoon sessions.



Right next to the Cyber Evo pit was where the Mercury Motorsport guys had set up camp, a car that Tarzan was also contracted to drive although Mark Hansen took it out for a few fast laps too. According to the official timing results on the WTAC website Mark is the one that managed the better time with the all carbon R35, a 1'33"556 against Tarzan's 1'34"337.



Mark Berry always looks so relaxed, even minutes before heading out on track for another shot, with his crazy looking BNR34.



The Hi Octane team really has to be commended for the work they have done in making the GT-R so much more competitive.



I remember last year when it was smoking all four tires in second gear coming out of the infield hairpin. Now with the advanced aerodynamics the car literally sucks itself onto the ground!



I don't think there is a more extreme looking Impreza WRX...



...than Ben Creswick's carbon widebody beast.



Like all other teams, they went all out in the last session trying to better their times. According to Ben the next evolution of this car will be far more powerful!



After Tarzan managed to better Empringham's time with a 1'28"851, the Sierra Sierra had another crack but was unable to better Tarzan's time.



The GT Auto Garage/HKS Australia GT-R was the fastest R35 on the day. They managed a 1'32"413 landing them in 9th position. With the car having been barely completed in time for the event you can expect them to be back next year with an even faster package.



With the lightweight one-piece dry carbon front section removed you can really appreciate all the work that has gone into the engine and overall set-up of the car.



Next to the Sierra Sierra pit was Team Revolution NZ with their 700 HP Evo. With Jono Lester at the wheel they managed a respectable 1'34"824 lap, the 13th fastest time of the day in the Pro Class.



In the Pan Speed pits things were beginning to heat up as Sasaki-san began to prepare for his final outing of the event.



As the yellow FD was rolled out into the pit lane Kinoshita had just returned from a hot lap attempt. The Revolution RX7, despite having just as much potential for fast times as the other cars in the top class, managed to set a best of 1'30"501.



There is a lot more speed in the car we are sure, but that it will take more time to extract the car's full potential at Eastern Creek. It is built for Tsukuba after all. One to watch in 2012 for sure!



Sasaki-san in the zone as few seconds before heading out. He was unable to better his previous attempt of the day and finished in 8th position.



Garth Walden in the Tilton Interiors Evo finishing up his last lap of the day. He must have been happy with 4th place, beating a long list of impressive Pro class cars. This thing is seriously quick, finishing just three-tenths shy of the Garage Revolution RX-7.



As I made my way down the pits I felt a little sad to see the Scorch S15 sitting quietly in its pit with nobody around it. Suzuki, who even flew his parents out for the event, was understandably disappointed, but there was nothing that could be done.



As we saw a few weeks back the MCA Suspension S13 Onevia is another locally built time attack monster that was completed just in time for WTAC. With its massive rear diffuser and imposing open wheeler-like extended front spoiler it was one of the most extreme looking cars in the whole class.



The driver, 21 year old New Zealander Earl Bamber, managed to coax a 1'33"062 out of it which is an impressive time for a rear wheel drive machine like this. That was good enough for a 10th position.



Kazuhiro Sato of Unlimited Works taking a few seconds to look over the Cyber Evo...



...before it was prepped for its final session. I had a quick word to Sato-san and he told me that this final attempt could potentially kill the engine in the Evo, as the turbine was cracked and about to let go.



Tarzan has never been known as a driver that has much mechanical sympathy, so was prepared to risk a potential failure for a last crack at his record braking the record 1'28" lap he set right after Sierra Sierra posted the first sub-1'30" time.



With the boost turned right up the Cyber Evo was just no performing as it should and the attempt was aborted. Tarzan came back to the pits and knew nobody had come close to his time, allowing him to defend his 2010 title.



David Empringham knew that without the transmission problems his Evo developed, he could have taken first place. We are sure he and the SSE team will be back to prove their might in 2012!



Kinoshita-san was more than happy with a third spot finish, a great success for him and the Revolution team.



Tarzan attempted to jokingly throw him off the podium before accepting his rather large 1st place trophy. Congratulations to Tarzan and all involved in the team!

The World Time Attack Challenge is quickly becoming one of those events that you just can't afford to miss and we really have to thank the people behind it all like Ian Baker of Hi-Octane Racing and all the Yokohama Australia people who make this excitement-filled couple of days possible. The event only ended a few days ago but I'm already looking forward to 2012 and seeing what other cool cars will participate!

Stay tuned for more coverage from Charles, Casey and Matt coming up soon!



PRO Class RESULTS:



1. Eiiji "Tarzan" Yamada Cyber Evo 1'28"851

2. David Empringham Sierra Sierra Evo 1'29"024

3. Mitsuhiro kinoshita Revolution RX-7 1'30"501

4. Garth Walden Tilton Interiors Evo 1'30"866

5. "Under" Suzuki Scorch Racing Silvia 1'31"456

6. Mark Berry Advan/Hi Octane Racing GT-R 1'31"905

7. Warren Luff Prep'd Motorsport Exige GT3 1'31"916

8. Kouta Sasaki Pan Speed RX-7 1'32"034

9. Steve Glenney GT Auto Garage/HKS Australia GT-R 1'32"413

10. Earl Bamber MCA Suspension Onevia 1'33"062

11. Mark Hansen Mercury Motorsports GT-R 1'33"556

12. Eiiji "Tarzan" Yamada Mercury Motorsports GT-R 1'34"337

13. Jono Lester Team Revolution NZ Evo 1'34"824

14. Dean Evans Hankkok Australia Impreza WRX 1'35"134

15. John Boston Unique Auto Sports 300ZX 1'35"234

16. Martin Notaras Notaras/Pro Speed Evo 1'35"625

17. John Boston Motive DVD Silvia 1'39"750





WTAC 2011



- Dino Dalle Carbonare