World Time attack is the biggest event of the year for us here at Auto Fiend.

The machines keep evolving, and the times get faster and faster.

It is also great seeing the new vehicles being developed and making their debut.

The international guests are part of what make the event so exciting. Seeing the big guns from New Zealand, Europe, Asia and the U.S. converge on Sydney Motorsports park to compete against the best Australia has to offer, makes the hair on my arms stand up. Electrifying!

The better known teams come from Japan and bring with them everything required to be as competitive as possible, including Pro drivers from all racing disciplines, such as JGTC and Super Taikyu.

One man that has an almost unlimited fan base is “Under Suzuki”, A driver/owner who has developed his car over many years of trial and error on Japan’s famous Tsukuba circuit. The fans love Under so much because he is the underdog, and everyone wants to see the top teams go down to a privateer.

The years of development have seen some incredible aero moulded to the skeleton of the venerable S15 Nissan Silvia, assisting the car to go faster and faster every year.

The rear end alone is bordering on alien, and very effective in its purpose.

But the current reigning champion is still the Tilton Interiors Evolution Lancer driven by Garth Walden. Who in 2015 would claim the triple crown, making it 3 straight wins at World Time Attack.

New Zealand offered multiple competitors in 2015, such as the Burgerfuel Evolution Lancer campaigned by female driver Kat Benson in the Open Class.

Lyfe motorpsort were a team everyone was watching during the event due to their huge social media presence leading up to the event. Unfortunately they suffered mechanical faults and were unable to compete, though some kind soul did lend them an engine so they could at least participate. Hopefully we see them return in 2016 and challenging for the crown.

Notaras Racing keep coming back with their Evolution Lancer, bigger and better ever year, the aero gets more wild too of course, It is time attack after all.

The Flying 500 has its teething issues, but is always a very exciting event that draws almost the entire crowd. The cars contesting get more serious every year, just like the time attack event itself.

Every year there is a special guest and in 2015, that was Rod Millen and his all conquering Pikes Peak Celica. This is a vehicle with an almost unbelievable winning record. Millen broke the previous record up the mountain by 40 seconds in 1994, and the record was not beaten until 2007, that is almost 13 years. Rod
Millen is also one of my idols and a dead set nice guy to talk to. It was such a shame the yellow monster was suffering from mechanical issues during both of its display runs, so a serious lap wasn’t possible. But just seeing the machine out on track and meeting the man was a life goal for me ticked off the box.

Keep an eye out, though delayed, we are getting through the backlog.

 

Photos: Nick Drew

Words: Nick Drew