Suspicions, inspections, scorching lap times and new records. At the 2011 World Time Attack Challenge, held August 5-6, 2011 at Eastern Creek Raceway, Sydney, Australia, the highly-anticipated sequel to last year’s neck-and-neck drama between Japan’s Cyber EVO and America’s Sierra Sierra Enterprises (SSE) EVO had many wondering what sort of racing controversy would ensue. Thanks to the passion and fiercely competitive spirits of every team in attendance, no one could be disappointed by the outcome of the weekend.

New Players In The Mix

The success of the first WTAC captivated the time-attack community. This brought out several new and highly-competitive teams, including Scorch Racing and Garage Revolution. Scorch Racing’s Silvia S15, owned and driven by privateer Anda Suzuki, has been progressively improving in recent years and made a public debut at the 2011 Tokyo Auto Salon. Garage Revolution’s RX7 set the RWD record at the 2010 Lap Battle at Tsukuba, nearly breaking the overall record held by the HKS CT230R.

Day 1: Hot Out The Gates

In the first session of the event, Tarzan Yamada set a blistering pace in the Cyber EVO with a 1:30.8220, nearly matching his winning lap time from 2010. Kouta Sasaki locked in the second quickest time of the session with a 1:32.3580 behind the wheel of the Panspeed RX7. But at the start of the second session, positions shifted when Mitsuhiro Kinoshita took the Garage Revolution RX7 into the lead with a 1:30.6160. Garage Revolution’s president, Takashi Aoki comments, “We changed up the wheels and tires, vehicle height and made significant changes to aerodynamics compared to last year. This is our first time at Eastern Creek and it is rewarding when we can perform well against veteran teams.” SSE skipped the earlier sessions and finally put David Empringham on the track late in the day. Empringham stepped it up, turning a quick 1:30.7490 second pass that surpassed his 2010 lap time by over a second, moving up the ladder past the Cyber EVO and only 0.133 seconds behind Garage Revolution. But the Cyber team would not end the day without a response, as the last session ended with Tarzan on top, besting his 2010 lap time by two-tenths of a second to retake the lead.

Day 2: Squeezing Speed?

The cool 62-degree morning temperatures favored horsepower production, and SSE wasted no time taking advantage of the incredible potential of the EVO VIII. Empringham raised the bar once more, shattering the previous record by over a full second with a 1:29.0240 lap time. SSE team manager Richard Raeder comments, “We noticed that the EVO tends to perform well in the morning and we wanted to give David his best shot at winning, so he held nothing back. We were pleased with the time but we expected a response from other camps, so we managed our expectations and waited to see what times the other teams would start posting.” When Tarzan and the Cyber EVO took to the track, the quickest lap time they could produce was a 1:29.7510. While breaking into the 1:29’s was an accomplishment, it was still over 0.7-seconds behind Empringham. The radar measured Empringham’s trap speed at a staggering 298.89 KPH, which raised quite a few eyebrows. Was there something amiss? Takizawa and the Cyber EVO Team voiced their concerns to WTAC, stating that they felt that it was not possible for a car of that weight to reach those speeds without the illicit use of nitrous-oxide injection. Cosworth’s Eric Hsu comments, "When Ian from WTAC came over and asked if CAMS (the Australian equivalent of FIA) could inspect the SSE EVO because of allegations of nitrous use, we were a little surprised but happy to oblige."

An Open Book

Upon receipt of this news, the SSE Team also invited the Cyber team to inspect the SSE EVO, as a show of good faith. After meeting the team and speaking with them, the Cyber EVO team respectfully declined. Raeder continues, "They were probably feeling the pressure of the competition and thought something was not right. But we opened our garage to them and offered to remove anything they thought was suspect. I think our non-hostile response and open offer put them at ease, and they just realized that our car really could go that fast. They really are a friendly team and honorable opponents, they are just very competitive."

The garage was closed off to the public and media as inspectors for the World Time Attack Challenge reviewed the SSE EVO. Hsu states, "We pulled the engine apart to inspect the engine while the CAMS representatives performed their inspection. Once cleared, one of the representatives remained in our garage for the remainder of the day." The WTAC and CAMS had officially inspected the EVO and found it in compliance so the team was given the green light to compete. Hsu continues, “We put the car back together for the last session. It was no big deal. We weren’t offended and in fact, we were a little flattered."