I’m going to go ahead and say it. World Time Attack Challenge is the best event on Australia’s calendar for modified car enthusiasts. Abbreviated to WTAC, the event continues to be jam-packed with different activities, allowing attendees to enjoy and celebrate all things modified-cars. Despite all of the side attractions that occur throughout the two day festival, the first and foremost aspect of WTAC is its very title. Tsukuba circuit will always be the spiritual home of time attack racing but Sydney Motorsport Park is promptly gaining reputation as the benchmark circuit to conquer and WTAC the event to be champion of.
There are many car events to attend in Australia but why do I think WTAC is the jewel of them all? Firstly, I’m a modified car enthusiast who embraces this entire sub-culture. Secondly, peaking behind the curtains to reveal who’s playing the puppet seems to answer the question well. Ian Baker is no stranger to the motor sport world, having produced a vivid resume over his twenty years of working in the industry. WTAC continues to flourish each year as Ian considers himself not in the automotive industry but that of the show and entertainment business. He recognises what the fans want and smashes the delivery with not just one but a whole dozen of cherries on top – each and every year.
Onto the actual racing. Ever since the inaugural event in 2010, there’s always been five main classes of racing: Clubsprint, Open, Pro Am and Pro. In addition, a drift tournament has always featured and for 2016, the International Drift Challenge took place immediately after the main event.
Daniel Meredith and his BYP Racing Honda Civic took out last year’s Clubsprint Class. For 2016, he was able to retain the title, having lapped a 1:39.2740 – the fastest time out of a field of 47.
The textbook solution for a winning time attack car typically includes the following words; Mitsubishi, Nissan, 4WD and RWD. Adami Casmiri debunked this myth last year as he was able to pilot the JDM Yard Honda Civic to an Open Class victory. However the same success couldn’t be replicated this year, with the front-wheel drive Civic only managing a best of 1:30.6570 – enough for a seventh place finish. First place this year would go to the Royal Purple/Spartan Evo, with driver Nathan Morcom achieving a 1:29.2950.
Pro AM contained a small field of six for 2016. Australia got to see Dale Malone’s S15 Silvia for the first time. Despite previously living life as a JGTC GT300 monster, Dale managed a best of 1:44.3950 putting him in sixth place. Crowd favorite Rob Nguyen and his Mighty Mouse Honda CRX came ever so close to taking out the Pro AM title having lapped a 1:27:6170. Rob’s efforts were rewarded with a second place finish, the same spot he was in last year. Mick Sigsworth was also in the same place as he was in the previous year, and the last two years before that – first place. Managing a best of 1:27:4500, Mick once again and for the fourth year in a row took out the Pro Am class in his PMQ Evo 9.
After three consecutive years of winning Pro class, the Tilton Interiors Evo 9 gracefully retired from racing after the 2015 event. With Tilton and ace-driver Garth Walden out of the picture, it was anyone’s guess as to who would be the fastest in 2016. No One Better (Nobuteru Taniguchi) was driving the Sutton Brothers Racing S15 and lapped a 1:28:4540 which was good enough for fourth place. Secretly, my fingers were crossed for Under Suzuki and his Scorch Racing S15. The bloke’s story is inspirational; full time Pharmacist, built his car with his own hands, should be racing in Pro Am but opts to race in Pro class – I’ve been backing him since day one. But 2016 was not his fairly tale ending, with Under Suzuki’s impressive 1:23:1310 only good for third place (that time would’ve allowed him to win the entire event last year). I truly hope he’s able to taste the flavours of victory one day.
The RP Porsche 968 made its race debut last year and wasn’t able to score a Pro Class podium finish. But this changed in 2016 as driver Barton Mawer was able to pilot the Porsche to an incredible 1:23.0380, netting the team a runner-up placing. Murray Coote, owner of MCA Suspension was over the moon as his beast was finally able to stand on the centre of the podium. The MCA Hammerhead S13, previously driven by V8 Supercars crowd favourite Shane Van Gisbergen for WTAC 2014 and 2015, saw a driver change for 2016 with fellow V8 Supercars driver Tim Slade taking the wheel. It takes many stars to align on the day to get a Pro class win. MCA Suspension were blessed as Tim completely annihilated the stop watches with a lap record resetting and best of 1:22.1920 – crowing him and MCA Suspension as champions of WTAC 2016.
After podium celebrations were completed, myself along with the other thousands of fans flocked to turns 9, 10 and 11 to witness the start of the International Drift Challenge along with a ravishing crimson sunset. Remember when I said Ian Baker nails the execution of delivering an event the fans want to see? the drifting was anther perfect example of this. If having Daigo Saito and his Monster Energy Lamborghini and Mad Mike in the TCP Magic RX-7 wasn’t exciting enough for you, how about adding an all-star judging line up in the form of Keiichi Tsuchiya, Tarzan Yamada and Andrew Redward with all-around cool guy Toshi Hayama translating live?
It was exciting and insightful to hear Tsuchiya-san’s comments during the drifting battles. Tsuchiya-san, who requested to be called Drift King (and rightly so) during the drifting made remarks such as punishing drivers if he didn’t hear the correct rpm note mid-drift at certain sections of the track as this indicated backing off and “fear” in his eyes and ears. The Drift King openly admitted on the mic that he was harsher on Daigo Saito when it came to scoring due to his higher skill level relative to the other competitors (despite drifting a mid-engine Lamborghini Murcielago which is difficult for any pro driver to do). He further emphasised that if all of the competing drivers were at Japan’s standard of skill, he wouldn’t have been as lenient on the overall scores.
Michael Rosenblatt in his R32 Skyline ended up defeating Rob Whyte and his 350Z. With the humongous crowds that were present throughout the entire battles, the International Drift Challenge was able to set a new record for the largest drifting event in Australia with an estimated 10,000 plus spectators.
WTAC 2016 delivered once again. Thoughts of how the event can be topped or how lap records are smashed each and every year still confuses me. But as long as Ian Baker is the puppeteer of the show, I’m confident it wont slow down any time soon. Racing and lap times are considered to be WTAC’s main dish. Despite this, there were a host of side shows and attractions that went on throughout the two day festival. I’ll highlight the entertaining things that caught my sight in a follow up WTAC 2016 post.
