The Superlap World Time Attack Challenge is now part of motorsport history and has certainly put Australia firmly on the Time Attack map worldwide.
To actually see all of these leading cars from Japan and the US competing on our home soil is a memory many will cherish for a long time to come. The outcome was not exactly surprising as the Cyber Evo has long been regarded as one of the fastest time attack cars in the world and it certainly stamped its authority loud and clear at Eastern Creek, shattering Mark Skaife’s long-standing V8 supercar lap record with a time of 1.30.58 and over a full second ahead of their American arch-rivals Sierra Sierra Enterprises (1.31.88).
To say these guys put in a marathon effort is an understatement. To ship several whole racing operations to another country involves an enormous effort both logistically and financially. Throw in a language barrier you can start to get an idea of the huge task myself and my staff had to undertake, but seeing the smiles on everyone’s faces when these cars hit the track made it all worthwhile.
The dust had barely settled from the 2010 World Time Attack Challenge but we’re already in the planning stage for the 2011 event. The feedback received both from competitors, sponsors and spectactors will help us make the 2011 WTAC even bigger and better so be sure to keep your eyes on www.worldtimeattack.com for future updates.
Now I would like to personally thank the following people who are the guys that really helped put this deal together and deserve to see their name in lights:
Christian Hansen, Doug Iric, Nathan Welland, Inga Whitman, Kerrie Maastricht, Kyle Major, Greg, David and James Lysien, Jeff Boulous, Jessica Nicholson, Peter Macintyre, Allen Lorenzo, Tats Kano, Eric Kroegel, Daniel Ellis, Steve Glenney, Steve Gosbee, Greg Selsby, and a big thank you to Dennis Kottke from team Sierra Sierra for believing in us when many others let us down. I have no doubt you will be back bigger and better next year!
Also a big thankyou to the guys at Hypertune for helping with CAMS compliance issues and Haltech for opening their dyno to us to get the Cyber Evo going again late at night and anyone else that I might have forgotten.
Also a huge thank you to our fans and media contingent that travelled from around the world to be here. I know we had a big group of fans from New Zealand, USA and Japan and people who drove from as far as Perth and Darwin just to be a part of the action. Without you guys we couldn’t have an event and I thank you all dearly for your support.
Last but not least a big thank-you to our sponsors and traders. To see the support from the aftermarket industry was absolutely amazing and I believe unprecedented an event like this in Australia. These are the guys that are supporting motorsport so I ask that next time you are in the market for a performance product you think long and hard about who is putting their money into our future instead of into their back pockets.
Yokohama Australia, Wynn’s Australia, Hi Octane Racing, Tectaloy Performance Coolants, Chemtech, Hi Octane Performance Coatings, GCG Turbos, Greddy, Turbosmart Performance Products, HKS Australia, Xtreme Race Clutch, Haltech, Royal Purple, V-Sport, Ross Balancers, 999 Automotive, Fulcrum Suspension, TMR Australia, Motul, Nismo, Whiteline Suspension, Motor Magazine.
Autostyle, Exedy Clutch, Motorsport Connections, A&B Motorsport, AVO, Nevco, Nitto, PPG Gearboxes, MX Performance, ProSpeed, VisionR, Uber Motorsport, Revolution Racegear, TurboXS, Gulf, Bilstein, Vipec, Moto Graphics, HDI, MRT Performance, Suspension Technology, Award Diffs, Camzilla, Albins, Otomoto, Polyair, Drexler, Jack Daniels Experience, Exclusive Collectibles, Drive-a-Racecar, Gary’s Motorsport, East Coast Suspension.
We will see you back at the track in 2011!
Ian Baker
CEO Superlap Australia
Ian
I only just noticed this story so just wanted to give praise from one of the smaller exhibitors. We all had a blast and to be honest, the racing was only half the fun. There was plenty to do and see around the pit area that could keep anyone entertained all day long.
Looking forward to exhibiting next year as I’m sure it will be even bigger!
Regards,
Brendan Allen
BDM for Motographics
http://www.motographics.com.au
http://www.facebook.com/motographics
http://www.flickr.com/motographics
Ian, firstly I would like to thankyou for the opportunity to attend this event as a media personal. To have the chance to be part of this amazing event was simply incredible. A friend and myself travelled 14hours just to attend and within the first 2minutes of arriving it was already so so worth it. The whole atmosphere of being able to get that close to the proclass cars was simply spectacular and the show they put on was a work of art in itself. Lets not forget the large variety of trade stands, etc either. All in all this was by far the best car related event I have ever been to.
I hope that I can travel down next year with the chance to have media access again.
Thanks again,
Andrew Foy.
Downshift-Ezine.
Ian,
Congratulations to you and your team on a fantastic event.
It was first class in every respect.
While my aerobatic display was “off track”, I’m proud to have been a part of your success.
You have set a very high standard for 2011!
All the best,
Tony Blair
http://www.BlairAerosport.com.au
Ian, first off congratulations on and awesome event, secondly congratulations on and awesome event.
As Australia’s premier performance car magazine we were apprehensive to get involved with what we thought was a locally centred mainly JDM based event. Our staff get to drive the latest and greatest cars from around the planet as part of their job and our brand has been around since 1954. We participate in very few events, so why get involved with these guys? How wrong we where!
World Time Attack is definitely a global event and the calibre of the cars was outstanding. The atmosphere was up there with other major sports events, the fans were mental and the traders were smiling.
I admire you for putting it all on the line for making it happen and respect companies like Yokohama and Wynns for investing in your dream and enthusiasm. See you next year
Cheers
Paul Franks
ACP Magazines
Congrats on putting on such a professional event guys, it was fantastic and far exceeded my expectations. We would love to come back next year.
Cheers Luke
Late one night in Machida City, Tokyo when Ian Baker, Steve Glenney and I were went to Japan to personally invite the Japanese teams to World Time Attack we ended up in a Piano Bar (Purely for research of course). Some local business men, thinking were were US Marines (I don’t know how they came to that conclusion) came over to chat and practice their English. One of the ice breakers from these guys was “Why you so fat?”. A little later in the conversation Ian told them that he is a rock star back in Australia. You weren’t then. But you are now. Well done Ian and the huge team who put in a huge effort.
Cheers Christian.
Ian, on behalf of the Sierra Sierra Team I want to thank everyone that made this event reality and the most memorable event that we have ever had the privilege to participate in. I also especially want to acknowledge the passion, energy and sacrifices that you have given to this event. I do not know of any one else on the planet that could have accomplished this feat. “You Are The Man”
The fans in Australia are the absolute best and we for sure look forward to returning next year to take care of unfinished business. Eastern Creek has now become the standard by which all “Time Attack” cars in the future will be measured by.
Thanks again,
dk