There is no doubt it must be an anxious time for these guys as they load their mega dollar cars into a container to travel to a far away land but for these top Japanese time attack teams the chance to compete on a world stage is an opportunity too good to pass up. This week all four Japanese teams met down at the Yokohama port in stiffling heat to say goodbye to months and months of preperation as the vehicles head down under for what promises to be the biggest time attack event ever held anywhere in the world.
This certainly is a line up that many have waited years to see on the one track at the same time.
And we can tell you there would be no one more in awe of what is going on around him than this guy. Suzuki-san. I am pretty sure he would never have been too far from Tokyo and until we got this underway with him he has never even had a passport. Now he is going to race the car that he built with his own hands against the fastest in the world in a foreign land where, and Im fairly certain he doesnt realise it yet, he will be treated like a rockstar!!
The Cyber Evo looks quite pedestrian stripped of its aero and on standard Mistubishi wheels with the suspension wound right up to make transport easy but we can guarantee you this will not be the case in August when they hit Eastern Creek. This is the car that EVERYONE wants to beat and the undisputed reigning champion.
But there is no question the Scorch car looks extremely sinister from any angle even with the suspension wound right up and the padding all over it!
The guys at Panspeed were particularly helpful this year with assisting some of the other teams with the mountain of paperwork it takes to get these cars in and out of the country. Whilst they may be arch rivals on the track there is no doubt these guys respect each other off the track.
And with this one parting shot thes cars and the mountain of spares that it takes to run them were loaded in container marked “SYDNEY” the doors were pulled shut and a crane lifted them onto the big ship you see in the background and by now would be in the middle of the ocean somewhere.
And only hours before over in California the action was just as intense but we find it harder to get pics particularly of the Sierra Sierra car although we did get manage this spy shot of the Sierra Sierra Evo affectionatly known as “Christine” in the container. If we didnt know any better we would have thought the SSE guys may have something they dont want anyone to see yet? New aero perhaps?? Who knows…. We will have to wait and find out!!
Big thanks to Dino Dalle Carbonare and Daniel Farrand from GCG Japan for the pics.
