Fresh from a new time attack lap record at Tsukuba circuit in December, Japanese “Under Suzuki” has made his next goal perfectly clear “I want to be the World time Attack Champion” and he intends spending the next six months developing a package potent enough to make this dream a real possibility when he returns to Sydney Motorsport Park in October.
There is no questioning Under Suzuki and the Scorch racing S15 has an absolute cult following worldwide as he has continued to refine what was originally his street car into one of the fastest time attack cars on the planet.
The car has slowly developed over the years running in the “Battle Evome” series at Tsukuba circuit with the times tumbling from 58 seconds then 57, 56, 55 and then into the league of big hitters of 54 seconds flat in 2011. He then made the journey out to World Time Attack in August 2011 where, despite battling transmission gremlins managed to finish in 5th position overall with a time of 1.31.45 but he was a long way from finished yet.
ABOVE: Battling mechanical gremlins, Suzuki still managed to finish 5th overall at the 2011 WTAC.
His nights were spent in the corner of the Scorch Racing workshop where he and his buddy Takemura-san quietly worked away on a package to return to Sydney in 2012 with the WTAC podium firmly in their sights. Unfortunately despite a battle right to the end the teams were just edged into fourth position in the dying minutes of the last session by Earl Bamber in the MCA S13 but the time was still a huge improvement on the previous years best at 1.28. 32.
ABOVE: In 2012, beaten to the podium in the dying minutes of the last session, Suzuki proved that he is a force to be reckoned with on the international time attack scene.
Upon returning to Japan Suzuki-san wasted no time in getting back to work for a serious assault at the infamous Revspeed Superlap battle in December. There, with some additional advice from aero ace Andrew Brilliant he came ever so close to the record held by the HKS CT230R with a time 53.6.
Knowing full well this time was recorded on a less than perfect lap the team returned in January and hired the track for an early morning session and the result of this set internet forums and social media alight worldwide with an astonishing time of 52.649. This time is almost a full second clear of the HKS time and the promise of more to come is a certainty. There is no question this is the quickest time attack car in Japan at the time of writing.
“Without a doubt, this guy is a crowd favorite” said Superlap marketing manager Greg Lysien “He ticks all the boxes and is an inspiration to the tuning community worldwide. The car is built by the guy that owns it, in the corner of his friend’s workshop, after hours. He then goes out and sets lap times professional racing teams would be proud of. That this is something many of our fans can truly relate to. It is a fantastic news that they will be returning this year.”
With the new rule set providing a more level the playing field we would not be at all surprised if Under Suzuki’s lifelong dream of being the World Time Attack Champion came true in 2013 .
We will certainly find out in October!
This is a great first sign up! I am pumped to him return with his ever evolving build. Especially after his recent progress and his Tsukuba record. I really hope he gets some extra time before the event to get a little more familiar with the track. The drivers who have only driven at this track for the past 3 years are at a big disadvantage compared to drivers who have been racing/driving here for many many years. Can’t wait to see what his s15 will do in 2013.