Jason's Dribble: 2010 Wold Time Attack Challenge attracts world-wide audience

Well what can i say about the 2010 World Time Attack Challenge? It would have to had been, without a doubt the best motorsport event i have attended so far. The cars, the racing, the atmosphere. It was amazing and an event that will set the bar for any future events that may follow.

Unfortunately i was unable to make it to the track on the Friday due to new work commitments but i made sure i was at the track nice and early on Saturday to have a good look around before the racing started. Being my first time covering an event at Eastern Creek Raceway i wasn't sure what to expect and what access my media pass would allow so i will admit i was a bit hesitant entering the team garages at first but did spend a good part of the morning have a good snoop around, most of the time admittedly without putting the camera in front of my face as i was genuinely inquisitive about the whole 'Time Attack' thing as it is all new to me.

The event drew a nice variety of different cars in all different platforms ready to compete in the 3 classes. the Wynn's Pro Class, Motor Magazine Open Class and the Yokohama Advan Clubsprint Class.

The Tomei/Cusco Subaru WRX was one of many cars that made the trip from Japan and was driven by the legendary Tarzan Yamada. Tarzan would be an extremely busy guy for the entire event not only steering the WRX but also the eventual class winner the Cyber EVO.

Everywhere you looked, EVO's were everywhere. From mildly worked street-based cars to all out track monsters

This sexy beast was spotted in the pit area. Obviously still a work in progress but judging by the setup under the hood it's going to be a force to be reckoned with once complete.

As you may know I'm a bit of a Rota-Head so i spent a fair bit of time checking out the R Magic and PanSpeed RX7's

Both where amazing cars that looked fast just sitting there. I could have stood around staring for ages at the amount of work that has gone into the aero on these two cars. I mean, check out the crazy rear splitter on the PanSpeed 7, it's insane! Kind of like the stuff you see on those Gli Lancers that cruise around Sydney, but not... This stuff is actually there for a reason, a big one at that!

the Cyber EVO had some engine drama's on the Friday and things did not look too good but after a huge effort from the crew that night to replace the engine and sort out the tune the car was ready to go out swinging Saturday morning, and that it did.

A very interesting car i found in the pits was the DMW Motorsports Swift which has full EVO 4WD running gear including brakes. Now I'm not 100% sure but i believe it was the first outing for the car with the new 2.4L stroker engine as well. Quite an amazing engineering effort if i do say so myself.

tyre choice of the day for racers was of course the Advan A050. One can only imaging how many sets these guys went through across the 2 day event.

As the cars began to line up ready to hit the track i stepped out to take a few more snaps of the PanSpeed RX7. The thing is just stunning both on and off the track.

Driver, Sasaki-san seemed to be real relaxed giving me the thumbs-up. Obviously looking forward to laying down some quick lap times.

As the cars lined up ready to roll i decided it would be a good time to suss out a good vantage point to shoot the action on the track.

The action was thick and fast. This was the first time i have shot an event like this, or any form of circuit motorsport for that matter and i was utterly amazed at the speed these thing do entering into the corners. Just when i see them flying in and thinking to myself that he's going to loose it for sure, the car just sticks to the track like glue and drives through the corners like it's on rails. Simply amazing!

The Pro Cars were spectacular to watch and so were the cars in the other classes of which i spent most of the morning shooting from both inside and outside of turn 2 with fellow photog and good friend Jason Churchill. Big shout out to JC as i would have been lost without him on the day and probable would have ended up shooting from all the wrong places.

I found that turn 2 offered a great view as you could get nice and close to the action while still being out of harms way. I was also able to lie down nice n low and get some nice shots of the cars as they came though the tight corner

Even though it is a time attack race where each entrant is competing against the clock, there were still times when car's would catch up to each other on the track even though they are let out several seconds apart from each other.

The driver of this Gen 1 RX7 came into the corners pretty hard giving the car a good flick a few times.

Benny Tran's NA Civic was up there with the best in the Open Class finishing in the number 10 spot with a 1:41.2360 lap time.

Proving that you don't need a fancy new chassis to get in there and compete. Ben Barkers Datsun 1600 lapped the course in just 1:43.8200 ahead of a selection of WRX's, Supra's, EVO's and RX7's.

this R34 was just plain sexual.

carbon was everywhere at WTAC. Carbon Fibre doors would have definitely shed some weight from this EVO

As the Pro cars came out my heart-rate increased dramaticly. The sound of these cars flying down the straights and into the corners was pure audible ecstacy.

All the way from the US of A was the car so good they had to name it twice. The visually stunning Sierra Sierra

Filled with more carbon goodies and one crazy aero kit the super-quick Evo was a big force and driver David Emprigham managed to secure the number 2 spot behind the Cyber Evo

Making it's racing debut was the Fernandez Motorsport XR6 Turbo Falcon owned and driven by Jose Fernandez. The big power being generated by the turbocharged 4.0L straight six seemed to be a sore point for the falcon as at times it seemed to be just too much for the rear tyres to handle. Jose had a few moments coming into corners a bit hot and either locking up as you can see in the image below or running wide costing him precious seconds on his lap times.

The aero on the front bar seemed to be getting a bit of a work out too, often coming into contact with the track surface during the tight corners. Jose finished the event in 13th spot with a lap time of 1:40.2170

My favorite car of the event was the PanSpeed RX7. The sound of the hi-revving turbocharged 13B was just as awesome as the the cars looks.

The 13B performed flawlessly throughout the event and just goes to show that the rotary engine is a potent performer is many different forms of motorsport with the car finishing in 5th spot with a fastest lap of 1:32.4540 just behind the lotus Elise of well known Aussie racing legend Warren Luff.

The BMS Motorsport R32 Skyline driven by David Loftus did very well keeping up with the big guns lapping the Eastern Creek track in 1:35.8760, slotting into 8th spot

All eye's were on Mark Berry's Advan/High Octane Racing R34 as he did his best to represent the home team

Although Mark didn't manage a podium finish things still went well for the crew as they finished in 7th position with a 1:34.1090 lap time

Another local, well known Aussie motorsport icon Warren Luff took the wheel of the Prep'd Motorsport Lotus Elise and managed to lay down a V8 Supercar killing 1:32.2730 lap, unfortunatly just missing out on a podium finish

What would an event be at Eastern Creek Raceway without a big Aussie dinosaur to compete against the turbocharged imports? Mal Rose drove his ex V8 Supercar to a best lap time of 1:39.3230 finishing in 12th spot

Despite blowing a gearbox on the Friday the crew had the Tomei/Cusco WRX on the track and kicking arse Saturday morning

Driver Tarzan Yamada showed the Aussie race fans just why he is considered to be one of the best drivers in the world. Clinching 3rd position Rat the end of racing by running a best lap time of 1:31.9010 in the WRX before jumping out having a quick drink and jumping into the Cyber Evo.

The car that everyone's talking about was the mighty Cyber Evo. I felt honoured watching this machine fly around one of Australia's premier race tracks and break the 11 year old track record for the fastest lap.

The main man, Tarzan Yamada and the Cyber Evo crew not only beat the record they smashed it with reletive ease.

The car left all other competitors in it's wake with a blistering 1:30.5870 lap time to succesfully secure the top spot and take out the event.

In the Open Class the competition was just as feirce with several street-based cars laying down some very impressive times.

The most impressive car was the Pulse Racing Evo driven by Steve Glenny. Steve drove the arse off the car and managed to run a best lap of 1:36.4980 which got him the number 1 spot in his class.

Steve's best lap time was fast enough to have put him into 9th against the Pro Cars which is a huge effort for what is considered as a pretty basic setup compared to the front runners

The num,ber 2 spot was taken out by Jason Hart in the Ultimate Tunes WRX with a best lap time of 1:39.9540. While this was an impressive time is further evidence how quick the Pulse Racing Evo really was.

Rounding out the top 3 for the Motor Magazine Open Class was the Honda S2000 of John Boston with a best time of 1:40.0730. The turbocharged F20C sounded beautiful as it cut through the corners with precision.

The Yokohama Advan Clubsprint Class was full of street registered weekend-racer type cars that proved just how potent some of these import turbocharged cars really are. Even in mildly modified cars were putting on a great show and giving the drivers a chance to compete in front of a huge crowd.

Nicholas Kalis drove his neat Evo 9 to victory with a 1:44.3780 lap time over a second faster than his nearest competitor

Duncan Forrester took out number 2 in his lightly modified R35 Skyline. His best for the weekend was 1:45.0090

Jason Naidoo rounded out the Clubsprint Class in his 'BADASS' Evo8 with a best of 1:45.0260

While the WTAC played host to some of the best circuit cars we have seen in Oz it also featured some balls-out drifting that helped fill the breaks between racing. Once again this was a first for me shooting this style of driving and was much different to the stright line stuff i am used to. After a few practice runs i managed to get a hand of the motion and got stuck into shooting what is fast becomming a popular Australian pass-time.

While i'm not a huge fan of drifting, i did enjoy shooting it and was happy to come away with some top shots.

It was amazing watching eventual contest winner Beau Yates slide parralel to his competitors all the way around the course in a display of awesome vehicle control

The Toyo Tyres backed 180SX looked stunning as it slid around the course tyres blazing

On board camera's are everywhere now and they really get a work out on the drift cars, some even looking a bit worse-for-ware after the runs

Ok, well thats the more formal side of this Blog. I have added a few other shots below that i thought deserve a spot in this post and the full gallery from the event is now online at http://www.jngimages.com/ so be sure to check it out.

Overall i feel the event was a huge success and judging by the feedback i have both heard and seen on the net from sources around the world im not the only person that feels this way.

The event organisers did a great job at putting it all together and i was amazed at how smoothly the event was run. hats off to you guys for doing a outstanding job.

Now the question is, will we see a WTAC 2011? here's hoping that my prayers to the car gods be heard and Australia once again be chosen to host this awesome event!!

Catchya L8R

R-Magic...