EVENT RELEASE: Day 1 of the 2013 Yokohama World Time Attack Challenge certainly didn’t disappoint with some of the Best Time Attack Racing to date.
With Nemo’s race day on the skids Tilton have capitalised, setting a blistering early pace and smashing the existing WTAC lap record. In today’s third Royal Purple Pro Class session Garth Walden has broken Nemo’s record from last year with an incredible 1:24.855 flying lap. This team are well and truly breaking new ground.
We asked the team after the second session how they were going and if they were holding back. “No, we go out and try to get better and faster with every lap. Were trying to play our own game.”
As for what’s changed since WTAC 2012, “It’s a years worth of really small steps. We went to Japan and had bad luck at Tsukuba but it was a great learning experience. We collected a lot of data.”
“For WTAC 2012 we were on the back foot. We were having to fix things all the time just trying to keep the car going rather than going faster. The trip to Japan gave us a lot of insight into what was wrong with it.”
Fans will no doubt notice the aggressive new aero on Tilton. Underneath the external changes is a new suspension setup with reconfigured geometry. Horsepower remains the same as last year with the addition of a new BorgWarner EFR turbo, similar to that found on Nemo.
“There’s a big difference. We’ve pretty much eliminated any lag that was giving us issues before.” The team says aero alone wouldn’t have made that much of an impact but the new package is potent.
“Garth is very comfortable in the car. He adjusted to the new aero quickly and is loving it. We’re running 30psi right now and can run more, we’re not all out yet. The car is about 10km/h slower down the straight than we would like but the speed through the corners makes up for it.”
“What the team loves most about this year is they’re not fixing anything. Every tweak they make it making the car faster. With a full day still to go tomorow, we could well see that record smashed all over again.”
With only a second seperating Nemo, MCA, Under Suzuki and Top Fuel – we should be in for some close racing on Saturday. Will Nemo be able to snatch victory back from Tilton? Who will reign supreme in the battle of the rear wheel drive cars?