2015 NSW Time Attack

Winter.  Its a tough time.
Especially if you ask the folks guarding the wall. But we're not.

We're asking the brave souls who ventured from their warm beds and sunny temps to stomp around the Wakefield park in Goulburn to shave a few seconds from their most likely already impressive laptimes.

It was 13 degrees in the morning, the fogs of war had rolled in off the countryside and one could barely make out the other side of the track, despite the safety tyres painted high-vis.

Things did not look at all good for the mornings proceedings, Lucky for the drivers, the SS owners club had come out for a show and shine and to make the most of an empty carpark to show off their wares.

The track officials had a quick chat to them and it was decided that the land yachts - I mean, Commodores, would head out on the track in an attempt to disperse the heavy fog. Behind a safety car, less a driver get a little overzealous.

It was a good thing too, as after a few laps, the fog began to clear and the hopes of all and sundry looked to the heavens for an indication of clear weather and blue sky.

Despite our arrival time of 9 am, the track didn't clear until around 10.30 - 11, when the first competitors braved their cold tyres on an equaly cold track.  Does this mean i could've stayed in bed for a few more hours?

Forget that, I'd much rather be trackside listening to k-swapped and turbo b16a Honda's attack time.  Adrian, in the above EG Civic bested the day with a 1.07.4 putting him in 2nd place for Clubsprint FWD.  We managed to catch up with him in the pits and discovered that he had driven all the way from Sydney to race, then after the day, he'd pack it all up and drive home.  Not bad for a streeter!

As it turned out, all the guys with BYP prepped Hondas, made the 3 hour drive down from Sydney.  Talk about reliability!  Daniel in the silver EK impressed everyone, completing 93 laps around Wakefield over the course of the weekend before driving it home to Sydney.  Not only did he do the most laps but his best time was 1.07.1 fast enough for the quickest FWD in the Clubsprint class.

With these plucky little Honda's all coming down as a crew, the shop BYP Racing looked after their swaps, tuning and builds.  BYP are certainly looking to be one of the more prominent Honda shops in Sydney, so if you're looking at a K swap or to shave some precious tenths of your times, hit them up!

Amongst the hot hatches was this FD 4 door Civic, which didn't look out of place at all.  I have to admit it's been a while since I've seen a Honda sedan around a track.  This didn't stop Steve though, posting a best of 108.6.  It sure looked the goods with red wheels and the aero additions.

Not to be outdone by their customer cars, the flagship for BYP Racing, their budget time attack EG dubbed 'Emma' sported what was essentially a stock K series swap.  Add to that, the time-tested recipe of decent aero and sticky tyres which resulted in a personal best for the team of 1.04.3.

It wasn't all about the Hondas however, the dark horse of the day was this 944 Porsche by Patrick Garvan and Paul McKinnon which dominated the second day of proceedings.  Eventually taking out the competition in Open Class with a best of 60.2070.

It didn't come easy however as gearbox issues on the first day saw the team drag the car all the way back to Sydney, finish repairs at midnight and tow the car back to Wakefield to snatch first place from Nik Kalis in his Evo.

Not to go down without a fight, John Boston battled hard all day in the MC Towing / CXC / Microtech Rx7 finishing with a best of 61.2390.  Enough to snatch 3rd place in the Open class.

It didn't come without it's perils though as the car caught fire along the back of the track.  John did a decent enough job extinguishing the flames from the engine bay, however a tow back to the pits proved their weekend was over.

The lone Subaru of the day, driven by Ben McLaren ended up taking home first place in Clubsprint class with a best of 65.1480, fast enough to snatch the trophy from the few Evo's that came out.  Now you don't see that much anymore do you?

Hot on Ben's heels was John Richardson's R33 Gtst, pushing the big girl around Wakefield with a best of 65.2890 over the course of the weekend.  I loved the effort these boys put in, taping every little nook and cranny on the front bar.

Extensive home-made louvers adorned the bonnet to ensure all the hot air didn't get trapped.  This was probably my favorite part, essentially a cheap mod which brought decent improvements.

Even an ex-V8 Supercar made the trek out, the CMS Plant hire BA Falcon did a decent job screaming around the track, reminds of the old days.

5th outright in the Clubsprint class was John Healy in the Roh Wheels / V Sport Toyota FT 86.  With a turbo, stroked out to 2.1 litres and working behind the scenes as the V-Sports workshop manager must have put John in good stead as he managed to pull a 1.05.8 from the little Hachi.

Either Nick Strange wanted to stand out with this livery on his Mitsubishi Evo, or he wanted to blend in using camo.  Which ever way he intended to go, his Evo definitely stood out.

It was a good weekend for the crews and drivers alike, with no major incidents (besides rotors catching fire). Despite the relatively late start due to fog, thanks to the SS owners club it was short lived.  I guess that's what you get when you put a racetrack in Goulburn.

Shout out to all the guys we had a chat to, everyone was super friendly and welcoming, hope to see you guys at the next track day, possibly WTAC?

See you at the track
-Willie