This past Thursday, Global Time Attack, in conjunction with Super Street, held the Super Lap Battle event at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. SLB is the last event of the GTA series and as usual, the most looked forward to of the season. Teams from all over North American arrived with hopes of breaking records and clinching titles. This was the first time I’ve attended SLB in quite some time, and it was interesting to compare it to the events I’ve been going to both here and in Japan. SLB is a two day event, and it’s much more expensive than your run-of-the-mill track event, so you know that those competing are putting everything they have to be on top; not to mention the cost of those traveling across country. It all makes for a very vibrant feeling around the pits and on track.
I usually work during the weekdays, but I was able to slide out for a little while to attend on Thursday. I had a handful of friends that were competing and I wanted to go support them, as well as grab some shots for the site; not to mention there isn’t a much better way to spend time than with friends on circuit. I enjoyed myself and found it to be very similar to just another track day in Southern California (which isn’t a bad thing).
I wasn’t particularly interested in any specific car, but there were a handful of competitors that I wanted to take a closer look at. Among them was one of the many Fortune Auto backed cars; the ‘Professional Awesome’ EVO. Mainly because, and sorry if this is superficial of me, it was one of the better looking cars there. These cars are very fast, but in all honesty they really haven’t come far in the aesthetics department – you can have both!
I talked a bit to one of the support staff there and it seems like they were having electrical troubles all afternoon. They were able to figure out the issues however, and they went out one last time on some brand new tires and were able to set a new record in Limited AWD with a 1’42.694. I don’t know much about class regulations so your guess is as good as mine as to why this car is limited in anyway…
The other car I was interested in seeing again was the Spoon FD2. Spoon Sports USA/GO Tuning brought the car out, piloted by Dai Yoshihara, with the goal of taking back the Unlimited FWD record from Christian Rado and the monstrosity of a car that he set it with some time ago.
In 2014, Dai was able to get a 1’48.016 out of the car; still quite shy of the 1’46.736 that was Rado’s record.
Like some of the other teams, Dai was having issues of his own with the car. The car is getting pretty old now, and some parts were recently replaced by untested counterparts. Initially the wastegate piping broke in half, then the exhaust cracked and fell off, melting the wiring harness, and as a result lost the alternator. Then the exhaust manifold developed a crack and blew straight onto the crackcase vent hose and melted it, and to top it off towards the end of the day they completely lost 4th gear.
Dai partaking in some social media meditation.
Despite the plethora of issues though, he was able to rip an amazing 1’45.5 – taking the record and looking good doing it (see what I mean; you can have both).
A well deserved win for the team who worked very hard that day.
Since Yuta’s sedan wasn’t going to be finished for the event, he hopped behind the wheel of Angel’s (Nemo’s Garage) EG6.
The Street FWD class was dominated early on by Chris, who brought his coupe down from Canada, but the race for second was still on. Yuta managed to take it home with a 1’56.5.
Will was on deck making some mean grilled cheese. Clutch.
Dom was out competing in the Enthusiast RWD class in the supercharged Auto Function S2000. This car was built just for SLB and did rather well with a 1’55.5, although they were shooting for a 54. It was still good enough to take home first place.
Koyorad was on board with nearly all the cars there providing some major cooling assistance. I actually ran into Scott from Koyorad on Thursday – that guy gets around!
Congrats to Dom for grabbing another trophy for the shop.
Tony Fuentes, driving the other S2000 they brought out, was able to double up and take first place in Street RWD with a 1’48.8. Amazing time!
Romax Auto Group S2000 was able to grab second place in Unlimited RWD, behind Cody by a good 3.5 seconds. Tough class…
Another Fortune backed EVO that did very well that day setting a new record in the Unlimited AWD class. Driver Tony Szirka was able to pull off a 1’46.5 in the class, taking home first.
Yuta Blonde Ver. 2 and Allan chatting about stuff.
Cody’s Z06 is pretty insane. There’s a lot that has gone into this car that is invisible to the eye (full under body, blown rear, etc.). He was able to destroy the Unlimited RWD class (and literally everyone there that day) with an incredible 1’41.9. Makes me want a Corvette…
This GT3 was probably the nicest car at the track (haha). Glad I took the opportunity to explore SLB a bit this year, I had a good time despite not driving; which usually is a recipe for boredom. Congratulations to everyone who participated and bested their personal times, as well as broke class records.
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