As I continued to sift through the coverage of Central Time Attack Challenge, I realized that there were a noticeably less amount of cars in attendance this year compared to last. No doubt in part due to the weather, which sort of goes to show the challenges with hosting a once a year style event in a country that has such unpredictable weather patterns. It’s really something places like Southern California don’t have to deal with, and we often take for granted.
After the Vertex classes had their time on track, the event continued on by sending out the Middle and various special classes like the GTRs, 86s, and all the FF an FR cars that weren’t competing in the Vertex class.
The Technical Auto EG6 was back again this year. The K20 powered, Rocket Bunny clad hatchback driven by Yutaka Nishimura was looking unique as usual, but never left the garage. I think, like many other attendees, it just wasn’t worth trying to put down a time in the rain.
It was loaded up pretty early once the forecast was solidified.
Jiro owns one of the more popular CRXs in the area and attends Central quite often. The classic look of the older Honda is left intact and relies on subtle changes to achieve the subtle aggressiveness of the blue car. The mismatch colored TE’s look great with the current ride height.
The duo put down a 1’29.996 taking second in the Honda FF class.
Spotted this other CRX leaving the circuit in the late afternoon; wasn’t competing, just a spectator.
Te-Chan dominated the Honda FF class in his DC5 with a 1’26.655. The Honda FF Superlap portion took place when the rain let up for a small window, and the Garage Work prepped Integra took full advantage of the track conditions.
I’ve always liked the look of Gram Lights 57xtreme; probably why I have a set myself.
This EF9 was another car that struggled to get traction in the wet. You can kind of see how much standing water there was just in the pit lane in this picture; it was similar on track.
A cautious 1’35 second lap put Kiyouto-san in last place in the class.
A good amount of S2000’s made up the FR drivers. The Altex street S2000 pictured here was among the cleanest in the paddock.
Sometimes simple is best. A 1’29.490 put them in second place in the FR class.
Sasaki-san owns another good example of a dual-purpose street car. He was able to get a 1’31.945 in the wet.
Pretty interesting aero bits on the fenders of this S2000 to rid the opening behind the front tires that the fender creates. A custom front splitter and rear diffuser round out the look of the Altex circuit car.
Even in the soaking wet conditions it grabbed a 1’28.882 taking first place in the FR class.
Kicking up a lot of water at tunnel exit.
The MINDS EK9 supported by ASLAN. It wasn’t on track much, but was able to set a 1’30.8 earlier in the day.
GTRs were out in full force as usual at CTAC. The guys from Auto Select and Endless always have a good showing at this event, as they are the most prominent GTR tuners in the area.
Kotihiro Otani’s GTR is among my favorite.
Nishikawa is a regular at CTAC in his Endless built GTR.
The red accents are a sort of signature look for the Endless cars.
Last I saw Kawabata’s PS13 it was looking quite different. Albeit it has been awhile, the build from Garage Teranishi is looking pretty good.
CTAC had an Import Class this year that consisted of mostly BMWs. I really, really liked this E46 M3 from Gluck Racing. I’m not certain, as it’s not really my area of expertise, but the driver of this car, Hiro, owns the Gluck; if someone knows otherwise please correct me. At any rate, the car looks great.
F82 M4 from Assist – this car took second in the Import class with a 1’28 and was seriously moving out there as the driver frequents Central Circuit.
Driven by Take-san, this Z4 is another beautiful example of a car supported by Gluck Racing.
I don’t know how, or when, he did it, but Oi-san was able to smash around the track in an insanely fast 1’23.938 – certainly due to his knowledge of the course. He topped he podium with almost a full second to spare.
Yasuhiro Adachi from Hazard Racing was right behind him though in his S15 with a 1’24.899 taking second place in the FR class.
Mori-chan’s S14 with S15 front end – a familiar face at this event.
Thanks to Central Circuit and the organizers of CTAC for another good year.
It sucks Nishida-san’s AP1 couldn’t compete!