World Time Attack Challenge - 2018

It’s that time of year again, where the best of the best come out to play and thousands upon thousands of people flock upon Sydney Motorsport Park to see what all the fuss is about.
This time around Sydney had been hit with some unfortunate and very unpredictable weather. On both days, one minute you were hot and sticky, the next you were running for the nearest shelter to try and stay dry. This made for some pretty unideal conditions for competitors in every section of competition. But it wasn’t all bad, because it makes for some pretty cool photos!

2018 brought some of the most talented drivers from Japan once again, including Keiichi Tsuchiya, Tarzan Yamada, Under Suzuki, Fire Ando and so many more, not to mention the home grown talent and the rest that travelled from around the globe to compete! We saw lap records crumble again this year with the RP968 Porsche piloted by Bart Mawer taking the pro class by storm putting down a 1:19.825 which is the second fastest lap in history around SMSP GP circuit which knocked the MCA Hammerhead back a notch!

The Flying 500 record was also topped this year by B2R Motorsport in their R32 Skyline GTR trapping a speed of 271km/h beating last years top speed of 269km/h set by Precision Automotive Racing in their R35 GTR. It seems every car is getting faster year after year and that applies to not only the track cars but the ones that see street use as well!

One of the most amazing things about attending World Time Attack Challenge is how close you can get to the action. The trader alley is right behind the pits and as you walk through you can take a look into the garages and see what the teams are working on and check out the cars up close and personal, a lot of the time competition cars will drive straight by you! It’s always crazy to see teams having to do entire engine swaps between sessions due to mechanical failures etc. It also gives you a chance to see the latest and greatest of what all the traders have to offer and some of their own promotional vehicles.

Now I have to be honest here, drifting isn’t really my cup of tea…BUT it makes for some seriously cool photos and the drivers are extremely talented. Plus the cars have some of the best liveries to ever be seen, so here’s a few shots from the International Drifting Cup which always wraps up the end of each day at WTAC.

As always, the Stylized show and shine this year hosted by Downshift has some of the best street cars on display for everyone to check out, plenty of unique and different styles are displayed and it’s interesting to see which trends from previous years have disappeared and what the new in thing is. Here are some of my favourites from the show! (click to enlarge)

Overall this years World Time Attack Challenge event didn’t disappoint, but I feel it had some big shoes to fill following last year, which had to be the most action packed year to date. I’ll let you decide if the shoe fits this year.
- @oeJayz