World Time Attack Challenge 2023

World Time Attack Challenge is always my favourite event of the year to shoot and 2023 was no different. This was my first time shooting a track event on my new (to me) Fujifilm X-T4 camera and it took some getting used to compared to my old Nikon D750. So please forgive me if the photos aren’t quite the sharpest. Moving from a full frame DSLR to an APS-C crop sensor mirrorless set up has its benefits and has its downsides and I am slowly figuring things out. Now with the excuses and technical jargon out of the way, let’s get stuck in!

WTAC this year was huge and easily the busiest in years, if not ever. With the international teams making a return post-covid, it really felt like the event was in full swing compared the last couple of years. With reports of over 40,000 attendees over the weekend, it's safe to say that Time attack is back!

One of the reasons WTAC is my favourite event is the aggressive styling of the time attack cars. You can say GT cars or Le Mans race cars look great, which they do, but they just don’t stack up to the absolute madness of some of these cars competing in the Open and Pro classes. Take a look at the Dream Racing Mazda FD RX7 driven by Tetushiro Kurokawa and the Arvou Racing Honda S2000 with Shibata Yusaka behind the wheel for examples. They are just gorgeous!

The show and shine portion of WTAC held on the Saturday was also filled with some really good looking builds and really echoed my thoughts on the direction of the Sydney (or even the Australian) car scene is headed. As I previously mentioned in my Unmarked Vol. II coverage, it really does seem that the crazy camber and stance styling is out and a much more sensible approach to things is coming back. I love to see it. 

Trade stands were plentiful as always with some of the highest quality cars on display. Here is where my Mitsubishi bias comes in to play but Evolution Racing Spares EVOKNG is an absolutely show stopping build. Along with their 1DAKAR Pajero Evo build that is still in progress, also stealing hearts of enthusiasts. The level of detail in each vehicle is incredible and if you get a chance to see them in person, take a moment to appreciate the efforts from all involved. Of course, the infamous KOVAL was on display at the GFB booth too, enough said. 

The one car that managed to escape me this year (that I was really hoping to see in the flesh) was the RP968 Porsche 968 from PR Technology. However, I only have myself to blame for not seeing it, as it was out on track in the earlier sessions of the day but I just value my sleep too much. The car not only set the lap record once again, it did it twice. Leaving the new record for World Time Attack Challenge standing at a 1 minute 17.860 seconds and once again, resetting the official record for Sydney Motorsport Park. With that said, I'm certain I’ll get to see it next year as driver Barton Mawer and the team behind the RP968 will be wanting to close the gap on the unofficial lap record at Sydney Motorsport Park, which was set by none other than Daniel Riccardo in the Red Bull RB7 Formula 1 car at 1:11.233. How possible is it? Who knows. It was only a handful of years ago where a 1 minute 20 lap was a dream and that’s been crushed. 6 seconds is a big gap in the motorsport world, but I don’t doubt that it could happen in the years to come.