Inaugural Global Time Attack Breaks Off Records at WSIR

Inaugural Global Time Attack Breaks Off Records at WSIR in Rosamond, CA - May 21-22, 2011

By Laura Heng, Photos by David Karey  

Global Time Attack just sat down at the table to play their part in the game of time attack.  GTA's first event went down this weekend at Willow Springs International Raceway.  GTA is headed by John “Nads” Naderi, one of the most colorful industry veterans you’ll ever find.  Nads cut his teeth in the industry as the grand poobah at Super Street Magazine back in the day and has been an industry mainstay for just about forever.  Inside his head we always get a different twist on things and he is bringing his own styling touches to the sport of time attack. Who else but Nads would award a set of steak knives as the 3rd place prize.  And instead of spraying champagne at the podium some drivers were spraying Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.

The field of competitors was looking thin in some classes however organizers were quick to point out that this event was an invite only affair and their focus was all about bringing the quality vs. quantity.  GTA was correct with their VIP invite strategy as 4 time attack records were broken with only 18 cars in contention.  Almost one in four cars were breaking records that weekend which goes to show that you don’t need big car counts to put on a successful record breaking event.  

The infamous 1500hp Need for Speed/World Racing Unlimited GT AWD Scion tC fell victim to electrical gremlins during a non-competition outing.  We can't wait until the Scion is able to go head to head with the GST Impreza which was looking great this weekend.

GTA also played host to the largest ever cash prize payouts for a time attack event, over $10,000 in payout and contingency money was given out to the racers for finishing position.  In addition record bounties and wildcard prizes for other items were awarded as well.  

Four individual time attack track records were broken at the Global Time Attack:

Unlimited GT AWD - Jeff Westphal - GST Motorsports/Hankook Tire Subaru Impreza - 1:19.397

Unlimited GT FF - Chris Rado -Need For Speed/WORLD Racing Scion tC - 1:22.312

Limited GT AWD - JC Meynet -OMG Racing/Toyo Tire Subaru STI – 1:23.141

Street GT RWD - Mike Bonanni -Berk Technology/Hankook Tire BMW 135i – 1:29.041

Driver of the GST Motorsports Subaru Impreza, Jeff Westphal took home the biggest prize winnings of the day totaling $2000.  $1000 for fastest overall time of the event, $500 for 1st in class, $200 for the Unlimited AWD Track Record Bounty, and $300 in AFI Turbo Contingency bucks.

The GST Motorsports Impreza was completely rebuilt in the offseason.  They were able to easily break the Unlimited GT AWD record despite only turning two laps under full power.

The GST Motorsports Impreza may look the same but upon closer inspection you'll notice that there have been some major changes.  The roofline has been lowered almost 3 inches and the driver is sitting about 3 feet back. Mike Warfield and crew at GST were hard at work in the offseason with upgrades that include a dry sump system for better oiling and less windage losses at high RPM, a pedal box to move the driver and his weight back past the centerline of the car, and much improved aerodynamics.  Their new dry sump system was having some issues with crank case pressure which would have been an easy fix at the shop, but with the limited tools at the track Jeff R. and Keith the Pirate at GST were able to temporarily fix the problem using some trackside ingenuity.  They fabbed up a catch can using two Gatorade bottles, complete with baffling, bulkhead AN fittings, and stainless steel lines.  You can't call it crazy because it worked!

Chris Rado and his Need for Speed/World Racing FWD Scion tC was on fire this weekend!  He also ran great times in his FWD dual winged beast and reset his own record in the Unlimited GT FF class.  The smoke you see is actually just oil burning in the exhaust due to what we believe was a badly lifted head.  1500hp has its drawbacks.