This past Sunday, the Central Circuit Time Attack event was held in Hyogo.
Following last year's somewhat wet event event due to overnight rain, all involved were hoping for a crisp, dry, cold morning to lay down some fast times.
There was some wonder first if it was the correct event upon seeing this Dekotora style truck..
No need to second guess that though, upon seeing one of the first cars in the pit was the SCOOT RX-7.
A car that's known very well in the Time Attack scene here in Japan, as well as in general. The first time for us thought to lay raw eyes on her - and needless to say - we weren't disappointed.
Also on hand was the Shark-7 / Full Stage RX-7.
One of the favorites to take home top spot in the Vertex-NA class, it held true to expectations by submitting a 01:17.923 best lap, whilst only taking runs in two of the three allotted time slots during the day.
In the same class would the ASLAN EG6 piloted by Horiton. The combination of driver and machine slotting home a 01:18.601 second-place time in just their first complete lap of the day.
A great day for the ASLAN team with Tomo in the other EG6 as he would go on to secure the final podium spot with an 01:22.710 lap.
Horiton taking a few seconds to close eyes, imagine the circuit, and the turns and actions he'd need to perform when going out.
One car many of you enjoyed seeing on our blog and YouTube videos in 2019, was this EF9. Fourth-place in the Vertex-NA class with a really respectable 01:24.524.
The MINDS with KBP-Side-by-Side EK9 piloted by Akokatsu was one car that we wanted to see go out and see how hard it could push.
However, issues plagued the Honda from the outset, and he'd have to pull up on the main straight and wait for recovery.
Hope the team fixes any issues and look to make the One Make events throughout 2020 that we'll be attending.
Some of Japan's big boys in the Time Attack scene didn't make the journey, but the ESCORT Evo team wasn't shy about putting some KM's on their trip South.
Fire Ando - who else - would be taking charge behind the wheel, and the pair would complete three flying laps during the day with a 01:11.736 run being the best lap to secure No.1 spot in the Vertex-TB class.
Pit lane or track, these cars aren't slow.
That being said, Time Attack days seem to be a combination of just stationary cars in pits, or pit crews and teams running around them at the same speeds the machines would be on track as they worked furiously to get cars up to par ready for the attack ahead.
Being only on track for limited periods allows to get in close with the cars and personnel behind them, a unique kind of feeling that doesn't really come along with other events we get to.
We'll have some further content upcoming, but we hope you enjoyed this brief post on the action.
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