RevSpeed Time Attack Tsukuba

One of the most famous time attack battles in the world is held in Japan at Tsukuba Circuit, a short drive outside of Tokyo to the north. Tsukuba circuit is likely the oldest circuit in Japan, having not been redesigned in the last 30 years or more. It is also quite short, being only a little over 1.2 miles long. These factors make it the most popular of circuits in Japan for the time attack format, as virtually every professional driver in Japan has driven the track extensively. The time attack format itself has been around for a long time in one format or another. It is a simple contest that pits a car and driver versus the clock in a single lap, with the fastest lap bringing home the prize.

1st Place
#13 M-Speed BNR34
Nissan Skyline GT-R
Best Lap: 55.230 sec
Top Speed: 228.282 km/h

RevSpeed has used this format for 17 years to see which aftermarket tuners can build the fastest, yet slightly street-legal vehicle. These are not all-out race vehicles, as that would make it less of a showcase of tuner parts, and would simply turn it into the usual contest of who has the largest budget. Most of these vehicles have more than just a passing resemblance to road vehicles, with some of them being daily drivers owned by customers of the shops in question. There are more than a few that spend most of their time on a trailer, but in their defense, it's illegal to drive on public roads in Japan with S-tires. I've seen the Japanese do it anyway, of course. I may have done it myself once, come to think of it. But after spending a year preparing for this contest, you don't want to risk having your car impounded right before the race of the year!

2nd Place
#1 Cyber Evo CT9A Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution
Best Lap: 55.864 sec
Top Speed: 220.678 km/h

The RevSpeed Super Battle was held under grey skies early in December. It's the cold time of the year in Japan, with temperatures hovering in the 40's. Snow is not out of the question in the Tokyo area of Japan, but it still feels quite cold thanks to the ever-present humidity. There was also a constant threat of rain during the entire day, something nobody wanted to see. But the weather held all through the day, with the only touches of rain coming after all had finished. The upside was that all that cold air was very kind to the turbocharged cars, allowing for more power to be dialed in during this contest for bragging rights. In every pit and paddock space, you could see the expert computer tuners adjusting the ECUs on the cars to take the best advantage of the conditions. Alongside them was the suspension experts, making last minute tweaks to compensate for the cold track, which was quite slippery at some sections. Especially on the newly resurfaced 2nd hairpin. The hairpin has always been a tricky section of Tsukuba, with an exit line so well-defined that the dirt on the side of the track had been dropped into so many times, there had been a wheel-swallowing rut there. With the slight change and resurface, the apex and exit had changed quite a bit. Combined with the cold, it became the scene of more than a few spins, some at low speeds. Lose the rear end there and it just keeps going round and round. There was also one big off by a white STI that lost it on the exit when the driver tried to put down the power too early, which brought their time attack ambitions to an end for another year.

3rd Place
#22 pro-staff r magic
FD3S Mazda RX-7
Best Lap: 55.947 sec
Top Speed: 217.742 km/h

Oddly enough though, times also felt a bit faster this year, possibly due to both the slightly colder conditions than last year, and the changes to that particular 2nd hairpin. When approached a bit slower and riding the inside deeper than in past years, competitors could exit it a bit faster and gain a bunch of speed towards the next fast section. This appeared to help the RWD cars a bit more than the AWD cars, though, as the AWD vehicles were always the best choice for exiting tricky corners. That white STI notwithstanding. The next off-camber right after that hairpin is quite entertaining at speed, and if you can carry the momentum through there 'til the final hairpin, you can make up quite a bit of time. After the last hairpin, it becomes a pure horsepower battle as you get up as much speed as possible before the last long sweeper.