Winning Yokohama World Time Attack 2011

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The Yokohama World Time Attack ADVAN Pro Class was largely a 2 horse race. Or to be more specific a 2 Evo race. The Cyber Evo above had grip and experience on it's side.

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While the American Sierra Sierra Evo had horsepower and serious funding in it's corner. It was hitting 290 kmph down Eastern Creek's long straight while the Japanese Cyber Evo was hitting just 260 kmph. So how did the Cyber Evo win with it's blistering lap time at Eastern Creek International Raceway of 1:28.81?

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Aerodynamics is a big factor. The Americans are hush hush about their Aero. However, being an ex Indy Car team they've probably got a serious design. For the Cyber Evo the team at Voltex does a fantastic job. Nakajima san from Voltex customizes wings and gadgets for the car on the fly and they've done lots of wind tunnel testing. In 2010 they actually used some of the rollbar padding under the side skirts to stop air escaping from the under tray.

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The off-the-shelf aero kit from Voltex is also very effective helping Garth Waldon in another ADVAN car take the Tilton Interiors Evo to 4th position and fastest Aussie.

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Another point of difference between the two Evos is tyre choice. The first time the Cyber Evo and Sierra Sierra met head to head was during Yokohama World Time Attack 2010. The Cyber Evo won that encounter on 265/35R18 Yokohama ADVAN A050 tyre. The the Sierra Sierra Evo team decided they needed a wider tyre and chose to compete on a 295/30R18 tyre from another tyre company. At the time the Yokohama motorsport tyre technician believed that the 265/30R18 was the optimum size.

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In the lead up to Yokohama World Time Attack 2011 the Yokohama Rubber Company Japan made a 295/30R18 ADVAN A050 soft compound tyre. The only reason they made this size was due to requests from Yokohama Australia. A minor victory for us Aussies. The Cyber Evo was lucky to have one test session on this tyre at Suzuka while the Australian teams running this tyre (Tilton Interiors Evo, Hi Octane ADVAN R34 GTR and the Mercury Motorsport R35 GTR) didn't get time to test the tyre.

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While they don't have Sierra Sierra's big dollar budget, there's no question a lot of man hours go into the Cyber Evo. Yokohama Rubber Company Japan sent a tyre technician to WTA 2011 to help set up Pro Class cars using the new tyre size.

It almost seems bizarre that such a small light car like the Cyber Evo would use such a large tyre. Normally the ADVAN A050 likes to be set around 30psi hot. The Hi Octane ADVAN R34 GTR ran the same tyre over 30 psi hot to get the optimum footprint, while the Cyber Evo was somewhere in the 25 to 29 psi range.

To get the tyres at their peak for the time attack lap the Cyber crew are very strategic. They send Tarzan out for a 50% lap. Then he comes straight in and they reset the tyre pressures. Then he does an out lap that gradually increases in pace until the car is giving all it's got leading onto the straight to begin the hot lap. After the hot lap it's back into the pits until the next session. Often the team will only run in the cooler morning and afternoon sessions. In 2010 the team used less than 40 litres of fuel for the whole event.

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In 2010 the Cyber Evos winning lap time was an incredible 1:30.58, which is faster than a V8 Supercar is on slick tyres. Tarzan believed that a 1:29 was possible. Just as he suspected Tarzan managed to do a 1:29.75 lap in the 2011 event. Soon after this Sierra Sierra threw down a massive challenge with a 1:29.02 lap. During this lap the speed trap at the end of the straight displayed a top speed of 290 kmph almost 30 kmph faster than the Cyber Evo. Following this it was suggested that Sierra Sierra must've been using Nitrous Oxide to achieve that time. The word spread and a scrutineer was invited to check the Sierra Sierra Evo even though there was no official protest. After finding no Nitrous, SSE tuner Eric Hsu said "Nah mate it's not Nitrous, it's just Cosworth Power" (He's starting to sound like an Aussie!).

The Sierra Sierra Evo is powered by a Cosworth engine. They have a full Cosworth development program. In fact there were even 3 Cosworth staff at the event (top blokes by the way).

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By contrast, from what we've heard, the Cyber Evos engine is built by the owner, Mr Takizawa, in a room next to his dental surgery (Hence the One Day Smile stickers on the car). However, he does have help from Japanese engine gurus Tomei Powered and Unlimited Works who prepare the car.

With World Time Attack 2011 drawing to a close time was running out for the Cyber Evo to try and beat the time set by Sierra Sierra. But they were waiting for the air temperature to cool. The denser air means more horsepower and the best times.

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Tarzan went out on an all or nothing lap. It was obvious Tarzan was on a flyer. He had the Evo all crossed up between turns 2 and 3. In the car Tarzan was fighting it with quick sharp turns of the wheel using his cat-like reflexes. Outside the car it looked smooth. The commentator was screaming so much the audio around the track failed to broadcast until after the lap.

Goose bumps went through the crowd when the announcement was finally heard that Tarzan had done a 1:28 second lap. A 1:28.85 to be exact. What a fantastic time. It's quicker than any other tin top has been around Eastern Creek Raceway.

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The event wasn't yet over. The Cyber Evo had the fastest time, but there was still time for the Sierra Sierra team to have another run. Indeed there was time for Cyber to have another run.

The Sierra Sierra team were hot under the collar after the Nitrous inspection. They set their engine to "kill mode" and hit the track. Unfortunately the gearbox couldn't handle the extra horsepower with the boost turned up and they damaged fifth gear on the start of their flying lap. Cunningly the Cyber Evo was circling the track. We all thought they were there in case Sierra Sierra beat their time, then they could have one last go at getting it back. As it turned out, and the team new it, the previous winning run damaged the turbo. They would never have got a second shot at it. They were probably out on the track to psyche out the competition. Maybe it worked.

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Congratulations to the Cyber Evo team for becoming the Yokohama World Time Attack Champions for the second year in a row.

Congratulations to Yokohama Japan for making the ADVAN A050 the World's Fastest Time Attack tyre again.

Thank you to all the staff from Yokohama Tyre Australia who supported the Japanese teams, spent days at Westfield Parramatta promoting the event and manned the ticket entrances to ensure the gate figures for the event were correct and that the event is viable in the future.

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For more information on Yokohama's ADVAN range (Featured on the Cyber Evo) Click Here
For the rest of the Yokohama range Click Here

Awesome review,Thank U.

If I was better organised I would have made it down.

Incredible cars to watch.

Man, it was electric!!! And i was near the cyber team garage when the nitrous thing went down, talk about sand bagging, you could see it in their eyes they were trying to out psyche sierra sierra, and it worked!