This year the R8 1:1 travelled all the way to Eastern Creek, Sydney to compete in the World Time Attack Challenge and we have been lucky enough to be involved with the fuel system on this epic 1450 horsepower build. So with this long, long journey to Sydney we would like to bring you up to speed on how it all turned out.
The World Time Attack Challenge is such a different event to any other motorsport event anywhere in the world. It brings with it a host of challenges which does not compare to any other. Firstly the distance, Australia is a rather long commute to a race track all the way from Finland the home of the R8 1:1. 15,250km from workshop to track to be exact and that is almost halfway around the earth.
One of the challenges they were expecting was the heat, because let’s face it the climates are rather different between Finland and Australia. But this year was rather different. The guys with the R8 1:1 felt right at home with a very chilly Saturday at Eastern Creek.
World Time Attack Challenge is running on a Yokohama Advan control tyre across all classes. This provides a fair and even playing field and prevents any team from getting a “special treatment” as all tyres are ordered in bulk and available to all teams.
All teams have to complete a tyre pre-order form ahead of the event and the tyres are supplied directly by Yokohama. There are no “special” tyres or “special” orders. Teams can choose any combination of soft or medium compound tyres within their class quantity and size restrictions. Which provided its own unique challenge for the R8 1:1 Team as they are not available outside of Australia or Japan.
The track itself Sydney Motorsport Park, formally known as Eastern Creek International Raceway. Brings its own set of demands for the drivers and cars alike. Pointing your gun into Turn One at 300kph + is a big ask for any driver. Or trying not to hit the brakes at Coroprate Hil and throw all your faith to the Gods of aerodynamics, into the blind left hander.
Going against some rather seasoned, top level drivers with the backing of professional teams including F1 aerodynamic engineers and four digit horsepower figures. The five guys from Finland went to represent their country against the finest in the world. May we add the team consisted of a sausage salesman, a harvester driver, a hairdresser and Jyrki a half freelance race engineer and half journalist drafted a retired F3 Engineer and a videographer and flew the pack to the other side of the world. What could go wrong?
They had a whole two days to test and to get the sausage salesman ready to compete around one of the world’s most demanding tracks. So they hired a coach to help shave heaps of seconds off their lap times, and that job fell to John “Boz” Boston.
So on top of being very popular in the paddock, and making friends for life the team came away with a Podium in the Pro Am Class.
So the aftermath…
The R8 1:1 completed two full test days and two days of the race itself. Burned almost 400 liters of race fuel while doing it. Finishing every session with a timed lap.
The car ran on full boost from the first lap to the last. On full power, all the way from the very beginning to superlap shootout. That’s around 1450 horsepower to rip the tires into shreds.
This year they were the only team to hit 300kph on Brabham Straight. And on that we measure 6.1 seconds from 200 to 300km/h, while dropping 400hp off at 285kph to prevent it from hitting rev limiter on 6th gear.
The car drove back to the pits, intact, after every session. The biggest technical they had was a loose wastegate cap.
When preparing for the season 2017, one of the biggest technical challenges was how to sort out the fueling requirements in high G – corners, when our new engine drinks over 12 liters of fuel every minute.
Racinglines came on board to help. A swirl pot that would fit perfectly in the predesigned container, in the limited space of an R8 cockpit. And not only that, it also incorporated fuel pump capacity of over 900 liters per hour, which gave a nice 180 litre surplus.
The fueling system, since the upgrade, proved to be so reliable, the team did not need to pay a single second of attention to it, other than refueling.
All in all this was a good year. The team went to one race meeting in Finland, and won something call a triplet in Finland, so fastest in qualifying, fastest on superlap, and fastest on GT-race.
A great year for the R8 1:1 Team and we are very proud to be apart of it. 2018 promises to be just as awesome.
