Long Beach Grand Prix

The infamous Honda time attack team of Hasport also ran into some uncharacteristic issues. With senior editor Andy Hope behind the wheel, the raw, unmuffled four-door Integra-normally driven by Bernardo Martinez (see SCC, August 2007)-let go with a broken timing chain. Speculation began that a loose oil pump had caused the failure in the Jackson-supercharged K24 engine, but Hasport's Brian Gillespie made the decision to swap engines the morning of the second day-in the paddock, which is actually a parking structure. Keep an eye out for a piece from Andy detailing his experience behind the wheel at the LBGP.

With minor teething issues affecting some teams, those who ran well began to develop a distinct rhythm. Crawford Performance showed up with its latest creation, an Unlimited-class 2008 Subaru WRX STI. Fitted with a full roll cage, a larger turbo kit, hours of ECU tuning (the '08s now have dual AVCS), new TEIN suspension (with R&D crew) and driver Eiji 'Tarzan' Yamada, the Subie finished the weekend in fourth with a much faster time than expected of an untested car that had just been finished and then literally driven to the track.

In Unlimited FF, the 5Zigen team hedged their bets with more ammo. Before shipping over their Accord Euro-R from Japan (which last saw US competition in 2006), 5Zigen gave it a wider body, more rubber and more power, thanks to a fully built, naturally aspirated K24 hybrid engine. Driver Hiroki Yoshimoto was also no slouch, with experience in All Japan F3, Super GT GT300, Super Taikyu and GP2. Bouncing the Accord over the wide curbing, Yoshimoto would find enough speed to become the fastest front-drive of the day.

Still, the battle for the top three spots came down to power, setup and driver. Before cracking open its transmission case and bursting into flames, Factor X Engineering's sinister matte black NSX took the fastest time of the day with Grand-Am driver Billy Johnson behind the wheel. Nipping at his heels in second was Jim Russell instructor and drifting regular, Tyler McQuarrie, in the now GReddy-turbocharged and still carbon-bodied C-West S2000 (see SCC, August 2007), which ran with no major issues. The favorite, the AMS Performance Lancer Evolution VIII, suffered electrical issues, which fried almost everything on the first day. With the AMS crew working into the night, driver Mark Daddio (who knows the definition of 'adaptive' with multiple SCCA National Solo championships) took aim at the lap times of the World Challenge GT cars that were hitting 1:25 to 1:29. But it was not to be.

Having now driven side by side with ALMS, Champ Car and World Challenge, time attack has made its mark on the hallowed ground of this historic ex-F1 race course. With the spirit of Villeneuve, Lotus and Ferrari still lingering, many time attack competitors were excited just to have had the opportunity to drive this legendary circuit. Consider this a practice run, though. Next year, the time attack cars will be gunning for the World Challenge guys. We can't wait.

Putting Time Attack Into PerspectiveTime attack cars are fast. Most of them have the same suspension systems, turbo upgrades and engine swaps available for your own car. The only difference is: top-level time attack teams leave no area untouched and have highly specific setups for all-out track performance. But how fast is an aftermarket-infused production car in the racing world and how fast can you make your car?

We broke out our trusty telemetry system to get the answers. With an assortment of purpose-built, formula, prototype and GT machinery on hand, the twisting corners of the LBGP would be the ideal arena for on-track comparisons.