I mean, that’s what it’s all about right. Having fun and doing what you love. In this case, it’s the Time Attack genre that we have learned to love and live with through the last 5 years we’ve been covering Global Time Attack. A place to race, a way to make friends, and most of all try to break some records for the sake of the sport.
For the final round of GTA Pro-Am, the place was Big Willow at Willow Springs International Raceway. Hosting over 30 plus cars, the weather was holding up and teaming up again with So-Cal’s local Speed District, the event was again another great one. Some new contenders, I haven’t seen before, unless they had different cars, but I could be wrong, like Kash Singh with his Pikes Peak Ford Mustang, Derek Gleeson with a SRT Viper, and Jonathan Newcombe with a Hyundai Tiburon to name a few were out there pulling some numbers. Its competitors like this, that make Time Attack attractive, because you just never know who’s going to show up on race day.
The regulars like Bret Nicoletti sporting a new wing setup on his Mazda Speed 3 came out and did a 1:50.255, but ended up having to power down due to some mechanical issues at the end of the day. Efrain Flores, known for one of the few Scion TC’s in the Time Attack arena that sees lot’s of track time busted a 1:33.176, which was enough to get 1st place in Limited FWD. With Cory Wells and his Honda Prelude trailing in second, another unique car you don’t see out there racing in many forms other Motorsports, let alone Time Attack.
Some of the ones I normally see at most, if not all GTA events was local celebrity Mark Jager with his Yimisport/Jager Racing Subaru, who came out and did a 1:20.360, almost close enough to take the record of 1:19.397 from Jeff Westphal and the GST Motorsports Subaru Impreza. So close, but no cigar, so we’ll just have to wait till next time. Another regular with a beautifully executed Nissan GTR that I’ve been falling in love with lately is owned and driven by David Haagsma. His GTR busted a 1:25.372 taking the 1st place spot of Limited AWD. But the highlight of this event for me was witnessing the youngest driver in the field, who was Steven Aghakhani. At only 13 years old and driving race cars that are extremely powerful, he brought out his highlighter green US Racetronics Super Trofeo Lamborghini Gallardo that is straight business. Taking the 1st place Pro/Comp win and a 1:24.541 it’s something that is really nice to see. Growing with a passion that he loves and an awesome team, with family support like no other, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this young man in the 24 Hour Le Mans or Formula 1 roster in years to come.
As will all events we cover, there still is truly nothing like attending or competing in a Time Attack event. Global Time Attack surely does the right stuff for all drivers and spectators with providing a legitimate event that is a lot of fun. Even as a photographer, I can tell you that with every GTA event, it has motivated me personally to get back in the drivers seat and do some footwork. But time can only tell, when and if that happens. For now I will continue to cover and capture the World’s greatest in this sport, and supply the Motorsports Culture with my art. -Rommel Estrada #timeattackislife
Click for Official Results, lap times.
