We are excited announce the amazing HKS TRB-03 will be appearing at WTAC 2018 and our fans will see it live on track driven in full anger during the midday mayhem sessions. And what is even better we are going to put the stopwatch on to see what this beast is capable of!
As this car is built outside the Pro Class rulebook and is set up to run on slick tyres it will not be eligible for any silverware but it will certainly be interesting to see how close HKS can get to the times set by the current crop of billet engine equipped Pro Cars at World Time Attack Challenge.
The car will be driven by factory HKS driver Nobuteru Taniguchi and supported by an engineering team from HKS Japan who will be flying down to ensure everything runs smoothly. This car was built with one purpose in mind and that was to set the time attack lap record at Tsukuba Circuit the spiritual home of time attack racing.
Whilst this was achieved earlier this year with a time of 49.44 it was amidst a sea of controversy worldwide. Many time attack fans claimed that due to the time being set on a slick tyre and not the semi slick (as used in both Japanese time attack racing and WTAC) that the record should be invalid. Many others claimed the tyre should be irrelevant and a record is a record. The official ‘semi slick’ record still stands as Under Suzuki with 50.1. Regardless we are just excited to see this wild machine run in person at Sydney Motorsport Park, and we are sure many of our fans will also! One thing we do know is HKS always play to the beat of a different drum!
With a full aero design by Andrew Brilliant who claims “this design is right up there with current technology with regard to maximum downforce with minimal drag” the HKS TRB-03 certainly looks the business. The engine is a FA25 with almost everything on the spec sheet having the word ‘prototype’ written beside it. The claimed power output is 1000ps running back through a HKS sequential transmission and just about custom everything else. It is certainly one crazy piece of kit!
This car is the last in line of Tsukuba Record Breaker (TRB) cars at HKS. The first, the HKS TRB-01 / Racing Altezza was unveiled at the 2000 Tokyo Auto Salon. Just like the TRB-03, the Racing Altezza was made solely with the purpose of taking the Tsukuba Record which it later achieved with a 55:853 lap time. Featuring the 3S-GE engine which came standard with the Altezza in Japan, it was, of course, heavily modified with everything HKS had at that time and was rated at 600 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque.
The Racing Altezza was extremely controversial in its build procedure and many believed it wasn’t in keeping with the ‘spirit of time attack’ and so it was eventually parked. HKS then proceeded to build a carbon bodied Evo 8 known as the TRB-02, which later morphed into the HKS CT-230R. (Interesting Fact – The CT230R was actually displayed at WTAC 2011!) This car would set a new Tsukuba record in 2007 with a 53:589. This record would stand for 5 years until Under Suzuki eventually beat this longstanding record.
“Seeing this car run in full flight will certainly be one of the highlights of WTAC 2018” said Superlap CEO Ian Baker “and it is more than likely the one and only chance you will ever get to see this car run as the project was actually finished before we discussed bringing it to Australia. It was built to do the Tsukuba record and with that out of the way would more than likely have been retired to show duties.”
“It will be interesting to see how it performs as Sydney Motorsport Park is a very different animal to the tight and technical Tsukuba circuit. It will also be on display on the Yokohama Tyre stand over the weekend giving fans a chance to check out this insane build up close and personal. It is really just another piece of the puzzle all pointing to one hell of a show this year!”
The bottom line is if you want to see the HKS TRB-03 run in person – this is your one chance! Get Your Tickets Today!
