The Plazmaman Pro-Am class at the 2022 Yokohama World Time Attack Challenge was served an extra-large Gapplebees meal by Kostinken “Kosta” Pohorukov and the Tilton Evo IX. Early on Saturday Kosta had a 10-second split from second-place, having pumped the Tilton Evo around the 3.93km Sydney Motorsport Park Gardner Grand Prix circuit in 1.26.102.
“We spent today chasing aero balance and front grip, with the cooler track and air temperatures,” says Kosta. “This car is so good, and it is so easy to drive I actually said anyone could drive it! We have so much data from all the testing we’ve done and all our experience with the car, it means we know exactly how to set it up so it is just comfortable and it just works.”
While the Evo has taken three consecutive Pro class wins the team hasn’t been sitting idly by waiting for racing to resume.
“Over the last two years we’ve been progressing our engine programme with the 2.2-litre and it now makes 80 more horsepower at lower boost levels,” explains Kosta. “The tolerances are now so tight we have to warm the oil before we start it. We’ve also done risk analysis on our wheels and tyres, and we get rid of wheels after a season for safety reasons. We’ve actually put cameras under the car to see if we can perfect the amount of aero we run.”
The Tilton Evo may well be one of the YokohamaWorld Time Attack’s greatest legends, but Kosta feels there is plenty left in its tank for future glories.
“The car was amazing, it feels really fast and we were targetting a low 1.19 or high 1.18 lap wtih Brad,” says Kosta. “We did the 1.20 with 300hp less in the car and no nitrous, which would have cost us another half-second.”
