As CEO of World Time Attack Challenge, I'd like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who made this year's event a resounding success. From our dedicated participants to our passionate fans and supportive sponsors, your contributions were instrumental in creating an unforgettable experience.
The 2024 World Time Attack Challenge saw 28,000+ eager spectators filling the stands and lining the hills of Sydney Motorsport Park. Our online viewership also saw a significant surge, reaching over 1.9 million viewers worldwide. This overwhelming support is a testament to the enduring appeal of time attack racing and the strength of World Time Attack Challenge Sydney as the top global destination for the sport.
The Supercheap Auto Superlap Shootout was a nail-biter, delivering one of the most thrilling finishes in years. Emtron Pro Class saw Rod Pobestek’s RP968 under the skilled hand of Barton Mawer breaking his own lap record multiple times over the weekend, ending the shootout with a blazing 1:17.444 lap, taking nearly half a second off his 2023 record and win the event outright for a record fifth time in a row. Special thanks to Rodin Cars for campaigning their still-in-development Rodin Sintura with Josh Buchan at the wheel. A very respectable 1:27.010 at the end of Rodin's weekend was impressive however there's nothing like a screaming V10 around the hills of Eastern Creek and for that we're super grateful!
Haltech Clubsprint was another class that saw another back-to-back champion crowned. Trent Grubel and the DC Jap Automotive Subaru WRX STI already broke their own event-winning 2023 record in the first Clubsprint session of the event, the competition was close on his heels with Plazmaman’s Alex Michalsky setting a time only four-hundreths behind him after the shootout. The DC Jap Automotive’s final lap time of 1:32.234 is the new class record, but they will have their work cut out for them to stay on top in 2025!
Plazmaman Pro Am saw a return of two legendary competitors, Finland’s Sami Sivonen and his Audi R8 1:1, and Australia’s own Rob Nguyen with his Mighty Mouse CRX which was brought out of retirement and updated with slicks to give it the update it deserved to compete in the current ruleset. Both were vying for the top trophy that Feras Qartoumy and his Corvette claimed in 2023, and after some mechanical issues for the American which were quickly sorted with an express overnight engine rebuild by V8 wizards Warspeed, he was able to claim a new PB of 1:25.450 and a second-place trophy. Rob leap-frogged himself into the third place with a 1:27.080, however the Fat Cat R8 1:1 was able to get away from the Mighty Mouse in the end with a 1:24.832, claiming victory for Sami and the hugely popular Finnish team.
Rob Nguyen’s work wasn’t finished, however, as he was also the appointed driver for Charles Warland’s Dream Project S15 in GCG Turbos Open Class. I believe this was one of the most exciting class shootouts we’ve seen in previous years! The shootout was hot from the word go, with Nick York’s Global Aircraft Services Evo piloted by Nathan Morcom heading out and setting a hot final sector to take the class lead in the shootout over the defending Xtreme GT-R team with a 1:25.883 lap. The celebrations in the GAS pits were cut short when they were pipped by the Dream team with a 1:25.543 to put them straight into the top spot. The chase was on for Tim Slade as the Xtreme team turned up the wick for their final lap, but after running wide on the back of the circuit, couldn’t improve on their time, meaning Rob Nguyen and the Dream Project S15 were crowned as the 2024 GCG Open class champion!
We had our biggest Turbosmart Flying 500 entry list yet, with huge four-figure power builds going head-to-head down the main straight of SMSP at sundown to crown a 2024 champion. After some hard-fought elimination battles, the competition saw George Tsitsos in the Precision Racing twin-turbo Audi R8 take out the AWD class, Frank Cannistra's VR38-powered Datsun 1200 ute take the RWD class. The Maatouks Racing-prepped "RRKING" R32 GT-R Skyline was awarded Best Presented.
For the first time, the Shannon’s Insurance Stylized Show and Shine presented by Donut Garage was activated for both days and what an incredible selection of cars! It was great to see the variety of builds from WRX-powered Minis to mega-lifted XC Falcons and everything in between. A special shout-out to Alex and The Chemical Guys who not only support Stylized as a vendor but also generously supplied prize packs to the award winners to help them keep their cars pristine!
Our 2024 Garrett International Drifting Cup podium was an all-Aussie affair. The latest and greatest Aussie drifters battled it out with our international guests such as Mad Mike, Daigo Saito, Kase Pullen-Burry and more. The huge line-up of global stars didn't faze our Aussie competitors who were able to keep the crown in Australia for another year. Congratulations to our 2024 champion Saxon Moyes, and runners-up Brody Maher and Luke Veersma. Special mention to Masashi Yokoi who was knocked out in fourth place.
Our trader area is always a hit and sincere appreciation to our generous class sponsors, event vendors whose support made this event possible. Their commitment to motorsport and our event is invaluable. Year on year will always find a familiar brand, a crazy display car, and plenty to see, do and buy in our trader areas. Our awesome vendors never cease to amaze us with their innovation and creativity in their stands and products!
We’ve also expanded the trade and activation area over to the grandstand-side with the support of Supercheap Auto and their Supercheap Auto Club Zone. We hope this area can continue to move ahead and be well-known as the respite area that can help families with kids get through the long days at WTAC. We had Matt Mingay and the Hot Wheels Stunt Team with an epic on-track stunt show as well their ever-popular Hot Wheels Kids Zone, a perfect fit to entertain kids of all ages!
The 2024 World Time Attack Challenge was also graced by the presence of several special guests from far and wide, including Misha Charoudin, Mad Mike Whiddett, Miji Kang, Daigo Saito, Masashi Yokoi, Kazuyoshi Okamura and Yashio Factory, Yasuhiro Ando, Arios Suzuki, Shaun Potroz, Jaron Olivecrona Kase Pullen-Burry, Dai Yoshihara and the Evasive team, Rob Dahm, and many more. Their involvement added an extra layer of excitement and prestige to the event and we hope many of you were able to meet and greet with our huge list of star drivers and personalities.
As we look ahead, we are committed to evolving the World Time Attack Challenge to meet the ever-changing demands of motorsport. We are exploring a revamp of our rules and regulations to ensure fair competition and encourage innovation. We believe our current competitors have explored the limits of our ruleset which haven’t had a major update since 2014 and we are looking to create regulations which will ensure our form of motorsport will address the advancements in technology and be a ruleset that ensures sustainability of the sport for years to come for competitors and time attack fans globally.
I would like to extend a big THANK YOU to all involved in making this year a hit. The 2024 World Time Attack Challenge was a triumph in every way. The passion, dedication, and skill displayed by our participants were inspiring. With the support of our fans, sponsors, Destination NSW and the entire motorsport community, we are confident that the future of time attack racing is brighter than ever!
Stay updated to our social channels and www.worldtimeattack.com for latest updates, announcements and more WTAC content on the way! We'll see you all again in 2025!
Ian Baker
CEO - World Time Attack Challenge
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