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Global Time Attack – Round 4 – New Jersey Motorsports Park
By Wes Dumalski
Round 4 of the Global Time Attack series hit the Jersey Shore this past weekend to lay down some lap times and settle some friendly wagers. And while the coverage is normally about times and analytics I'd like to point out to those that have never attended a GTA event, it is about much more than that…
Hanging out and meeting Fellow Dorks.
Before we regale you with tales of amazing driving and even more amazing cars lets lay down some pertinent track information. For reference NJMP consists of two different courses called Lightning and Thunderbolt and this round of Global Time Attack was settled at New Jersey Motorsports Park on the Lightning. (Insert Metallica reference here). This 1.9 mile circuit consists of 10 turns and features some key elevation changes and most challenging corners in the park.
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| New Jersey Motorsports Lightning Raceway track layout. The tracks in the inner portion of the track are for karting. |
Global time attack events are held in conjunction with NASA which makes for an exciting weekend. While in my opinion watching the uber fast GTA cars tear it up is the highlight of the weekend, it is great to be able to watch the NASA wheel to wheel action between GTA sessions. New to this event is the addition of the enthusiast class to GTA. While the series was created to invite and display the nations fastest time attack cars, they have stepped up their game once again to allow enthusiasts of the sport to participate and get involved in time attack in an affordable manner. This new class sponsored by Synergy Turbo is TRUE to its name with a strict rule set that includes some just plain awesome rules. The Enthusiast class cars must be fully insured and registered, they must also be driven to and from the track. Great stuff to keep this playing field as level as possible. The more cars we have competing in time attack the better and we hope this brings more people out to compete in GTA and get involved in time attack.
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| Synergy Turbo showed off their latest stock placement turbo application for the STi above. | Can't leave out the new Evo 8 & 9 turbo. |
GTA runs two different timed sessions for their Time Attack drivers and while many series base these stints on class, GTA simply uses lap times to place drivers. This allows for the fastest laps to be set and also affords greater safety by decreasing the difference in pace between cars. The event is held on Saturday and Sunday of the given weekend with the fastest overall time from the weekend in a given class taking home the money and champagne, or… A little money and a kick ass set of steak knives! I encourage you live stream only people to get off the couch and make it out to an event. You will rarely see another series or motorsport that allows you access to all the cars and crews.
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| Yes you can walk around the pits and take pictures just like this at a GTA event. You could even ask Gary Kubo of World Racing what he likes to do to kill down time between sessions. |
