Photo Credit: Nate @NVUS Images.

Photo Credit: Nate @NVUS Images.

On September 17th James was out for a Sunday afternoon drive at TMP for the last CSCS event of the season. In qualifying, he put down a 1:10.914, however, that time will remain unofficial. In CSCS, qualifying times are not recorded for competition and therefore will not stand. His official time for the day was 1:11.027 for the Unlimited FWD win. He was fourth overall behind Richard Boake's STi, Andy Smedegard's Evo IX, and Bevan Gray's STi – all three running in Unlimited AWD. By the way, that 1:11.027 is another class record for James.

Chatting with James you can tell that he is looking forward to the rest of the season, but he also knows that he may not be able to compete at all of his favourite events. Life has more important plans that are going to trump some events because he knows that his wife's (Kaitlyn) pregancy and the birth of their first child takes priority.

His plans are in place to attend SuperLap Battle this Fall but, if he gets a call from Kaitlyn, who will be in her ninth month of pregnancy, while in transit you can bet the camper and trailer will be making a U-turn and heading quickly back home – or the hospital! You can also tell that he knows that he is in a battle. They have pulled every ounce of power that can be found in its current setup, and yet his current main competitor in FWD still has a huge power advantage. As much as breaking Rado's record and Dai's records is a sign of a fantastic car and team, for James, coming in second in these events did tarnish what was in reality a huge accomplishment. There is no question that the team has worked their magic and found seconds in the car without a significant horsepower increase. However, breaking a record while coming in second and holding the Gingerman record then losing it mid-season, well, let's just say that those moments were not the highlights of the 2017 season that James was hoping to attain.

Even so, the battles are far from over and, when the difference between first and second is often less than the blink of an eye, who knows what will happen when these two teams meet up again. There is no question that competition between these two Canadian neighbours has been good for Time Attack in both countries. This in turn, this is good for all of us racers. As James frequently points out, he is so appreciative of his team of sponsors that help him make all of this possible. As to the question posed on page one, James and the Type R get faster and faster through sheer determination, building driver skillset, and tackling every obstacle as a challenge to be overcome. With the car itself, nothing is too small to be considered and Eric is absolutely astounding at ensuring that this car is razor sharp for every event. As to the future and what is next (well next is Speed Ring in Michigan on Sept. 30/Oct. 1 and then SuperLap Battle in California), the wheels are turning, and I know that James will continue to battle time.

Read More about the K-Tuned Integra in past articles:

2014 Attacking Time 2015 Attacking Time: Consistently 2016 Terrorizing Time

A huge thank you to the photographers who have contributed this work:

James Houghton – all shop photos
Scott MacKay @Scootermedia
Ian Rae @ MotorWerks Magazine
Adrian Stanescu @adi_stanescu
Nate @NVUS Images