,
Now lets get back to the time attack competition. With Sierra Sierra's and Cyber's previous times going down as quickly as they did of course controversy would ensue. Eastern Creek Raceway has been and continues to go through developmental changes and at a first glance it's blatantly obvious of the additions made to the track. These are just that – additions. The track owners are just adding more to the course in order to be able to run different configurations. The time attack course is still the same one from previous years, but this did not stop people from trying to disregard Nemo's and Tilton's times. Thankfully the crew at WTAC was quick to shut these naysayers down. Here's a quote from WTAC that should help explain the situation:
“It is true that the approach to turn 7 has been straightened out, and that indeed does make some difference to the lap times. To figure out just how much difference we asked the two people that would know; Garth Walden who races Radicals here on regular basis, and Nik Kalis, the winner of the 2012 Open Class, also a regular at Eastern Creek. Both drivers agreed that the time gained due to the track improvements is about 0.3 seconds to 0.5 seconds at best.”
So yes, there's a small approach change that has possibly led to a very minute decrease in lap times. Even if we call it a full second, this year's top teams would have still taken the championship last year without the approach change to turn 7.
Furthermore, the high winds were preventing some of the drivers from going flat out in turn 1. An issue the 2011 WTAC drivers did not have to deal with. The front straightaway is shielded from most of the wind by the grandstands, but imagine what happens when the cars pass the grandstands at max speed and get hit by a strong crosswind! I'm sure the problem is worse for the top cars that are so aero dependent and are already pushing the grip limits. Regardless of which side of the coin you're on, there is no way you can discount what this year's teams are accomplishing. They all have one common goal and are accomplishing it – going faster!
 |
| 2011 Cyber Evo |
 |
| 2012 Cyber Evo |
But enough about the chitter-chatter, let's get down to business and talk about what we made the trip for and the reason you're reading this. Who were the class winners and exactly how far the bar has been raised.
