• Evasive Motorsports is shipping its Honda S2000RS to Sydney, Australia, for the World Time Attack Challenge, which will take place August 30-31.
• With Dai Yoshihara behind the wheel, the Evasive race car holds unofficial records for being the fastest S2000 at Buttonwillow Raceway and WeatherTech Laguna Seca.
• This will be Evasive Motorsports’ and Dai Yoshihara’s first time competing at Sydney Motorsport Park, which has become the most distinguished road course for the world’s quickest time attack teams.
• Since its last race, the S2000RS has received several upgrades for WTAC, including a new turbo setup, updated aerodynamics, and nitrous.
• With support from ENEOS Oil, Yokohama Tire, Koyorad, and Pit+Paddock, Evasive Motorsports hosted a well-attended send-off party for its S2000RS, which featured a collection of SoCal S2000 builds.

GOIN’ DOWN UNDER

Last year, I spent a good chunk of time at Evasive Motorsports as we prepared my Toyota GR Corolla for SEMA. There were many afternoons brainstorming and planning inside the offices of Evasive co-founders Mike Chang and Tony Kwan as we sorted out the build plan and schedule for the GRC. During one of my visits on a Friday before closing, I can vividly remember enjoying a cold beer while watching the livestream of the World Time Attack Challenge. The Evasive staff and I were glued to the screen as the fastest cars on earth battled it out at Sydney Motorsport Park – this included America’s Feras Qartoumy and his Corvette as he set a new Pro-Am Class record. We also couldn’t get enough of Japan’s Arvou Racing and their very quick S2000, which wore a similar Voltex widebody package as the Evasive S2000RS. It was on that day that I can honestly say the seed was planted for going to Australia in 2024. Lo and behold, ten months later, the Evasive Motorsports crew and Pit+Paddock driver Dai Yoshihara are now preparing for their first campaign down under for the World Time Attack Challenge.

FASTEST S2000 IN THE WEST

After a successful debut at the 2018 SEMA Show, the Evasive S2000RS laid dormant in the shop for three years. Then in 2021, it was resurrected for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, where a special edition of Global Time Attack was held. Following a historic exhibition on the streets of Long Beach, Evasive decided to develop further and race the widebody S2K, eventually earning it the unofficial “Fastest S2000” title at Buttonwillow Raceway – the home track of Global Time Attack Finals.

The team’s hunger to push S2000RS to higher levels prompted a run at last year’s Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. No stranger to the “Race to the Clouds,” Dai Yoshihara was once again chosen as the wheelman and showed much promise in piloting the S2000RS in practice sessions. Intending to record a sub-10-minute time, an unexpected mechanical issue inhibited Dai and Evasive from completing the race, thus cutting its dream run short.

As you can imagine, it’s demoralizing to spend all that time and money getting a car to Pikes Peak, not finishing, but the boys at Evasive stayed relentless with their prized vehicle. The S2000RS was invited to WeatherTech Laguna Seca for Gridlife, where it made headline news as it clocked the fastest lap of any S2000 in the track’s history.

NEED FOR MORE SPEED

The Evasive S2000RS has made its mark as one of the fastest active time attack cars in the country, especially considering it’s still powered by a F20C four-cylinder engine. However, making it a contender at the World Time Attack Challenge will be a different story. We’re talking about facing teams with bigger budgets, cars with beefier engines, and drivers with much more experience at Sydney Motorsport Park. To prepare for the new challenge, Evasive Motorsports has been re-tuning the S2000RS for faster track speeds, most notably adding horsepower and torque with a larger turbo setup and nitrous.

There have also been updates to the power steering system, aero, and brakes to give Dai a further balanced machine when he pushes the S2000RS to its limits. While the team has never visited Australia, there’s a secret goal of breaking into the 1:25-second range.

SEND-OFF CELEBRATION

Three years ago, Pit+Paddock celebrated Evasive Motorsports’ move to its 20,000-square-foot facility in Cerritos, California. We helped create a starting grid-style car show with retired Evasive time attack cars and other marquee builds from the area. This event also unveiled the Pikes Peak Tesla Model 3, which claimed the unofficial “Fastest EV” title in 2022.

This past June, we returned to Evasive once again to give a proper send-off party for its S2000RS as it revealed a new livery and brought together 200 people from the industry and local car community. The shop’s outdoor yard showcased some of SoCal’s cleanest S2000 builds, while the S2000RS was highlighted indoors.

While the celebration took place three months before the World Time Attack Challenge, the excitement was real, and the Pit+Paddock team couldn’t be prouder to see our driver Dai Yoshihara and friends at Evasive Motorsports embarking on a new journey to battle against the world’s best time attack drivers and teams.

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