• With the Evasive Motorsports Honda S2000 RS set to compete at its first World Time Attack Challenge, unexpected circumstances at the port forced the vehicle to miss its ship bound for Sydney, Australia.
• Final efforts to coordinate air freight for the S2000 RS were deemed too expensive; however, driver Dai Yoshihara and Evasive Motorsports co-founder Mike Chang continued on their journey to experience World Time Attack Challenge as special guests.
• Pit+Paddock joins Dai and Mike as they will be featured in Q&A interviews and autograph sessions and will even have a hop lap session around Sydney Motorsports Park.
• Owen Liu of GT Evolution and Anthony Daher of Dahtone Racing welcomed our group with warm hospitality and gave us the keys to two built R35 Nissan GT-Rs.

THE HYPE WAS REAL

Time attack enthusiasts were incredibly hyped when Evasive Motorsports announced it would be taking on World Time Attack Challenge for the first time. Evasive is a household name when it comes to grassroots motorsports in North America, whether it be their early days of running Mitsubishi Evos to more recent accomplishments with their Honda S2000 RS program. With driver Dai Yoshihara, they’ve been able to set lightning-fast lap times at road courses like WeatherTech Laguna Seca and Buttonwillow Raceway. After a noble attempt at Pikes Peak International Hill Climb last year, the team decided it was time to endeavor somewhere new, and what better place than today’s mecca of time attack – World Time Attack Racing.

Following a joyous send-off celebration at their headquarters earlier this year, with ENEOS Oil, Yokohama Tire, Koyorad, and Pit+Paddock, the S2000 RS was delivered to the Port of Oakland, where it would have three months to travel 7,500 miles across the Pacific. Unfortunately, customs officials had different plans for the vehicle as they held the container at port for unforeseen circumstances, thus missing its scheduled outbound freightliner. There was a last-minute ditch effort to coordinate air freight, but shipping quotes reached heights of $50,000, with no promise the car would be cleared by Australian customs by the time of competition.

As a result, the Evasive team had to pull the plug, which left many fans and supporters saddened. But if there’s anything we should all know about racing, though, shit happens, and we just have to power through and make the most of it. So, with a few days before race weekend, driver Dai Yoshihara and Evasive co-founder Mike Chang decided to continue on their journey to Australia, where they would get a chance to experience World Time Attack Challenge for the first time, with underlying plans of being well-prepared for a redemption campaign in 2025.

AUSTRALIAN HOSPITALITY

The hospitality of the Australian tuning community shouldn’t be overlooked. I’ve had the opportunity to visit Sydney twice before as a car show guest judge and have enjoyed the kindness of local enthusiasts and shop owners. I also received a crash course in their power-hungry JDM culture, most notably with the Nissan GT-R. So, it wasn’t a surprise when we touched down after a 15-hour flight; Owen Liu of GT Evolution and Anthony Daher of Dahtone Racing welcomed us with open arms and handed us the keys to a pair of R35 GT-Rs.

GT-R SPECIALISTS

GT Evolution is a relatively new brand that sells and distributes high-quality aftermarket parts across Australia; however, Owen’s roots run deep, with more than 20 years of experience offering expertise in the motorsport world, most notably at Tilton Racing. Dahtone Racing has been around for equally as long, and they are recognized as one of the top GT-R specialists on the continent with a resume of building 2,000hp drag cars from the ground up, to the more popular restomod and OEM restoration projects of late. A walkthrough of the co-shared facility of Dahtone and GT Evolution demonstrated the two complementing businesses know their stuff, with Anthony’s personal Garage Active R32 Skyline wowing us. At the same time, Owen’s 1,000hp Voltex-kitted, street-legal R35 proved to be a beast ready to be unleashed.

WANGAN-STYLE RUNS

Jetlagged and ready to hit the sack, we decided to power through and go for a late-night cruise with Owen and Anthony. As I mentioned before, they didn’t have any issues handing us the keys to a couple of R35 GT-Rs – Owen’s and Andrei Cheng’s NISMO GT-R. In addition, Jayson D’Alessandro’s 1,200hp R33 Skyline GT-R would be joining us, which would make this downtown Sydney cruise insanely awesome. Dai tells me the freeways and tunnels of Sydney remind him of the wangan of Japan as they are very well maintained, quiet at night, and can easily act as a playground for highspeed highway battles.

Stay tuned for more coverage from our travels to World Time Attack Challenge 2024. Thank you to GT Evolution and Dahtone Racing, as well as our supporters ENEOS Oil and Yokohama Tire.

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