WHAT IS TIME ATTACK?

Time Attack grew from Japanese circuit racers of the 1960s, that were built to celebrate the art of the aftermarket tuner – the doors were open to everyone from low-budget home-spannerers to big-bucks corporate showcases, with everyone racing on, as it were, a level playing field. Rather than competing against each other from a grid start, everyone competes in turn against the clock to set the fastest lap time, hence the name ‘ Time Attack’.

The original ethos of the series remains the same today. You just need to start with a production car as a project base, and then the tuning potential is limitless. Throw in a load of horsepower, tinker with the chassis and drivetrain, develop some custom aero, do whatever it takes to make the car as fast as it can physically be.

Time Attack today exists in numerous series across the globe, with competitors bracketed into various groups; ‘Clubman’, for instance, is a UK class for cars with basic modifications – rollcages are merely ‘recommended’… the ladder climbs through ‘Club Challenge’, ‘Club Pro’, ‘Pro’ and ‘Pro Extreme’, with the cars getting incrementally madder as you go. ‘Pocket Rocket’ is a newly established class for sub-1750cc cars, either force-induced or naturally-aspirated.

In essence, then, Time Attack is the dream series for aftermarket tuners, whether they be a big-name tuning outfit or just some bloke in his garage – you can do pretty much what you like to the car without having to worry about a governing body disqualifying you for running the wrong thickness of head gasket or a frowned-upon diameter of air intake. The accessibility is what makes it so popular.