Without question if there were a “people’s choice” award at the Yokohama World Time Attack it would have to go to “Under Suzuki” and his insane carbon fibre Scorch Racing S15. Firstly a big part of the mystique surrounding this car and driver stems from the fact that he is actually not a mechanic or a professional race driver, he was just a young Japanese guy with a dream, a very big dream. And he has made it his business to make that dream reality.



Suzuki-san spends his days working hard at his parent’s pharmacy store in Yokohama and every night and every weekend toiling away until the wee small hours in the corner of his friend Takemura-sans workshop Scorch Racing hand building one of the most insane Silvia’s ever to see the light of day. He has learnt the skills to do this by trial and error, making mistakes, fixing them and then slowly improving his skillset both in the workshop and on the racetrack over many years under the watch full eye of Takemura-san.



Then when it is time to hit the track once again there are no million dollar transporters and engineering crew, just Suzuki and his buddy and a few boxes of tools. Yet the lap times they have set both in Japan and Australia are times that many a professional race team would be proud to own and he is the only person to ever beat the Tsukuba time attack lap time held by the HKS CT230R for all those years driven by the legendary Nobuteru Taniguchi. And not only did he beat it he smashed it out of the ballpark by over a full second! Not bad for an “amateur”.



Suzuki-san has also been hard at work on the never ending mission to refine the S15 and make improvements he hopes will shave that ever elusive fractions of a second from his laptime. This year he has created a new Titanium side exit exhaust built to Australian CAMS spec and also dropped the turbocharger deep into the chassis on a new Hypertune 321 stainless manifold with a new spec Garrett/GCG GTX Turbocharger and a pair of Turbosmart Waste gates and fitted a super trick Ogura multi-plate race clutch.



But the big focus for 2014 will be on improving what was already quite a well sorted aero package with aero ace Andrew Brilliant taking a big liking to the project and spending many a night at the Scorch Racing workshop ensuring that when the car returns it will have to potential to win given the right conditions.



“Suzuki has undertaken his most aggressive development project to date by a long shot.” said Andrew Brilliant “I have yet to meet him and hear that he got more than a few hours of sleep. ’I'm doing things I love, so I don’t mind’ he always says. That attitude is exactly why I enjoy the association with his program. Victories are built one part at a time with attention to detail and sweat. There is no doubt about that and it is always out of the bitter defeats that we find the victories. Suzuki has made major life sacrifices to get here, I think more so than anyone else in the field.”


“This year has taken on the most aggressive schedule yet. His car will roll out this year with upgraded 2.3 litre engine, widened track, custom double wishbone suspension, larger turbocharger with an inconel manifold and titanium side exit exhaust. The aero package is being refined everywhere with updates to the fenders and an updated underfloor now with a rear diffuser.”



“Do I think he can win?”

“I think he would be thrilled even with a podium. Considering the level the field has gotten to now, that takes a serious driver and a serious car. With that said, nobody can predict what will happen. I think that time attack is still in a place where knowledge is power. Since the inception of WTAC, every year has been an upset. People thought Sierra Sierra would wipe out Cyber Evo, then Cyber upset them twice. In 2012 everyone was blindsided by the 10:1 odds Nemo Racing Evo that had never turned a real lap in anger before race day. Tilton was heavily favoured team back then. In 2013 everyone said Nemo would win again in but was taken out by reliability and Tilton went on to reset the record.”



“In my mind, it has always been anyone’s game, this sport is about as pure as you can get in that regard with smaller budgets being able to beat bigger ones. I think he has enough hard work and knowledge to get to the top step. At the least I think he deserves that. He has the right attitude, humility and commitment level. It is one race, once per year. There is a lot of built up emotion and hard work. Tiny mistakes can wind up costing it all. You try to think of everything and do as much as you can until you have nothing left to give and this sport is unique enough to let that happen.”



“Suzuki has made major life sacrifices to get here, I think more so than anyone else in the field. I feel fortunate to support his effort. I am optimistic and I think that even if it takes many years to see his goal, he will not give up. That is usually exactly what it takes”

Andrew Brilliant – AMB Aero



“World Time Attack Challenge is my big event every year,” said Suzuki-san “It is my dream to win it. That is all that I think of every day and every night. My dream is not over yet. I see you all in October”

Let’s hope he gets to see his dream come true in 2014!



Links:

www.yokohama.com.au

www.worldtimeattack.com