EVENT – World Time Attack Challenge: Friday Morning

It’s a sunny but windy day here in Sydney, Australia. We’re at the new Sydney Motorsport Park, formerly known as Eastern Creek Raceway. With the World Time Attack Challenge (WTAC) underway, cars from all over the world have gathered to race against the clock. With the morning session done and dusted, the current leader is Nemo Racing’s Mitsubishi Evo 9 with an astonishing time of 1:25.74, a whole 3 second faster than the record set by Tarzan Yamada in the Cyber Evo last year.

Read more

EVENT – Showcased Presented By The-Lowdown.com

It was a beautiful sunny day in Sydney, Australia as it played host to the one of the best meets Sydney has ever seen; Showcased presented by THE-LOWDOWN.com. This was the perfect opportunity for enthusiasts from all over Australia to come together and share their love for cars, whether it’s a time attack machine or a show car on bags, this meet had it all. With cars from interstate driving more than ten hours to attend and workshops working overtime to get their car ready to be debuted at Showcased. Read more

EVENT-FORMULA DRIFT MALAYSIA-HOT ACTION ON A HOT WEEKEND

Last year’s Formula drift venue really took a toll on many of the cars, but this year’s venue is of a more driver friendly surface with a challenging layout, with a long straight that allows for a high speed entry into a series of S-Shaped corners. Read more

EVENTS – The Return of the Sun, Wangan Warriors Spring Meeting

 

 

The last two editions of the Wangan Warriors meeting had either a lot of rain or thick amounts of fog to deal with. Now at the beginning of the spring, their meeting got treated with the Return of the Sun. Read more

SHOP VISIT – The Autosport Company

2012 is kicking off and for me it is kicking off in a great way. This year I will finally get to build my own race car. After years of shooting the coolest cars behind the armco, I now have the opportunity to go racing myself. They say building the car already is half the fun and, as I was looking for parts to prepare my Miata, it showed. The fun has only just began!!!
While shooting for another upcoming report for 7TUNE and in need for some race parts, I went to visit The Autosport Company Read more

EVENT – FORZA MORTORSPORT 4 NIGHT AT ZEN GARAGE

With the release of the newly anticipated Forza Motorsport 4 on the Xbox 360 console Zen Garage hosted a Forza night at their new warehouse space in Sydney, Australia. It was an industry night and we at 7Tune were there to bring you coverage of the whole event.
Read more

FEATURE – MITSUOKA OROCHI, A LESSON IN MODERN COACHBUILDING

  Yamata no Orochi. Orochi. The 8-Forked Serpent. The 8-tailed monstrosity. Fire bellied. Eyes red. It’s size dwarfing 8 valleys and hills. This mythical creature forms the basis of a study in modern coach building. It’s sole purpose to turn heads with it’s organic form and exemplify hand-made craftsmanship in a modern chassis.

Read more

VIDEO – FASTCAR FESTIVAL 2011

Dutch based GT Events hosted the very first edition of the Fastcar Festival last weekend at the Zandvoort Racetrack. Featuring everything from time attack races to drifting and from show & go to trackday experiences for amateur drivers, the venue had a lot to offer. Read more

WTAC NEWS SCOOP – CYBER EVO LAUNCHES PROTEST

In the wake of Sierra Sierra’s stunning 1:29.024, the Cyber Evo team has launched a protest, claiming that the American team is running NOS; a claim the Sierra Sierra team deny.

Sierra Sierra has invited the Cyber Evo team to come and inspect the car but as of this moment no one has visited.

This news has come as a surprise to the paddock as the Sierra Evo has blasted out of the box to take the top time by a long way, leaving the Cyber Evo team to make up almost a second over the next 3 sessions.

Just to add a little more drama to the situation, the Sierra car is currently out of the running for sessions 2 and 3 with a blown head gasket but they expect to run for the final session which is sure to be a blockbuster ending to a fantastic event. Crucially, the weather has cleared here and the rain clouds that threatened the event have been blown upwind meaning there is plenty of action still to come.

7Tune is live on hand with the latest news and we’ll be back soon with more from a bright and sunny Eastern Creek raceway with more news, entertainment and information.

7TUNE – The Ultimate JDM Experience Since 2005

Words – Adam Zillin

Photos – Adam Zillin and Brendan Mok

WTAC 2011 – SATURDAY TIMES: PRO CLASS SESSION 1

There’s been a big upset in the first session for the Pro class with David Empringham taking the Sierra Sierra Lan-Evo to top spot with a commanding 1:29.024; some 7 tenths faster than the best Tarzan Yamada could muster with a 1:29.791. Empringham’s stunning time was made when everybody believed that the track would be at its best and with the threat of rain closing in for the afternoon, there is every chance that we already have our final result. Read more

WTAC 2011 – THE FRIDAY RESULTS

The 2011 WTAC has already heated up and the pace was frantic from the very minute the lights went out in all three classes. There were plenty of surprises today and none more dramatic than the way Tarzan Yamada clinched top spot in the dying moments of the final session with a 1:30.369 smack-down to his nearest rivals; the Revolution FD RX-7 and the Sierra Sierra Evo Lancer… Read more

WTAC 2011 – PREVIEW

Welcome to Eastern Creek Raceway, the home of World Time Attack 2011 for the next three days. Over the next three days we will be bringing you all the action straight from the track, pit and all the action behind the scenes. Be sure to check in regularly to keep up to date with what’s happening at Eastern Creek and watch the event unfold from the comfort of your own home. Read more

THE FRENCH & THE FURIOUS, LE MANS 2011, PT 1

As soon as I approached the city of Le Mans I flipped the car’s audiosystem to Radio Le Mans. It was early wednesday morning but the guys over at the station were in full swing. Immediately the whole endurance vibe was back with all the great stories flying through the air. The seven hour journey was instantly forgotten and the notorious Le Mans bug started to master my brain. The free practice sessions were scheduled later that day and it was the perfect time to see all the cars run for the first time. Read more

FEATURE – RACING ROADSTERS CONQUER EUROPE

7TUNE’s Dutch based European correspondent, Mathieu van den Oever presents this awesome look into a race series that’s really taken off with fans, sponsors and drivers alike; The Total Mazda MaX5 Cup… Read more

NEWS – MAZDA 787B RETURNING TO LE MANS!

The remarkable wankel powered Mazda 787B will be returning to Le Mans. It remains the first and only Japanese car manufacturer to win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. And the only non-reciprocating engine to win. While not participating in the race itself, this restoration will be demonstrated on the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France on Saturday, June 11, 2011, before the 24-hour race begins.

The Mazda 787B has been specially restored and tested in preparation for the demonstration at Le Mans

The Mazda 787B is the first and only Japanese car, and rotary-engine car, to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Jointly developed by Mazda and Mazdaspeed, the organization that managed Mazda’s racing program, the 787B has a chassis designed to meet Group C racing car technical regulations and is powered by a four-rotor rotary engine that produces 700 horsepower. Due to a change in the race regulations, 1991 was to become the last year that a rotary-engine car could participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Featuring a complex suspension arrangement, including double wishbone pullrod with Bilstein dampers at the front and double wishbone top rocker operated with Bilstein dampers at the rear. The car was even graced with a Kevlar and carbon composite monocoque chassis.

Since 1991, the winning Mazda 787B has mostly been on display at the Mazda Museum in Hiroshima, Japan. In preparation for the demonstration at Le Mans, Mazda has carefully restored the winning 787B racecar back to driving condition for the first time since its post-race overhaul in 1991. The work was carried out by current Mazda employees who participated in the company’s original Le Mans Challenge Project, along with engineers from Mazda’s subsidiary engineering company Mazda E&T. The restored 787B has been tested by one of Mazda’s in-house top gun drivers, and its performance has been confirmed by former Mazda factory drivers Yoshimi Katayama, Takashi Yorino and Yojiro Terada at Mazda’s Mine Proving Ground in western Japan.

Next Page »