Takata Time Attack recently celebrated Independence Day with participation in Redline's fourth west coast event of the year dubbed The Liberty Grand Prix. Willow Springs Raceway of Rosamond, California set the stage for a challenging contest as temperatures exceeded 90 degrees and average speeds on the course exceeded 100mph for Modified class cars. The LIC Motorsports crew was busy in the weeks preceding the event preparing for the challenge.

"Chassis development has been and continues to be our focal point for development of the car" said Noah Levy of LIC Motorsports. "Based on feedback from our driver and the advice of some of our partners we have made some changes to the car to improve its high speed stability. Along the way we have also removed some weight from the car. We were hopeful for dramatic improvements in the handling of the car."

As driver James Elterman took to the track on Saturday, he immediately found new confidence in the car at high speeds. Development continued throughout the weekend with alignment, spring rate, aero, and rear differential changes. With each change came reduced lap times and by Saturday evening it was looking as though a podium finish was attainable.

The serious business of racing took pause on Saturday night as the main straight of the raceway was converted to a drag strip. Street cars, prepared drag racers, as well as some Time Attack cars raced the 1,000 ft. drag strip as the sun set. The Takata Impreza made an impression on the fans as it posted the fastest trap speed of the evening at 112mph. After nightfall the fans and racers were treated to a 22 minute fireworks show.

In Sunday's first Time Attack session James claimed 4th position just 1 second out of 3rd. The final session again proved to be a critical one.

"Going into the final round of the Time Attack we all felt the car had the potential of reaching the podium." said Elterman. "We made some minor changes going into the final round but unfortunately we took a small step in the wrong direction. Despite this I was pushing for an improved time. The first lap offered no improvement, and on the second lap I had in incredible off in Turn 1. Fortunately the damage was contained to the front splitter, but it forced our retirement from the session."

With no improvement in the final session, the team retained 4th place in Modified AWD. After some quick repairs by the LIC crew to the front splitter, the Takata Impreza was ready for the Super Session sprint race. James started in the second row of grid in 3rd for Modified AWD. After the race's first lap, the 034 Motorsports Audi in 2nd position retired due to a mechanical issue, putting Elterman in 2nd. Four laps later the Cobb Nissan GTR of Brian Lock crossed line first for Modified AWD, with Elterman in 2nd.

The intense battle for the Modified AWD Season Championship continues with James Elterman and Brian Lock standing out from the rest of the pack. After 4 events Elterman retains a small lead over Lock with 150 points to his 149 points. With three races left in the series the Championship may likely come down to the final event.

Videos
1,000 Ft. Drag Race
Record Assault Time Attack Session
Super Session

More Photos by Gabriel Zavala

Following an impressive finish at the Redline Time Attack season opener, Takata Time Attack was anxious to carry the momentum to another strong finish in Las Vegas for Redline's second west coast event. The LIC Motorsports crew made small adjustments to the Takata Impreza prior to the event including a new set of Black and Green Rota wheels from Wheeldude to match the new livery, as well as a new Aeromotions wing.

"Our car was generally very reliable for the first event", said Noah Levy of LIC Motorsports. "Many cars at the first event had failures and we were able to capitalize because our car was reliable and consistent, despite the fact that James had never driven the car. The only significant issue we had was problems with the brakes overheating and locking up under heavy braking."

For the second event, the bulk of Saturday's practice session was spent experimenting to improve the braking system. After collaborating with Brembo Brakes via phone, the swap to a different brake pad compound yielded dramatic results. With confidence restored in braking, James immediately dropped over 3 seconds a lap, putting him in the hunt for a podium finish.

"I can easily say that driving the LIC Motorsports powered Takata Impreza is the best driving I have ever experienced. Even with 550 wheel horsepower on tap, the powerband is so smooth and responsive that it is fun and confidence inspiring to drive. Many heavily boosted cars buck and jerk at anything less than full throttle, but such is not the case with the LIC built engine. With our braking problems out of the way, I see incredible potential for this car."

Things were looking up for Takata Time Attack until a wastegate line burst shortly into the first Time Attack session, giving James a signifcant power handicap. The line was easily repaired in time for Session 2, but with track conditions much deteriorated it was not possible for James to match the times posted earlier in the day when the conditions were ideal. Despite the 4th place result, James and LIC crew are excited about the progress made in car development and look forward a better finish at the next event.

After two events, Takata Time Attack leads the Modified AWD class in points.

Playboy Model and 2009 SPO COM Model Search Winner Tracy Nova with the Takata Time Attack Impreza

Photo credit to Gabriel Zavala

Redline Time Attack hosted the final round of the 2009 season at Fontana, California's Auto Club Speedway.  Sunny weather, a fast circuit, and the hotest Time Attack cars in the nation provided the recipe for a fantastic weekend.  Many teams were in a tight points chase entering the finale event and the Takata Time Attack team was no exception.  Although Ryan Gates had already sealed his fate as the Modified AWD season champion, 2nd place was still up for grabs with James Elterman in the Takata Impreza leading the Forged Performance Nissan GTR by 9 points.  Unfortunately for James, the high speed Auto Club circuit favored the powerful and aerodynamic GTRs.  In James' favor though was a fresh powerplant under the hood cutesy of P&L Motorsports.  James was optimistic about his chances against the GTRs, and spoke about it in an interview prior to the time attack.  Check out the Redline Time Attack Pre-Grid Show at 9:17.

After a season plagued by much misfortune, the Takata team was refreshed only to encounter a couple minor problems in practice including a stuck open external wastegate and a bad MAP sensor.  The wastegate was repaired with some help from the Turn-in Concepts crew who had recently experience a similar failure.  A replacement for the MAP sensor could not be sourced unfortunately, and the engine ran rough at part throttle.  Fortunately James was able adapt to the condition.

The Time Attack sessions were an incredible site to behold as the Modified and Unlimited class cars reached speeds in excess of 160mph, with the fastest over 180mph!  Despite an impressive performance, James for the first time found himself off the podium as Ryan Gates once again took the win, followed by GTRs, including that of Forged Performance in 3rd.  In the Super Session, James was able to reclaim some points to secure 2nd place for the 2009 season.

Don't miss this interview with James Elterman in the Redline Time Attack Pre-Grid show.

Take a lap around Auto Club in the Takata Impreza on YouTube.

For photos of the event try Speed and Motion and The Octane Report.

James Elterman and Takata Impreza : 2nd in Points - Modified AWD 2009

The Takata Time Attack team recently made the long haul from the Midwest to the east coast for Redline Time Attack's 6th event of the year in Englishtown, New Jersey.  An arc would have been better suited for the journey as the tow vehicle pressed on through constant rain from St. Louis to E-Town.  Early Saturday morning the rain slowed to a drizzle, which was only a tease for the drivers as they unloaded their cars from the trailers.  Shortly after practice began, the rain upgraded to a downpour and the course was closed.  A clogged drain at the low point of the course caused a corner to become a river, making it impassible.  With no end to the rain in sight, and track conditions getting worse, drivers and spectators both were getting restless.  Redline then put out the call for all drivers to report to the track with their tow vehicles for the first ever Redline Truck Attack!  As James Elterman and the Takata Time Attack F-250 took to the track for the 6 lap sprint, the grandstands quickly filled with curious spectators.  What followed was a ShimmySideways good time as turbo diesels and gas V8's slid around the track to the cheers of onlookers.  Words alone can't describe, so check the Redline Pregrid Show for video.

Fortunately Sunday's conditions were much improved with clearing skies and a clean track.  James put in some laps on the damp track in the first session, and everything seemed to be in order until the transmission made a terrible sound as James was driving casually on a cool down lap.  Video here.  Investigation determined that 4th gear had broken but despite the ill sounds, it was safe to drive providing 4th gear wasn't selected.  James elected to skip the remaining practice sessions in favor of saving the car for the timed afternoon sessions.  Despite being short the gear, James earned a time that was only 1.5 seconds out of 3rd after the first Time Attack session.  With the possibility of a podium finish, Paul of P&L Motorsports made the call to push the already strained backup engine to its limit by forcing 30 lbs. of boost down it's throat for the final session.  As James attacked the track in session 2, the engine begged for mercy as oil began to blow past the seals.  Showing no mechanical empathy, James pushed hard for two laps, and then retired early as the oil began to ignite on the exhaust; but the time posted was good for 3rd, edging out Forged Performance by a mere 4 hundredths of a second, allowing James to retain his 2nd place position in season points.  Check out the great videos of the session here and here.

Results available here.

Videos
Redline Truck Attack in Redline PreGrid Show
Sunday Practice:  In traffic and ends with 4th gear failure.
Time Attack Session #2:  Up in smoke!
Import2Race Takata Impreza Experience Video: 10 minutes of in and out of car!

Photos
Official Photos by Budski Photography

Each race brings it own set of challenges.  Redline Time Attack Event #5 at Carolina Motorsports Park brought the heat.  Racers we teased with cool weather and fast times on Saturday morning, but come the afternoon the temperature approached 100 degrees.  The Takata Impreza was one of the victims of the heat, although not a direct result of the ambient.  A melted speed sensor on the transmission put the engine into limp mode, forcing James to sit out of the Saturday afternoon session, while a replacement was sourced.  With no luck sourcing a part, attention was redirected to fabricating a work around.  Playboy model Nikki Ryann stopped by an offered some technical assistance; Check it out at 16:17 in the Pre-Grid show.  With over an hour invested in pinpointing the problem, suddenly Tony of Turn-In Concepts came to the rescue with a spare speed sensor which brought life back to the engine for Sunday's competition.

On Sunday one of the most highly anticipated contests was Modified AWD, as the top 3 drivers in the class were present;  Ryan Gates and his Gates311 Evo X, Sharif Abdelbaset and the Forged GTR, and James Elterman and the Takata Impreza.  Ryan once again had an impressive result that put him on top of Modified, with Sharif and James a couple seconds back respectively.  Fortunately James was able to recoup some points thanks to a 2nd place finish in the crowd-pleasing Super Session.  Despite a small turnout for the Super Session, Billy Johnson in the FX Motorsports NSX, Wilt Staples in the Fortune Auto Evo, and James put on a great show with a close battle at the front of the pack.  Check out our video that puts you in the best seat in the house on the grill of the Takata Impreza.

Complete Results are available here.

Modified AWD Season Standings After 5 Events - Top 3
1st Ryan Gates: 103 pts.
2nd James Elterman: 78 pts.
3rd. Sharif Abdelbaset: 70 pts.

Videos
Takata Impreza In-Car for Time Attack Session #2
Takata Impreza dicing with FX Motorsports NSX and Fortune Auto Evo in the Super Session
Nikki Ryann on what is hot about Time Attack, and giving the boys a hand with the Takata Impreza.

Photos
Patrick McGinnis Photography and Toaster Pastry's Photos

Special thanks to Turn-In Concepts, AMS, & FX Motorsports Development for lending a hand.

Nashville Super Speedway was recently host to the largest spectator turnout for a North American Time Attack.  Over 2,500 show cars, and 5,000 spectators converged on the raceway to take part in the 2009 Import Alliance meet, and watch the finest Time Attack vehicles compete.  After a rough start at Autobahn, James Elterman and the P&L Motorsports crew were hoping for a less eventful race at Nashville.  With a new and more powerful engine beneath the hood of the Takata Impreza, James was anxious to best his Modified class lap record established the previous year.  Unfortunately, only 7 laps in to Saturday morning practice while breaking in the engine at low boost, the engine threw a rod through the block, resulting in a small engine fire as James coasted back into the pits at 9:30am.  Despite the disappointment, Paul and Eddie of P&L Motorsports showed no hesitation to roll up their sleeves and replace the engine on-site with a backup.  Swarms of spectators watched in awe as the Paul and Eddie removed the engine under one hour without the use of a lift or engine hoist.  By 4:30pm the Takata Impreza came back to life under the power of the same backup engine that was used at Autobahn. 

On Sunday morning James took the Takata Impreza back out on track, and the reliable backup engine performed perfectly.  Despite the horsepower handicap, James earned 2nd place in Modified AWD, beating the Forged Performance GTR by a mere 3 tenths of a second.  Top honors in Modified again went to Ryan Gates in his Evo X, extending his lead in the championship. 

Special thanks to Turn-In Concepts, TopSpeed, Forged Performance, Sierra Sierra Enterprises, and of course Paul and Eddie from P&L Motorsports who made contributions to get the Takata Impreza back on track.

We have some Must See Videos from this event.  First, our own YouTube footage includes out-of-car, in-car, and engine swapping drama.  Then head over to StreetFire.net for a great video featuring all the top cars at the event.  Over 1,000 photos are available from our friend Budski Photography here.

Despite a nervous 36 hours leading up to the event, the Takata Impreza rolled up to the starting line on schedule Saturday morning.  The Modified AWD class had a fantastic showing and included a number of notable contenders for the season championship including Ryan Gates in the AMS prepared EVO X, and Sharif Abdelbaset in the Forged Performance Nissan GTR R35.  Come Sunday's Time Attack, the bugs had been worked out of the car and James was able to focus on driving.  In the 2nd Time Attack session James made the borrowed engine scream for mercy as he lapped the track with a 1.34.221, a time worthy of third place behind Ryan and Sharif respectively.  Following the Time Attack sessions, Redline conducted a Super Session for bonus points.  The Super Session is a crowd favorite that consists of a 3 lap sprint race amongst the fastest Unlimited and Modified class cars.  The Takata Impreza was staged in pole position for the Modified group which started from the second row.  As dark clouds rolled in, the P&L Motorsports crew made final adjustments to tire pressure and aero in preparation for the immenent rain.  As the green flag dropped, the rain began to fall, but the AWD of the Takata Impreza held the car sure footed and James maintained pole position to win the race for the Modified class!

Results are available here. 

Videos
Time Attack Session 2
Super Session Win! 
Takata Impreza Featured in Redline Time Attack PreGrid Show
Takata Impreza Multicamera Hotlap published by Redline Time Attack

Photos from the event are available from Budski Photography, Zmann42087, FormulaRedline, and Spanier Photography.

Special thanks to Paul, Pawel, Eddie, Jorge, and the entire P&L Motorsports staff for the hard work and long hours.  Stay tuned for Redline Time Attack Nashville in conjunction with Import Alliance.

The Redline Time Attack 2008 Season came to an exciting and dramatic conclusion recently for the Takata Time Attack team.  The season finale took place at GT Live at Virginia International Raceway.  The GT Live was one of the largest auto lifestyle events of the year as it played host to Formula D drifting and the Koni Challenge road racing season finale in addition to the Redline Time Attack.  The event also included other activities for the motorsport enthusiast such as karting, the WRX Track Attack, and Tarzan's Lapping Sessions.

The Takata Time Attack team entered the season finale with a 5 point deficit to Dieter-Heinz Kijora in the MFQ Motorsports EVO.  All season long the MFQ Motorsports Evo has proven to be the dominant Modified AWD car on the West coast, while the Takata Impreza has been the star of the East.  Unfortunately, the absence of the MFQ Motorsports team from the finale will leave the score to be settle next year.  Without the MFQ Motorsports team in attendance, James and the Takata Impreza appeared to be sure-thing to win, but as luck would have it there are no easy victories.

On the first day of competition the Takata Impreza suffered a broken axle, hub, and wheel bearing in the first practice session, forcing James to miss Saturday's timed session.  Sourcing replacement parts proved to be challenging, but thanks to friend Steve Renkins, parts were located at Folger Automotive in Charlotte, North Carolina.  After a 6 hour road trip to claim the parts, James and crew repaired the Takata Impreza by the light of a rental car.  Come Sunday morning James straped in for an early morning practice session.  The repairs took well and James got up to near race pace after a few quick laps to feel out the car.  But just when James began to get comfortable, the unexpected happened.  A brake failure at the fastest part of the track forced James off course an into a tire wall.  Fortunately James was not hurt, and the Takata Impreza suffered only minor damage, but it was clear that the Takata Impreza was not race worthy.  With the Championship on the line, James borrowed the Crawford Performance Stage 2 '08 Impreza to use for Sunday's timed session.  Although underprepared for Modified AWD, the Crawford Impreza is no stranger to the track as it is often used by Tarzan Yamada for track reconnaissance.  With sincerely thanks to Quirt Crawford and the rest of the Crawford Performance staff, James was able to secure the points needed in the timed session to secure the season championship to earn the title...

2008 Redline Time Attack Modified AWD Season Champion!

For more photos from this event, visit our photo gallery.

In order to expand the audience for the sport of Time Attack, the Redline Time Attack series has begun to partner with other auto lifestyle and racing events in the last year. A recent example of this was the Formula X event at New Jersey Motorsports Park. The primary draw for the Formula X event was the Mazda Formula Atlantic and Star Mazda professional open wheel racing series which had races both Saturday and Sunday. The Redline Time Attack series was invited to provide additional entertainment for the spectators. In addition to the Time Attack, the Formula X weekend included a tuner car show, Scion VIP hospitality, and a vendor midway. Because this Time Attack was a late addition to Redline's 2008 schedule, it was not offered as a points event. Regardless, James Elterman took the opportunity to visit the east coast and take the Takata Impreza for some laps around the all new New Jersey Motorports Park Thunderbolt circuit and find challenge any east coast competitors that he had yet to face.

Upon arrival at the event, James immediately knew that he would be up for a challenge when he spotted Phil Grabow of Element Tuning. Phil and the Element Tuning Impreza are one of the most potent combinations in the Unlimited AWD class, but for this occasion Phil reverted the Element Tuning Impreza back to Modified AWD class preparation to give James a run for his money. During early practice sessions, the horsepower advantage of the Element Tuning Impreza became clear, but Phil admitted to having difficulty reining in the power on the Modified class specification rubber. James meanwhile was still making adjustments to the chassis to dial out the oversteer. By Sunday morning James finally achieved handling harmony, and both Phil and James appeared to be at the top of their game. The final Time Attack session produced a very close competition between Phil and James, with a best time for Phil of 1:30.830, and James just 6 tenths behind with a 1:31.445.  In addition to being on of the best contests of the weekend, Phil and James' times were the fastest of the weekend.  We congratulate Phil and the Element Tuning STi on a well deserved victory.

Take an exciting ride with James as he uses every inch of track to minimize his lap time by sitting in with our YouTube In-Car video. For complete results follow this link to the Redline Time Attack website.

Following the win at Nashville Super Speedway, the Takata Time Attack Impreza returned to P&L Motorsports for further development to remedy the small problems that arose during the debut.  The changes included a new Koyorad radiator and larger coolant reservoir for improved cooling, a oil/air separator to eliminate the oil catch can, and a new fuel pump controller to eliminate a fuel delivery glitch.  The changes resulted in a very reliable car for James Elterman at the Hotlanta Challenge at Road Atlanta.  In addition to hosting a NASA Time Trial, the event served as a qualifier for the Super Lap Battle Finale.  For the purposes of Time Trial classification, the Takata STi ran a low boost map all weekend to conform to TTS rules.  With the new found reliability of the car, James was able to focus on dialing in the suspension and aerodynamics through multiple sessions over the weekend. 

James found his fastest lap during the cool 2nd session on Sunday while chasing a new Nissan GTR R35.  His lap time of 1.36.200, was nearly a four second improvement over his TTA lap record setting time last year.  The time earned the Takata Impreza the honor of being the Fastest Limited Qualifier for the Super Lap Battle, and gives James Elterman the opportunity to compete in the Super Lap Battle finale this November.  Unfortunately the time was not good enough to win NASA's TTS class, as the young Floridian, Jeremy Mcgillicudy, also known as Spanky, set a blistering fast TTS track record of 1.33.228 in his C5 Corvette Z06.  In car video of both James and Spanky are available on YouTube.  Our in-car video now features acquired data overlay made possible by Solo Performance Specialties.  Complete Super Lap Battle results are available after the read more jump.

After two months of intense preparation, the ShimmySideways STi was converted to the Takata Time Attack Impreza.  Sporting new pearl white paint by Leyden Auto Body, a 2007 front end conversion, body parts by SEIBON, and a sexy new livery by AG Design, it is barely recognizable as the same car.  In addition to the aesthetic changes, the Takata Impreza has also received a host of performance upgrades courtesy of the Subaru experts at P&L Motorsports in Chicago.  The most significant upgrades include a new Garrett GT3076R Turbocharger, P&L Motorsports reversed intake manifold with front mount intercooler, P&L Motorsports custom roll cage, and a 12 gallon Fuel Safe fuel cell.

With so many significant changes, the Takata Impreza is essentially a brand new racecar, and some growing pains can be expected.  Fortunately, despite a handful of minor problems that limited track time for James Elterman, the Takata Impreza had an excellent result at its debut at the recent Redline Time Attack at Nashville Super Speedway.  The Nashville event, which was put on in conjunction with Import Alliance, drew thousands of spectators to the 1.8 mile roval course.  The Modified class was comprised of many of the east coast regulars such as Scott Bush in the BC Racing G35, Robert Fuller in the Forged Performance/Robispec prepared EVO, and P&L Motorsports' own Paul Szuba in an Impreza WRX STi.  After the first Time Attack session, James Elterman had a small lead on the Modified AWD division, but Scott Bush had the lead for the Overall Modified win.  Back in the pits, the P&L Motorsports crew addressed some minor issues that were preventing James from realizing the Takata Impreza's full potential.  Just in time for the final Time Attack session, the hood was closed and James strapped in and focused on a fast lap.  After the first lap of the session, James had improved his lap time by nearly 3 seconds to record a lap of 1:06.633, putting him ahead of Scott's best lap of 1:08.418, and earn the Overall Modified Champion title for the Takata Time Attack team!

Take a ride around Nashville Super Speedway in the new Takata Impreza with In-car video of James' 1:06.633 lap available on YouTube.  Special thanks to James of Budski Photography who did a photoshoot of the Takata Impreza which you can find on Flickr.  James Evins, a photographer and attendee at the event, also shared his Flickr photoset with us.  For complete results from the event, please follow this link.

Our second event of the season was an event of many firsts.  The event was not only NASA Midwest's first event of the year, but it was also NASA's first appearance at Gateway International Raceway.  With future modifications planned for the ShimmySideways STi this season, it was also the first time that we competed in TTS.  TTS is a step up from the TTA class that the ShimmySideways STi was prepared for last year.  Unlike TTA, a points based class,  TTS allows unlimited modifications providing that the end result conforms to the designated adjusted power to weight ratio.  With the bad wheel bearing repaired, James set out to find the time given up at the previous weekend's Redline Time Attack event.  The repaired wheel bearing made a dramatic difference, and James easily shaved a full second off of his time, and set the bar for the TTS Lap Record at Gateway International.  James' earned a best lap of 1:06.722 and 1st place on Saturday and Sunday.  Watch the In-car YouTube video as James takes three consecutive hot laps around Gateway.

James Elterman and the ShimmySideways STi recently made their return to the track after the long off-season.  James was happy to start the season off at his home track to defend his title as the Overall Modified Champion at the 2007 Redline Time Attack at Gateway International.  This year's event was conducted in conjunction with the NOPI Drift and Car Show series.  Thousands of spectators were on hand to view the show cars, tour the vendor midway, and see the Drift and Time Attack teams competing on the road course.  The prospect of a big show drew competitors from all across the country.  MFQ Motorsports and Robispec made the long haul from the west coast, and the Top Speed Subaru team trailered up from Atlanta, Georgia for the opportunity to challenge the Time Attack lap record.

The ShimmySideways STi made it's debut in new P&L Motorsports livery in appreciation for the support of Chicago based Subaru and Import tuner P&L Motorsports.  P&L Motorsports also brought their own creation, an MY06 Impreza with more boost than you can shake a stick at, and special controls for P&L Motorsport's owner, Paul Szuba, a former National Karting Champion to take the wheel.   Challenging the P&L Motorsports Team in Modified AWD were Dieter-Heinz Kijora in the MFQ Motorsports Evo and Robert “Robi“ Fuller in a Robispec Evo.  As the practice rounds began, James clearly displayed his home track advantage with laps times consistently faster than the Modified field.  The tide changed after the first practice session on Day 2 as Dieter posted a time 0.2 seconds faster than James' best.  In the first Time Attack session every team let it be know what they were capable of.  After the first round, Dieter led the field but Paul, Robi, and James were all within striking distance.  Optimism in the P&L Motorsports camp was high for James and Paul, until the final pre-race inspection exposed a failing wheel bearing on the most critical corner of James' car.  With no time for repairs, James made the best of it in the Final Time Attack session.  James' result was a best lap time of 1:07.699, worthy of 2nd place in Modified AWD, just 0.3 seconds behind Dieter-Heinz Kijora in the MFQ Motorsports Evo.  Within a 1 second of James was Robi in 3rd, followed closely by Paul.  Otherwise noteworthy was the Top Speed Subaru piloted by Luke Russell which earned the Overall Win with a lap time of 1:04.603.

Special thanks to P&L Motorsports for their support at our season debut.  For photos from the event, visit the Flickr pages of Shawn Manny and Budski Photography.  Be sure to check out the In-Car video of James' fastest Time Attack lap posted on YouTube.

Many consider the West coast to be home to the best Time Attack teams in the country. But the popularity of the sport has increased dramatically in the last year and enthusiasts, tuners, and grassroots racers Nationwide are beginning to take notice of the sport. Such was evident at the recent return of the Redline Time Attack series to Summit Point Shenandoah. The event was a big success in 2006, drawing many East coast racers and spectators. For 2007, it was clear that tuners and racers had done their homework as lap times dropped significantly by comparison to the previous year. The event at Shenandoah is the perfect stage for Time Attack competition because of the many challenging elements of the course, which put an emphasis on car setup and driver ability, and less on raw horsepower.

James Elterman had another excellent result at this years Shenandoah event. For reference, at the 2006 event James piloted the Nukabe Evo 9 in Modified AWD with a best time of 1:40.8. For 2007 James dropped that time significantly in the ShimmySideways STi to 1:35.9! This amazing time was good for 2nd in Modified AWD. DTM Motorsports took the top spot in Modified AWD as well as the Overall Modified win.

To see the amazing Summit Point Shenandoah circuit from James' perspective, visit our video gallery for high quality video, or YouTube for quick streaming video. You can also find the official results at Redline Time Attack's website. In addition, be sure to keep your eye out for an upcoming episode of RedlineTV on Speed Channel for coverage of the event. And finally, follow the read more jump to see what the Hankook girls think of the ShimmySideways STi.

James Elterman recently joined NASA Southeast for their 4^th Annual Hotlanta Challenge at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia. The event not only provided an opportunity for James to learn about his competition from the Southeast, but it also served as a qualifier for the Super Street Super Lap Battle which will take place later this year in Buttonwillow, California. Only the top drivers from the Time Trial program would receive an invite. Despite the 100 degree temperatures on both days of competition, justifying the Hotlanta name, James and the ShimmySideways STi kept their cool and posted some red hot lap times. James enjoyed his first event sweep with 1^st place finishes both Saturday and Sunday against a field of 6 other drivers. Incredibly, James also posted the TTA lap record in his last session on Sunday with a time of 1:40.100, besting the previous lap record set by J. Austin in a Corvette Z06 by one tenth of a second. The icing on the cake was that James’ performance did indeed warrant an invite to the Super Lap Battle.

Since this event served as a qualifier for the Super Lap Battle, be sure to keep your eye on upcoming issues of Super Street and Modified magazine for coverage of this event. In the meantime you soon find photos from the event at Modified.com’s Event Coverage. In addition, we captured a lot of exciting video at the event. Check out our Video Gallery or YouTube gallery for In-Car video of that record setting lap, as well as some chase footage behind Chris Rado’s World Racing Scion tC Unlimited FWD entry.

Next on the schedule for the ShimmySideways Racing Team?… The 2007 NASA National Championship at Mid-Ohio. Stay tuned.

James Elterman recently made good use of his familiarity with his home track, Gateway International Raceway as the Redline Time Attack series paid a visit to St. Louis.  This event marked the first Time Attack ever in the Midwest.  With the event's central location, drivers and team from both East Coast and West Coast were on hand to challenge the best of the Midwest.  Semi-Professional teams such as AMS Performance, DTM Motorsport, and Top Speed as well as local amateur teams shared the track over the weekend in pursuit of the fastest time in 3 classes and 9 divisions.  Nukabe Automotive was on hand to support James Elterman as he campaigned the ShimmySideways STi in Modified All-Wheel-Drive, and the Nukabe EVO 9 in Street All-Wheel-Drive.

As Sunday's Time Attack sessions began the weather was hot and humid, and the track conditions were very good.  In the Street session, James piloted the Nukabe EVO 9 shod on Yokohama Advan Neova tires to blisteringly fast lap of 1:10.632, holding a 1.5 second lead over nearest competitor, Arshad Mohabbat in his Nukabe sponsored STi.  In the Modified session, James pulled out all the stops and took to the track in the ShimmySideways STi.  The extra grip of the Nitto NT01 clad ShimmySideways STi helped James earn a time of 1:08.653, which also placed James at the top of the Modified class.  As the first Time Attack session came to a close, dark clouds rolled in, and a downpour ensued in the practice session.  The storm passed through as quickly as it arrived, but a damp track washed of sticky rubber did not offer the prospect of faster times.  James opted to skip the second Time Attack session, as did most teams.

The results put the Midwest teams and drivers on the top of the pack.  In Street All-Wheel-Drive, James Elterman and the Nukabe EVO 9 took the top spot.  In Modified All-Wheel-Drive, James and the ShimmySideways STi again took the top spot.  Both division wins were complimented by Overall Class wins as James was also crowned the Overall Street Champion and Overall Modified Champion.  The Overall Unlimited Champion of the event was Mark Daddio piloting the AMS Performance EVO to an impressive lap of 1:03.571.

For in-car video of James's Time Attack session, visit our video gallery or our YouTube channel.  A few choice pictures from the event are available after the jump, but we highly recommend two external galleries; the first by Meng Vang of Nukabe, and the second by Chris Willard of Redline.  Stay tuned as ShimmySideways Racing follows the Time Attack circuit to challenge the best in the sport.  Our next stop is Road Atlanta to attempt to qualify for the Super Street Super Lap Battle!

After a disappointing early retirement from Mid-America, James Elterman was anxious to return to the track with the ShimmySideways STi repaired.  Autobahn Country Club is one of the favorite circuits in the Midwest series so the turnout was excellent.  The TTA class was well subscribed with both Jesse White and Todd Kellner in their respective C5 Z06's, and Frank DeMarco and Kyle Maloney campaigning Fox body Mustangs.  As usual, Jesse gave the rest of the field something to chase, progressively setting faster laps each session.  The podium finishers in TTA were the same for both Saturday and Sunday with Jesse on top, followed by Todd and James.  The most promising news is that the improvements that have been made to the ShimmySideways STi are having an impact, as James is closing the gap the Z06 drivers have.  At the end of the weekend Jesse's best time in the C5 Z06 was 1:34.531, and James was just over a half second behind at 1:35.123.

Visit our gallery to view In-Car video as James hunts down Jesse White and Todd Kellner.  Complete results are available at MyLaps.com.

James Elterman and the ShimmySideways STi were forced into an early retirement from NASA Midwest’s 3^rd Event of 2007. The event took place on the 2.2 mile road course at Mid-America Motorplex in Pacific Junction, Iowa. This event was a crossover event between the Midwest and Rocky Mountain regions of NASA. Once again, James found his greatest competition from a C5 Corvette Z06, this one piloted by Todd Kellner. Unfortunately the ShimmySideways STi never stood a chance as an oil leak developed during Saturday morning’s warm-up session. Although the source of the leak could not be determined, it did not appear to be a critical failure, so James attempted to run in the timed afternoon sessions. Sadly the STi was down on power, and the condition seemed to be getting worse, so James retired early. Despite the STi being down on power, James was able to secure 2^nd place on Saturday behind Todd Kellner.

Since the event the source of the oil leak has been determined to be hairline crack in an oil feed line at the turbo. Fortunately this is a relatively easy fix, and the ShimmySideways STi is expected to return to the track for NASA’s upcoming event at Autobahn of Chicago, Illinois. We have high hopes for a successful return particularly with the upcoming Redline Time Attack events on the schedule.

The second NASA Midwest event of the year was a crossover with the Ohio/Indiana region at Putnam Park Road Course just west of Indianapolis.  This event was very well subscribed with the fastest racers from each region in attendance.  The TTA Time Trial class included Jesse White in his C5 Z06 and James Elterman in the ShimmySideways STi representing the Midwest.  From Ohio/Indiana was Frank DeMarco in a Mitsubishi Evo, and David Mullen and Joe Kellerman both in C5 Z06's.  The Z06's put on a clinic on Saturday, taking full advantage of the near 1/2 mile striaghtaway, and claimed all three podium positions with Jesse White taking the top spot.  James and Frank took the last two spots respectively.

With James' times getting progressively faster with each session on Saturday, it was only a matter of time before he reeled the competition in.  On Sunday James closed the gap to Jesse White to within a second, and in the process knocked Joe Kellerman out of 3rd place.  Watch the video in our gallery as James' runs to consecutive hot laps with an average speed over 80 mph and a best lap of 1:18.680.  After two events James trails Jesse White in the Midwest point standings with 355 points to Jesse's 390.  More details are available after the jump.

ShimmySideways Team Owner James Elterman has always envisioned that the ShimmySideways STi would one day be a potent track car.  With the increasing popularity of Time Trial and Time Attack it is finally the right time to make that happen.  The transition began in 2006 as James introduced the car to the track at a few Redline and SCCA sanctioned events in the midst of the autocross season.  Over the course of the off-season, with the help of new sponsors P&L Motorsports and Nitto Tire, the ShimmySideways STi has evolved into a dedicated Time Attack machine.  James will be campaigning the car in the NASA Midwest Time Trial series as well as Redline and Super Street Time Attack events.

The ShimmySideways STi made its NASA Time Trial debut in TTA class at the first Nasa Midwest event of 2007 at the all new Iowa Speedway.  The road course is incorporated into the oval which features a 14° banking on the oval and a short but technical infield.  James Elterman earned his NASA Time Trial License on Saturday in time to compete in the final TT session of the day, and was able to sneak in for 2nd place with a time of 53.286.  On Sunday James improved his time to 52.543 in the final session to take 1st place over Jesse White and his C5 Z06 who had a time of  52.776.  After just the first weekend of the season it is clear that the ShimmySideways Team has an exciting season ahead.  The next NASA Time Trial is at Putnam Park.

For video of James' fastest lap behind the wheel of the ShimmySideways STi visit our video gallery.  You will also find great footage of the ShimmySideways STi chasing a Porsche GT3 through race traffic.  Follow the jump for a few more interesting photos.

Buttonwillow Raceway Park in Buttonwillow, California was recently host to the United States' largest Time Attack event.  Over 70 of the fastest tuner cars from the United States and Japan were on hand to attack the track for the fastest time.  Many of the cars on hand were delivered to the event fresh off the Las Vegas SEMA Show floor the previous weekend.  Race teams on hand included many popular aftermarket manufacturers and tuners such as Zero Sports, JIC Magic, XS Engineering, Cobb, Crawford Performance, AMS, and many more.  In addition, professional racing teams such as GMG Motorsports was on hand to challenge the fastest tuners.  With a lot of bragging rights on the line, many teams chose professional drivers such as Eiji “Tarzan” Yamada to pilot their car and maximize its potential.  With this in mind you can clearly visualize that this field consisted of the best cars and drivers of any US Time Attack to date.

The ShimmySideways Team aspires to earn an invite to the Super Street Time Attack Finale in 2007.  In the meantime, James Elterman was happy to pilot to Nukabe / Cusco Evo 9 RS at the 2006 event.  Although the Nukabe Evo is still in development it is certainly showing potential as James found a 2:04.414 best lap using Yokohama Advan Neova tires.  The fastest car at the event with a 1:49.019 was the GMG Porsche GT2 piloted by James Sofranas.  Less than 0.2 seconds behind was Eiji Yamada in the XS Engineering Skyline GTR.  Although both drivers were insanely fast, neither broke the previous Time Attack lap record of 1:48.906 set by Eiji Yamada in the Sun Auto Cyber Evo.

Check out the excellent coverage of the event in the March 2007 issue of Super Street Magazine.  You'll also find some great photos right here in our ShimmySideways Gallery.  Complete results are available here.  Stay tuned to ShimmySideways.com as James Elterman and the ShimmySideways STi aim to race against the best in next year's Super Street Time Attack!

Following his success at the Redline Time Attack earlier this year at BeaveRun, James Elterman was anxious to attend a second Time Attack. James got his chance recently at the Redline Time Attack at Summit Point. The event was conducted on Summit Point's newest circuit, Shenandoah. Shenandoah is a tight and technical course and is very well suited for a Time Attack. ShimmySideways Team sponsor Nukabe was also interested to get in on the action. Nukabe invited James to pilot the Nukabe Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 RS as well as the ShimmySideways STi. Both cars were prepared for competition in the Modified All-Wheel-Drive class. Unfortunately a bead broke on a race tire of the ShimmySidways STi in between practice sessions on Saturday, and James was forced to switch to his rain tires for the duration of the weekend. Running on Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3's meant the STi was able to drop down to Street All-Wheel-Drive, but the Eagle F1's are not the optimal tire for Street class.  Despite this James was able to take 2nd place in Street All-Wheel-Drive behind Alex Grabau in the Dent Sport Garage Lancer Evo 2. James' fastest lap time was 1:44.946. The surprise tire failure was not the only drama for the weekend though. With this event serving as the Evo 9 first entry into a Redline Time Attack, James and crew Chad Cox and Dan Rabbit had their hands full making adjustments to the car throughout the event. The Modified All-Wheel-Drive class was well subscribed with entries from both AMS and DTM Motorsports. Piloting the Evo 9 for the first time, James missed the podium by less than a second with a 4th place finish. Tom Milner driving the DTM Motorsport Evo 8 took the top spot in Modified AWD. Competing for fastest car at the event were Mark Daddio in the AMS Evo 8, Robert Fuller in the Buscher Racing Evo 8, and Tyler McQuarrie in the JIC Magic S15 Silvia. The Overall win went to Tyler in the S15 with a lap time of 1:31.261, which was less than 2 tenths faster than Daddio in the Evo 8.

Official results are available at the Redline Time Attack website. Many Videos from the event are available in our Video gallery. Photos from the event are available at Modified Magazine's website or in our Photo Gallery.  More detail of the event from James' perspective is available after the jump.

The ShimmySideways STi recently made its first appearance at a Time Attack.  The Redline Time Attack at BeaveRun Motorsports Complex was the second of its kind this year.  The Time Attack format invites competitors to race for the fastest lap time around a circuit.  Although competitors are given ample opportunity to practice and dial-in the car, each driver is given only two, three lap sessions to record their best lap.  Although this format is common in other countries such as Japan, only recently has it been gaining popularity thanks in part to Redline Track Events.

James Elterman and the ShimmySideways STi competed in the Modifed All-Wheel-Drive class.  The class was comprised of Mitsubishi Lancer Evo's and Subaru Impreza WRX's.  Although the forecast for the weekend was bleek, the rain did not make an apperance at the event until the final runs of Time Attack on Sunday.  The ShimmySideways STi made the transition from autocross course to racing circuit with only minor hickups, but all were sorted out in time for the Time Attack.  James found his best time of the day, 1:04.940, in the final session of the Time Attack.  This time was good for 2nd Place in Modified All-Wheel Drive and the ShimmySideways STi had the honor of being the Fastest Subaru at the Event.  First place in Modified AWD went to Michael Ko driving the DTM Motorsports 2006 Lancer Evo9 with a time of 1:03.942.  The Overall and Ultimate AWD win went to Robert Fuller driving the Buschur Racing 2005 Lancer Evo8 MR with a time of 1:01.440.

Complete results and more details about the event from James' perspective are after the jump.  Be sure to check out the videos from the event which include the video of James' Time Attack session.  There are also some excellent photos from the event which were taken by BeaveRun local photographer Fred Voit.  More photos are available at Modified Magazine.  The next Redline Time Attack will be August 5th-6th at Summit Point, West Virginia.