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.

Takata Time Attack is proud to announce our latest partner, SEIBON Carbon!  Seibon Carbon, a division of Seibon International, Inc. specializes in the design and manufacture of high-quality carbon-fiber automotive body components such as hoods, trunks, fenders, doors and aerodynamic body additions such as rear spoilers and side skirts.  The Takata Impreza will feature the following components from Seibon...

SEIBON Carbon Fiber Hood
SEIBON Carbon Fiber Fenders
SEIBON Fiberglass Front Doors
SEIBON Fiberglass Rear Doors
SEIBON Fiberglass Trunk

In addition to the new Seibon components, the Takata Impreza will be getting a facelift curtesy of P&L Motorsports.  The front of the car will be converted to the MY06 style, and will include a new INGS+1 style front bumper and complimenting side skirts.  In addition to the weight savings provided by these components, they will also lend to improved aerodynamics, better heat exchange for the intercooler and engine compartment, and increase tire clearance curtesy of the wider Seibon fenders.  The rendering below created by Andre "dRizZe" Guerrieri using Forza Motorsport 2 illustrates how the Takata Impreza will look with the new equipment.

The Time Attack debut of the Takata Impreza is less than a month away!  To follow the build of the Takata Impreza, please visit the build thread at the Forza Motorsport.net Forums.

With great enthusiasm we bring you news of our new Title Sponsor, Takata!  Takata, a leading global supplier of automotive safety systems, has partnered with out team to increase the exposure of their Multi Point Racing harness to the racing market.  This new alliance will usher in a new era for our team.  The ShimmySideways Team will henceforth be known as Takata Time Attack.  We invite you to add our new web address to your bookmarks, TakataTimeAttack.com.  With the support of our subsidiary sponsors P&L Motorsports, Nitto Tire, and Nukabe, you can expect the Takata Time Attack Team to be one of the most competitive teams on the Time Attack circuit.  For 2008 we have an aggressive season planned with appearances at many Redline Time Attack, Super Lap Battle, and NASA Time Trial events.  Just as in 2007, our Impreza will compete in the Modified/Limited class at Time Attack Events.  In NASA TT, we have jumped from TTA to TTS due to our projected horsepower gains.

To welcome Takata as our new Title Sponsor, one of our first orders of business is to replace the livery on the ShimmySideways STi with graphics that promote Takata and their products.  To design the graphics for our car we enlisted the help of the community of artists and gamers in Microsoft's hit videogame racing series, Forza Motorsport.  With the assistance of Turn 10's Landin Williams, a community manager for Forza Motorsport, we conducted a contest which yielded nearly 100 submissions for the design of our Impreza; View them all at this link.  Andre Guerrieri, aka dRizZe of Tuning AG, was recently announced the winner.  The concept art based on his design is illustrated below.  Congratulations Andre!  Thank you for helping us develop the new image for our team!  And thank you to everyone that participated in the contest.

The response to this contest by the Forza Motorsport community has been so great that ForzaMotorsport.net will be publishing multiple features throughout the year regarding the build of the car and the racing campaign.  The first of these articles, a feature about James Elterman, has been posted here.  Stay tuned to ForzaMotorsport.net for upcoming features.

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.