To say that Chris Rado and the WORLD Racing Team had a career year in 2009 is probably a gross understatement. The North American time trial competitors used their Scion tC to put a stranglehold on Unlimited Front-Wheel Drive classes from Southern California to New Jersey -- a thorough dominance rarely seen in any motorsport.
In a car that was completely revamped from 2008, Rado shaved enormous amounts of time from his personal marks and, more importantly, won his class and set records at seven consecutive time attacks, including the final six Redline Time Attack events of 2009. The performances earned Rado the Unlimited FF season title in the Super Lap Battle season finale and the Unlimited FWD season championship in the Redline series.
Along the way, the WORLD Racing tC has blown a few doors off of some high-priced sports cars and exotics, much to their owners’ chagrin. “It’s all about going fast, and doing things that have never been done before,” Rado explains.
Much of the team’s success in 2009 was directly related to the tC it had developed. The specialized Scion sports coupe features a methanol-optimized stroker motor, a so-called “Booyah Button” that locks the turbocharger’s wastegate to deliver an estimated 45 psi to the engine in short bursts, and a re-geared Xtrac sequential transmission.
But the modification that had everyone talking was the huge front wing on the tC, which generates hundreds of pounds of forward downforce at speed. This helps the car hold onto the road through turns and carry unheard of amounts of momentum; in fact, Rado relates that on the Turn-2 bank at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., the car sustained over 2.8 g at an event last year, and consistently entered the turn faster than the NASCAR stock cars that use the two-mile oval.
The record-breaking tC is back for 2010, but improved. The entire front end has been chopped off -- basically from the firewall forward -- and the team fabricated and attached a stiffer tube structure to the chassis to reduce flex. Ride height is also lower, a wider Continental tire is being adopted for more exit speed and corner grip (from a 275 to a 305), and for the first time the car will use a limited traction control system.
More power was squeezed from the turbo 2AZ-FE motor under hood, so that the tC now makes roughly 1,100 horsepower at the front wheels. Because the intake charge is so dense in the chamber, the team had to greatly increase the engine’s ignition power, accomplished with a quartet of MSD coils (Rado points out that it’s twice the ignition power of a Funny Car).
Finally, an important personnel addition was made to the WORLD Racing Team in the off season. Ron Mathis will assume the role of Crew Chief for the squad in 2010, drawing on his years of experience in motorsports. Mathis was most recently an engineer for Audi’s American Le Mans LMP1 team.
Rado, Mathis and the entire WORLD Team bring their collective experience to bear on the time attack program because one of its goals is to transfer the gleaned knowledge and technology to a new platform. Partway through 2010, WORLD Racing will debut its all-wheel drive Scion tC on one of the biggest stages imaginable: the World Time Attack Challenge.
The World Time Attack Challenge, presented by Super Lap Australia, culls the most elite teams from the United States, Japan, and Australia and pits them against one another on Eastern Creek Raceway in New South Wales. The inaugural event happens May 21 and 22, and WORLD Racing is one of only three American teams invited.
The AWD tC boasts an entirely custom drivetrain that employs a Weismann gearbox and transfer case (as opposed to the Xtrac box found in the FWD car). The Weismann trans permits the quick change of ratios and uses equal length half shafts (and no intermediate shaft), useful for minimizing torque steer.
WORLD Racing developed custom hubs to run more aggressive brakes on the AWD car, and the suspension has been altered from a Macpherson-strut setup to double wishbones. The car is also some 600 pounds lighter than the front-drive tC, and will reportedly come with a more powerful E85-fueled engine.
Finally, the AWD tC will look markedly different from the FWD Scion due to its distinctive aero configuration. Forward grip will come courtesy of large dive planes at each corner and a massive splitter underneath. There will still be a large wing, but it will be mounted closer to the body of the car -- and will also be 10 inches wider.
All of this effort is going toward meeting a handful of intermediate objectives that include capturing an elusive overall event championship in the FWD tC and a National Auto Sport Association Time Trial title. As Rado puts it, he wants to be the fastest time attack driver on the planet. “I don’t shoot out street lights; I aim for the moon and the stars.”
When WORLD Racing meets its goals, it should have Rado thoroughly documented, as it plans to gather lots of video content this year. With it, the team hopes to produce short recaps of each event it contests.
For more about Chris Rado and the WORLD Racing time attack Scion tC, please visit www.world-racing.com. For further details on Scion Racing, check out www.scionracing.com.