– Words: Ryan Lewis. Photos: MJ Digital.
Weekend racers absolutely love the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, and Evo owners love going racing; they’re a perfect match. So important is circuit time to Evo owners that every year the EvolutionOz community heads to the track for a major all-in shootout with all types Evos from all over the country. This weekend it was off to Wakefield Park for the 7th annual EvolutionOz Nationals. Here’s our wrap-up from day one!
This year there were 68 Evos battling it out over the weekend across six different classes. They may all be mates from one community, but out at the track these guys are not there for a haircut.
Nik Kalis brought along his Open Class winning Evo IX from WTAC 2011.
Jason Naidoo was another WTAC entrant last year in his Evo VIII. He turned up at Wakefield after having just had a bolt in cage and fibreglass doors installed. Under the bonnet his 4G63 sports a Nitto 2.2L stroker bottom end.
Martin from Notaras Motorsport is a veteran of these events. His Evo has seen more track time than most over the last three or four years.
Pit lane was the easiest place to see how diverse the field was, with almost every generation of Evo represented.
The RTR Evo drove all the way from Melbourne for the event, and was easily one of the best presented cars of all.
After seven years running these events, The EvolutionOz team have it down to a fine art.
Noah had his Evo belting around Wakefield and set some blistering times. Last we saw him was at the Rigoli dyno day chasing 500kW.
Nik Kalis is entered once for Yokohama’s World Time Attack Challenge coming up in August. These track sessions in the lead up are being used to dial in all the enhancements added since competition last year.
The super cold ambient temperatures were tough going during the morning sessions, but great for all boosted motors.
Toby Long setting his sights.
The Notaras Evo cuts a mean figure on track, stripped of all its old livery and back to black.
Entrants were given window stickers with their race number and username, great for helping community members identify each other.
On The Run Motorsports have had a slew of Evos through their workshop, this Evo IX is just one of them.
We were blown away by the consistently quick times being pumped out by these guys. 1:05s laps seemed to be almost normal.
V-Sport were proud event sponsors and brought with them their brand new Toyota 86. One week of ownership and already it has been fitted with AP Racing brakes.
They also brought along their Evo X since it was a Mitsubishi event after all.
Toby’s Evo X will get a full feature on the blog soon. He managed a best lap of 1.06.0 which was a brilliant effort on street tyres.
The Notaras car has been extensively lightened, most notably with the fully removable front clip.
At the rear it’s as fat as an Evo gets with widebody guards as well as bolt-on flares.
Evos do love to rally and this one had seen some unintentional time off-road.
Bill’s Evo VIII MR RS is a very rare breed, coming from Mitsubishi ready to be built into a race car.
Adam Wade was there representing the Evo X owners. He drove up from Victoria for the Nationals.
Red seems to be a less popular colour on Evos, but it looks great in motion.
Another interstate entry, this tough looking Evo made it to Wakefield from South Australia.
Peter Howard’s Evo VIII MR was one of our favourite cars on the day. Not over the top on the outside, but done right with Enkei RPF1s and some class aero additions.
Inside, it’s all track-spec with a crazy roll cage keeping things safe and sound, everything else has been built to suit quick lap times.
Peter goes by the name Turbo4 on EvolutionOz and is seen at all types of motor racing including rally sprints and hillclimbs.
It doesn’t take much to turn a standard Evo into a seriously capable track car, but most of these guys have gone a bit further than basic mods.
Seeing so many Evos with proper race livery and aero makes us think that these have to be the most popular four-cylinder performance cars in Australia right now.
They’ve proven themselves as the platform to beat over the last few years, and WTAC 2012 will be another chance to witness potential Evo domination. Stay tuned.
Click image above for hi-res wallpaper size version.