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Retro cars invade the newest of motorsports

Submitted by on October 20, 2013

KRB Audi Quattro Time AttackRetro cars invade the newest of motorsports, and why they’re closer to the golden racing days of old than you might think.

In a time when so many once-thrilling racing disciplines now follow highly restrictive control formulas, the relatively new sport of Time-Attack breaks the mold and allows entrants a little more ambiguity when it comes to developing a competitive car. The result is a field of extreme machines reminiscent of a cross between Group B rally and the golden age of Cam-Am. Of course there are classes that each must adhere to, however these tend to focus and aero and substructure.

The idea of Time Attack is to run a flying lap faster than the rest of the field, essentially it’s a sport built around qualifying and whilst that might not be as exciting as door-to-door racing, some of the retro-cars that entrants have built for the purpose, certainly are.

These are our three favorites:

3. Lotus Espirit – KRB

KRB Lotus Esprit Time Attack

KRB Lotus Esprit Time Attack

KRB Lotus Esprit Time AttackExposed rivets and raw sheet metal bring back memories of a time when going fast was all that mattered, and beauty rose as a byproduct of function. Low, fast, and crude, the KRB built Lotus Esprit is actually an ’84 Tiga C2 Prototype which features an Audi-sourced 4.2L quad cam V8 complete with twin turbos, generating around 900hp at the crank.

2. Metro 6R4 – 6R4.com

Metro 6R4 Time Attack

Metro 6R4 Time Attack

Metro 6R4 Time AttackWith tubular everything, classic-rally style aero and an original 2.8L V6 6R4 engine sporting twin turbochargers for a not-so-original 500 horsepower, Mark Pollard’s Metro 6R4 is truly bonkers! Word is that the engine is capable of increasing it’s power by a further 50% with increased boost pressure in “kill mode” – now doesn’t that just remind you of the turbo-era of yesteryear?

1. Audi Quattro – KRB

KRB Audi Quattro Time Attack

KRB Audi Quattro Time Attack

KRB Audi Quattro Time Attack

It’s no secret that here at Motorsport Retro we’ve a huge soft spot for the Audi S1, so you can only imagine our delight when we discovered KRB’s incredible re-interpretation of what a flat-out circuit incarnation of one may have looked like. It wears a body straight out of our wildest Group B dreams, and the fact that it sports a whopping 1061hp doesn’t hurt either! This is without a doubt, the coolest retro Time-Attack car anyone has built yet.

Watch it in action here, and pay special attention to how incredibly quickly it puts on speed just beyond the three-minute mark:

Photos credits:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28091462@N03/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adrianfrst/

Speedhunters.com

 

 

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