No Crust Racing

Testing and learning with the SHINING 3D Einstar Rockit continues, still in awe of how far this technology has come.

Literally pulled the Rockit out in the middle of the pits during World Time Attack and smashed out a scan of some existing canards.

Didn't have any spray on hand for the reflective surface, but some markers (that come in the box and I managed to remove and probably re-use) and the laser scan mode just ate it up.

I've just finished some HPA courses for 3d modelling/scanning etc to help me wrap my head around the reverse engineering part of it so hopefully we can start making some cool stuff soon.

OK time for Part 2 of the WTAC adventure, we already covered off on how the team went in Part 1, scroll down on the page, so this is more about the overarching trip/event itself, cool pics, funny things that went on, my takeaways from the event, attempts to buy cool stuff and so on.

**** Part 2 - WTAC & Beyond ****

I wasn't hiding the empty trailer in the Q7 post, I had other business in Sydney and my first stop of the trip was actually to look at a Caravan, that ended up going ahead and I picked it up on the way home - god damn the Q7 tows like a friggen BEAST, I'm very impressed 💪

Why the trailer though? The plan was to go look at another track car, buy that, and if car and van went ahead, one of the bois would bring the car back for me to save the second trip🫶

Unfortunately, the car wasn't quite what I was hoping for (I had a legit mechanic with me also) and given the asking price vs the work still needed, I said no thanks and left empty handed and incredibly disappointed. I'm still working through what to do from there, but I'm increasingly feeling like I might have to just press on with one of the chassis' I have here so I can do it my way 🤔

You guys know how campaigning the Red Rebel Racing BRZ went so I'll skip all those bits, but in amongst all that I was having an absolute FIELD day. I really enjoyed being able to get in on the Thursday and also the Friday when it was a bit quieter, easier to get around, and everything was a bit more chill. Chatted my way up and down pit lane, got a good look at various cars/displays etc and just generally soaked it in.

I got a LOT more out of the event as a "competitor" rather than just as spectator, there's a sense of comradery that's hard to beat. I think being a crew member is a perfect way to dip a toe into the deeper waters, get an understanding of the costs and complexity that goes into running a car at this event, and the logistics needed to pull it off - I learned a heaps. Make no mistake, it's not cheap to run and people I chatted with regularly mentioned spending anywhere from 5-25k and well beyond to compete. I'm a grassroots self-funded guy so naturally I've got an interest in how I could compete in the future without breaking the bank 😅

I dd find it difficult to "take in" the event, in a social sense which is really what I love, and also follow the actual times/racing, even with TVs/natsoft going everywhere, there's just so much else to see and people to chat with. It was a shame the shootout was cancelled, I would love to have seen it go ahead later in the evening under lights but I have no idea how all that side of it works, noise, time limits etc.

There's so much I could go through, but some random highs/lows included;

- Close Enough Racing smashing their gearbox to smithereens, Michael Garland's Got It Rex WRX also did a box/diff I think too😭

- Helping CER stringline the car later with an NCR alignment kit that Lachlan from Cranky Racing brought with him (thanks legend!)

- Helping the Raceworks guys hold their marquee down during the ridiculous winds because it looked like they were about to head to Oz (they were very appreciative and gave us free shirts lol).

- Watching Brandis Racing battle their SMSP curse and finally put down a decent lap, so much more in it!

- Meeting the Pro Speed Racing guys and watching them turn that blown motor around in crazy time and get back to the track for laps.

- Pushing the Red Rebel Racing BRZ out of the event after the blown motor, through the tunnel, and having people laughing and recording us (would love to see a clip please lol)

- Andrews huge off in the Shockworks S13 - So bloody relieved to hear he was OK.

- Racing Mitch, on the motocompo, from Pro Speed Racing through the tunnel while we were taking the trailer out with the bumper and splitter on it (he smashed us) 🤣

- Meeting Andre from High Performance Academy, I think I fangirled a bit hard telling them how much I love HPA because they stuck a camera in my face and said say that again lol

- Busting out the SHINING 3D Einstar Rockit in the middle of the pits and just sending a laser scan of a canard we wanna modify.

- Having the owner of a well-known Pro class car come and buy a stringline kit from me.

- That gorgeous Coore M2 that it turns out was wrapped by Jez.

- Actual NISMO GT3 R35 GTR 🤯

- Watching the WTAC officials move around from pit to pit absolutely hammering people for all sorts of stuff 🫣

- Seeing the new and improved 1000hp Motive Video S14

- Putting heaps of faces to names, catching up with previous acquaintances, and getting called "Mr Crust" or "NCR Guy" by tons of people all while watching so many people run new PBs 🫶

I was shattered by the end of the weekend but it was 11/10 for me and I would absolutely crew again. I'd love to drive this event myself in the future when I've got a car worth bringing (and that would be accepted), let's see what happens.

So, this aged well didn't it Red Rebel Racing🤣

"In the business, we call this foreshadowing" 🫣

Gather round fam, I've finally caught up on some sleep so it's World Time Attack wrap up time and what an absolutely epic event it was 🤯

There's a bit to go through, so I'm going to split this into two parts to make it easier with the pics/length of post etc - Part 1 is focused on the team and how we went about sending the Red Rebel Racing BRZ to the MOON and Part 2 will be more the overarching event - let's go 🤝

**** Part 1 - Red Rebel Racing - PBs and Escapees ****

This was my first time competing in WTAC, normally I'm just spectating, and what an eye opener it has been to be involved in everything needed to campaign at this iconic event.

Adam and I rocked up later on Thursday (after inspecting a car for me, which was a no go), with the BRZ having already completed some testing and being invited out to participate in the media shoot - which was epic, I'll link the video in the comments. We met the other crew members, talked about what our plan will be tomorrow and then later watched as our driver, James, almost choked to death at dinner 🫣🤣

Friday morning rolls round and the car is sent out on some fresh Yokohama A052s to make the most of the cooler track temps - we instantly PB on low boost ✅

We give the car a quick once over, find a few things we don't like and make some adjustments, it's obvious there's a LOT more time in it 💪

We cut a few more laps Friday and finish the day in good spirits with a game plan to go MUCH faster. James disappears at some point and turns up with ANOTHER set of fresh Yoko's ready to absolutely send it Saturday 💸🫰 😅

It's now Saturday morning, everyone has survived dinner, and we check the car over and send it out. We've agreed that we'll warm up, do a push lap, circulate, then go for another push lap if the track/car are there.

First push lap, we PB again, taking off another 3 tenths for a 42.3 but now he's in a rhythm and the track is there for the taking. The car circulates as planned and then the next push lap begins, but this time it's on KILL 🫣

We're all up on the roof watching the car and natsoft, first sector ✅ and by a lot, let's go, second sector, more ✅ and we're all pacing nervously watching the car and praying for no traffic.

We see the BRZ round the final corner and come flying onto the straight, exit looks clean, she's cooking! Moments later, elation turns to disbelief as smoke begins pouring out of the car, followed soon after by fire from the exhaust 😱😭

James is out of the car almost as fast as it blew up, extinguisher in hand, which was a huge relief for everyone (onboards to come). We knew immediately that it was terminal and our WTAC 2026 campaign was over 😥

We all head down, meet the car over near the scrutineering shed, rinse of the extinguisher foam, take a look, and talk about the lap that could have been - better luck next time! After that, we pushed the car around to Pro Speed Racing and put it on display, complete with fire extinguisher 🤣

As for the motor, it's a total lose. Hole in the block, exhaust valve missing, turbo full of debris etc - I have just learned that Turbosmart will WARRANTY this turbo, talk about customer service 💪🤯

Full teardown is still to come, with more pics too, but the reality is that this is a stock FA20 that started life as a road car, did k's, got turned into a track car and did bulk laps NA, then got a big turbo strapped to and it and did more laps at like 300rwkw for over a year. Then, it got wound up even further at WTAC to something like 350 before it let go, I promise it was not me on the PGUP button 😅

I know I hang s**t on FAs but I am legit impressed at how long this thing has held on honestly ✅

What's next? Not sure, we've learned a lot this year and the plan is to return bigger and better in the future, but we'll discuss some options and determine the goals for the car before anything major progresses. For now, we can celebrate a PB and pour one out for the little FA that gave its all on the big stage 🫶

Big thanks to Red Rebel Racing for letting me be involved and also the Pro Speed Racing guys for the support over the weekend - it was truly epic and I cannot wait to come back again 🤝

What an insane weekend with Red Rebel Racing at World Time Attack Challenge 😅

Got the long drive home today, but cannot wait to share this epic "track day report" 😅

Let's go WTAC fam 💪💪💪

Garage 33 is a hive of activity as we prep the Red Rebel Racing BRZ for our first competitive laps 👌

Hoping to make the most of the beautiful conditions here this morning at SMSP in the quest for the

Never love the early start, but off we go to World Time Attack Challenge 💪

Taking this opportunity to test the Lufi gauge and build a baseline for what sort of temperatures we see when towing etc.

I'm liking what I see so far, the display is fast, clear, and you can configure pretty much everything. I had no idea this thing will run up to 20 PSI if it needs to 🤣

We've been trying to work out how we can get EGTs, they're there in VCDS, so if you know please feel free to share some PIDs 🤝

It's not even my name and I'm pumped 😅

Swing by Garage 33 and say hey, I'll even introduce you to THE James McAuley, get you an autograph, and maybe a cool Red Rebel Racing sticker 🤝

Not long now... 👌

Waiting on reply back from MA about the bridging license, has anybody else found it/know more about it?

Not awesome for those of us who buy annual AASA licneses and only just recently renewed them 😅