Warren Luff to steer Hammerhead at WTAC 2018

Warren Luff will take on driving duties in the MCA ‘Hammerhead’ S13 Nissan Silvia at World Time Attack Challenge 2018, with last year’s champ Tim Slade unavailable.

Hammerhead has been the outright winner for the last two WTAC events, and Luff remains one of only four people to have won WTAC outright.

With this in mind, Luff tells MOTOR he’s looking forwards to getting back to WTAC after a few years away.

“I’m really excited about it, it’s an event that I’ve always loved and have been disappointed that I haven’t been able to go back in the last few years since last time I drove Nemo [an Evo IX built by McElrea Racing]. It’s great to see the way the event has grown year by year and how much faster the cars are going.

“It’s a really exciting opportunity for me, and I’m really looking forward to driving Hammerhead and representing the guys from MCA, and seeing if we can make it three years in a row for them.”

Luff’s consistency and ability to produce impressive lap times repeatedly, as proven over many years in Suparcars and as MOTOR’s pro driver since the mid-2000s, puts him in a good place to go for the win at WTAC 2018.

“There’s a lot of expectations, and the way the event has progressed over the years, I think everyone feels that pressure to step it up and perform better than they did they previous year, and to find that new thing to make the cars go quicker and push the boundaries.

“That’s probably what makes the event so exciting and what draws people back to see it year in, year out.”

In 2012, Luff secured a win at WTAC driving the ‘Nemo’ Mistubishi Evo IX, after having competed the previous two years in a Lotus Elise built by the team at Prep’d.

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“It was great winning in 2012 with Nemo, and it came about so ‘last minute’. I didn’t drive the car until the event. I was down there to help the owner and originally the plan was for him to drive it.

“I think when he first drove it there he realised he had a car that was capable of winning, but probably that his driving wasn’t quite at the level it needed to be. So they asked me to step up and drive.

“Nemo was that car that really changed the philosophy of what you needed to build to have a competitive Time Attack car.

“I think that’s the thing that really sets Time Attack apart from any other motorsport, it really allows you to be creative with whatever car it is that you’re building. There are rules and some things you can or can’t do, but there’s so much more scope to play with aero and do all sorts of crazy things that push the boundaries.

“That’s where you see so many different cars with so many different concepts relating to aero, engine, suspension, and things that you don’t get to see in conventional motorsport.”

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MCA team principal Murray Coote says Luffy’s skills as a consistent driver are well known, and made it an easy choice to have him drive Hammerhead this year.

“It is one thing to get in and drive real fast in a car you are used to driving all the time, but another thing all together to string together a near perfect lap with very little seat time.

“His experience across many classes from GT to Supercar and more will indeed prove an asset.”

The man behind WTAC, Ian Baker, says he’s thrilled to have Luff back on the list of named hitting WTAC this year.

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“There is no question Murray Coote knows how to pick the drivers,” Baker says.

“You only have to look at the history to see that so no doubt that goes to show the skillset of Luffy. He has been a part of WTAC many times right back to 2010 when he was the fastest Aussie in the Prep’d Lotus GT3.”

“I doubt you would find a more worthy replacement for Tim Slade than Warren Luff so we all can’t wait to see how he goes in October.”

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Above: If he can jump a Territory...

Baker spoke to MOTOR briefly about WTAC this year, and while there’s still plenty to be announced that’s being kept under wraps, Baker assures us this year will be ‘bigger and better’.

Attending in 2018 are people in the Time Attack and drift communities such as Daniel ‘Fanga Dan’ Woolhouse, Michele Guyer, Kester and Jaron Olivecrona, and of course, Keiichi ‘Drift King’ Tsuchiya.

Stay tuned for more big WTAC 2018 news as it comes to hand.