GT Live - Phoenix 2006
It's been more than a year since the cars of the JGTC came stateside, but GT Live has finally returned. Phoenix International Raceway in unbelievably sunny Phoenix, Ariz., played host to the first event for the year and yes, we know what you're thinking. The answer is no, there were no Super GT (formerly JGTC) cars present. No carbon-bodied Z's, no rear-drive WRX's and no turbo NSX's.
Instead, the focus was on cars that you could actually own and build yourself. Set up across PIR's expansive NASCAR-ready facility was a very popular rallycross course, twin autocross courses, a car show, vendor lane and a radio-controlled car pavilion. Audience participation is a big draw for the GT Live formula and the event really is setup like Disneyworld for car freaks. Seriously, where else can you learn how to pop a wheelie on a sportbike with the sounds of a Grand-Am race all around you?
But, if you felt like sitting down on your lazy ass to watch a show, GT Live still had you covered. N.O.B. Taniguchi's HKS Aristo, Manabu Orido's RS-R S15 and the bikes of the XDL Stunt Team turned more tricks than Thailand's best and this was all still outside the stadium.
Within PIR's walls ran the Grand American Road Racing Series, the GT Sim Race and the GT Track Attack Competition. A worthy substitute to the Super GT series in terms of excitement, the Grand-Am race featured 350Zs battling Porsche 996s, RX-8s taking on RSXs, plus the ridiculous Daytona Prototypes. Proving that every brand has a place in Grand-Am, GOTO Racing, representing Subaru, spent an entire night at the track pulling the engine from their Legacy GT in order to garner a well-deserved 11th place finish.
Once the track cleared, PIR magically transformed into Tsukuba Circuit. Battling head-to-head in the time attack competition, the JDM superstar Cyber Evo beat the Zerosports Impreza for the AWD crown, clocking a laptime more than 5-seconds faster than any Grand-Am Porsche the whole weekend. Orido, proving that he's more than a one-trick pony, piloted the Spoon Sports/Opak Racing Integra Type R to a time that would have put him second on the grid for the Grand-Am race. At a track he's never been to before, in just a handful of laps. We could go on and on, it's impressive stuff.
Perhaps the most popular event all weekend was the GT Sim Race. Showgoers were randomly given tickets that granted them access to the Sim Race. Strapped into the Cyber Evo, Zerosports WRX, Spoon Sports Type R, XS Engineering Evo and HPI Impreza, attendees were treated to a ride-along during a simulated full throttle race around PIR. To ensure an underwear-staining ride, all the cars were taken out by a slew of JDM professional drivers, with the noted exception of Spoon Sports' Tom and Jeff Lepper, both seasoned Grand-Am Cup drivers. A tuner's dream, the Sim Race is the chance of a lifetime, letting you ride, not just see, the cars that you normally can only read about.
With one more stop planned for 2006 at Virginia International Raceway, GT Live plans on adding go-karts, an amateur drift competition, a Honda-loving Spoon Sports festival and an open My Car Challenge battle (covered for DVD by Best Motoring). Don't miss out. - www.gtlivetour.com.