Once upon a time,?that?notion that a ‘tuning car’ could?break the 50-second-lap barrier at Tsukuba Circuit?seemed like a fairytale. Last Friday, after a long time trying and coming tantalizingly close on a number of occasions, Toshiki ‘Fire’ Ando did just that in his Escort Racing Evo.

曾經(jīng)，一輛“改裝車”可以在筑波賽車場打破50秒圈的大門，這簡直是天方夜譚·。然而，上周五，在經(jīng)過長時間的調(diào)校和多次嘗試之后，安藤佳樹（Toshiki"fire"Ando）在他的賽車——Escort RACING改裝的Evo中做到了這一點。

We’ve been following Ando-san’s efforts for a while now, and ever since he ran a 50.233-second lap in late 2021 to eclipse the previously held records (Under Suzuki’s?50.366 lap set in December 2017 in his Scorch Racing Nissan Silvia S15, and then HKS’s 50.259 lap set the same month in their TRB-03 Toyota 86), a 49-second lap at TC2000 only seemed like a matter of time. But the achievement didn’t come easy.

我們關(guān)注安藤的努力已經(jīng)有一段時間了。自從他在2021年底以50.233秒的圈速超越了之前的記錄(2017年12月鈴木智彥駕駛他的Scorch Racing日產(chǎn)Silvia S15創(chuàng)造了50.366圈速，然后是同月HKS駕駛他們的TRB-03豐田86創(chuàng)造了50.259圈速【谷口信輝——譯者注】)以來，在TC2000上跑49秒似乎只是時間問題。但這一成就仍然來之不易。

To set any lap record, all stars need to be optimally aligned – the car, the driver, the track and weather conditions. And at?this level of time attack racing?– the absolute pinnacle of the sport – the tolerance for sub-optimal performance is non-existent; all aspects?need to perform at their?absolute?best.

要創(chuàng)造一個足以載入史冊的圈速記錄，所有的要素都需要達(dá)到最佳狀態(tài)——賽車、車手、賽道和天氣條件。這種級別的刷圈賽車——這項運(yùn)動的絕對巔峰——對次優(yōu)表現(xiàn)的容忍度是不存在的;各方面都需要發(fā)揮出最好的狀態(tài)。

When Dino caught up with Ando-san and the Escort Racing team at Attack Tsukuba back in February last year and captured these images, the 49-second lap was in sight and hopes were high.?Ando managed a?50.342-second lap in his?Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX at the event, another staggeringly-fast?blast around Tsukuba but not the number he was hoping for.

去年2月，SH的Dino在筑波計時賽(Attack筑波)遇到了安藤和Escort Racing時，拍下了這些照片。當(dāng)時，49秒的圈速就在眼前，希望很高。安藤在比賽中駕駛他的三菱Lancer Evolution IX完成了50.342秒的圈速，這已經(jīng)在筑波的圍場中引起了不小的轟動，但還不是他希望的數(shù)字。

After a new engine build and some more ultra-fine tuning in 2022, on January 27, 2023 it all came together for the Escort Racing team, resulting in a 49.897-second lap. The in-car footage, as released by Ando-san today, is absolutely wild.

在2022年進(jìn)行了新的引擎建造和更多的超精細(xì)調(diào)整后，2023年1月27日，Escort車隊的一切都達(dá)到了極致。他們最終完成了49.897秒的圈速。安藤今天發(fā)布的車內(nèi)錄像絕對是令人瘋狂的。

So where to from here? If you cast your minds back to March 2018, you might remember HKS running a 49.445-second lap at Tsukuba in the TRB-03. The issue for many with that lap time, is that it was achieved using full slick tires – specifically Yokohama Advan A005s – as opposed to semi-slicks, which since the very start of time attack competition have been an important characteristic of a ‘tuning car’. Keeping with tradition, Ando-san’s 49-second lap was set on semi-slicks, namely Yokohama Advan A050s.

還有一件事情值得注意。如果你回想2018年3月，你可能還記得HKS在筑波的TRB-03賽車中跑出了49.445秒的圈速。對于許多人來說，這個圈速的問題在于，它是使用全光滑輪胎——特別是橫濱Advan a005輪胎——而不是半光滑輪胎，從計時賽一開始，半光滑輪胎就一直是改裝刷圈的一個重要特征。按照傳統(tǒng)，安藤的49秒圈速也是在橫濱Advan a050半滑軌上完成的。

Given how quickly he’s now gone on semis, it?would be interesting to see what TC2000 lap time Ando-san could achieve on slicks. Previously, it might not have been something he was interested in testing, but with World Time Attack Challenge’s recent move to any production tire being eligible in the Pro classes for the September event and beyond, we may see a shift in thinking. What do you think, though? Should time attack racing be limited to semi-slicks, or should full slick tires be welcomed in a new era for the sport?

考慮到他現(xiàn)在在半決賽上的速度有多快，安藤在TC2000上的圈速將很值得期待。以前，這可能不是他感興趣的測試，但隨著世界時間挑戰(zhàn)賽最近的舉動，任何量產(chǎn)輪胎都有資格參加9月的賽事，我們可能會看到思想的轉(zhuǎn)變。你覺得呢?計時賽應(yīng)該局限于半光滑輪胎，還是應(yīng)該在運(yùn)動的新時代歡迎全光滑輪胎?

Regardless of what time attack’s future holds – either for international events like WTAC or local Tsukuba Circuit gatherings – Yoshiki ‘Fire’ Ando’s?49.897-second lap on semi-slicks will go down in the history book as one of the?most important ever. Congratulations to the entire Escort Racing team for this incredible achievement.

無論計時賽的未來如何——無論是在WTAC這樣的國際賽事還是在筑波賽道的本地集會上——安藤佳樹在半滑賽道上49.897秒的圈速將作為有史以來最重要的圈速之一載入史冊。祝賀Escort車隊取得了這一令人難以置信的成就！