“MSport NZ father and son duo take part in the third Prowear NZ Superlap Series RD3 held at Manfeild Autocourse in their 500kW-plus 2JZ S14 Silvia”
Image: Aaron Mai
After the introduction of the MSport NZ crew to Team TimeattackR, we’ve been itching to see this 500kW-plus beast back in action in the Prowear NZ Superlap Series. After a solid three-month wait, father and son team Mark Snr and Mark Jnr dual-entered their machine to take on Manfeild Autocourse.
Image: Aaron Mai
After flying in from Australia, Macca helped the MSport NZ team prep the Silvia on the Saturday leading up to race day and unloaded it again early Sunday morning. After checking over the Silvia, Mark Snr was first in the hot seat in the third group out for the day, Macca explains, “Dad was out first in the third group, but the track was still pretty wet from the overnight rain and he struggled for traction. We decided that this session would be to ensure everything was running all ok.”
Image: Aaron Mai
With everything in order, Macca made his way out in the next session, with the track still damp and made the realisation that the Silvia was hitting the rev limiter in fifth gear on the straights, seriously hindering overall times. “There’s quite a big difference in the overall tyre size with the semi-slicks compared to the full slicks we usually run on this circuit so we were hitting speed cut sooner. I think I was in the 1:13s at this point,” Macca told us.
Image: Aaron Mai
Thankfully, the Silvia runs a Winters quick-change diff, and during the lunchtime break, the ratios were swiftly changed. After lunch, Mark Snr made his way out with the new ratios managed to best his previous time with a 1:12. Soon after, Macca went out and managed a much quicker 1:10 —finally getting into the groove.
Image: Aaron Mai
“The brakes we are now running are a massive improvement over the last set, so they have been something that has taken some getting used to. You really have to keep telling yourself to ‘break later, break later’ each time,” Macca explained.
Image: Aaron Mai
On the Motec, the MSport NZ recorded a 1:09.50 — so there’s definitely room to grow once everything dials in. Macca would like to thank his old man Mark Snr, Phil, and Chris who were all huge helps throughout the day. Also a huge thanks to Chris from Prestige Tuning and Macbilt Engineering for all of your help.
Image: Aaron Mai