The Perfect Lap: TR Racing Team and MEK Automotive's Time Attack STI

In the world of motorsports, there will always be triumph or defeat. But whichever side you’re on, you’re always guaranteed to get a fascinating story that’s worth telling.

Such is the case of The TR Racing Team and MEK Automotive. Their mission? To build the fastest Subaru STI for the World Time Attack Challenge.

The World Time Attack Challenge attracts the fastest circuit machines built by some of the best aftermarket specialists, and driven by the most talented drivers in the globe. Held at the Sydney Motorsport Park in Australia, competitors vie to post the fastest overall lap time over 2 days of competition.

With virtually no limitations when it comes to vehicle modification, it takes a lot of effort, time, resources, and knowledge to conquer the WTAC. Apart from that, you will need at least three more things: The right driver, the right car, and the right tools for the job. In this developing story, the team seems to have them covered.

We begin with Thomas Raldorf – the main driving force of the WTAC build. Raldorf is a 54-year old Danish national living in the Philippines, and works for a firm that builds structures for renewable energy. But as the saying goes, there’s more than meets the eye.

Behind the man’s calm and friendly demeanor, Raldorf has decades of racing experience in some of the most competitive championships both in Asia and Europe. When he started his racing career in go-karts at the age of 10, he was in the same group as Kevin Magnussen’s father Jan in Denmark. After moving from country to country in Europe working as a tour guide, Thomas finally moved to Asia in 1994 and went back to racing go-karts competitively in Thailand.

By 2006, Raldorf moved up from go-karts to race Production, Touring, and GT cars, garnering a total of 12 Thai National Championships and multiple runner-up finishes. Eventually, his racing career went to a temporary halt during the pandemic. With virtually no racing action and Raldorf getting up there in years, everyone thought it was time for him to hang his helmet.

But just when people thought the middle-aged Danish was done, Raldorf decided to return to racing in 2023 when he moved to the Philippines.

Out of curiosity, we asked why is he still doing this at 54. His answer was simple, and it’s probably what the likes of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz Sr. would also say to us if we had the chance – the hunger is still there. He even tells us he enjoys fighting with the younger drivers and beating them as the "old guy" on the grid.

But this time, Raldorf wanted to take on a new challenge, and that is to race against the clock. In other words, his sights were set on the World Time Attack Challenge.

And so he set forth on seeking the right car for the job. After going through the locally available high-performance cars for the project, Thomas Raldorf decided to choose a GVF-chassis Subaru STI. Understandably, Thomas (and even us) knows there are more capable cars around for a time attack build. But much like many of us building our own project cars, his reason for choosing an STI is very personal.

Thomas told us he used to own an STI before, but it was a build that quickly went sideways. This latest project for him is some sort of a redemption story. He wants to do it right this time around.

For that, he turned to the expertise of MEK Automotive. Based in Valenzuela City, the shop and its owner Marbel Bayombong has years of experience in providing high-performance auto solutions and services, particularly with Subaru vehicles. Upon seeing the shop, Thomas told us he knew the project would be in good hands. 

Initially, Raldorf admits the WTAC project was seen as a bit too ambitious, or unrealistic. As far as we know, a Filipino racing team and driver has yet to enter the WTAC until this project by Raldorf and MEK Automotive. But soon after, both parties got into a rhythm and started working on how to move forward with the project as a team.

Instead of going all out at once, Thomas Raldorf and MEK Automotive are taking things step-by-step. They wanted to make sure to understand the purpose of every part they put in the car, and with that the progress translates to lower lap times.

At the same time, Raldorf continues to work on his own craft to better suit his driving style to the characteristics and changes being made to the STI. He does his due diligence of reviewing every race data, telemetry, and onboard videos to find areas for improvement and extract the maximum out of every session he has with the STI.

The TR Racing Team's GVF STI project

Currently, Raldorf’s own GVF STI is being worked on by other local motorsport specialists that partnered with the team for the project. Full Set Up Racing Motorsports is doing full chassis seam welding, and is fitting the STI with FIA-certified safety equipments such as a roll cage, fuel cell, and air jacks. For weight reduction and aero optimization, Fiberworks is putting in polycarbonate windows, a full carbon fiber body kit, carbon doors, and carbon fiber aero elements. But while all that is happening, Raldorf is using MEK Automotive’s VA-chassis STI to develop the running gear and suspension.

In its current state, the VA STI that Raldorf is using produces 660 WHP and about 700 Nm of torque running on E85 fuel and Dominator Racing Oil from Amsoil. Raldorf and MEK Automotive continues to rack up valuable test mileage and at the same time, seeing the results of their development. In the official Top 100 lap times in the Batangas Racing Circuit, their current record of 1:43.5 using Nankang CR-S tires rank 5th overall – and they are barely a year into the project. During their practice sessions, the team recorded a 1:42.23 lap record at BRC which is good enough to put them 3rd on the list.

For the coming months, Raldorf and MEK Automotive are set to increase the STI’s power while getting drivetrain upgrades to make the car faster, such as a sequential gearbox and a Motec engine management system, to name a few.

All of these are part of the process in reaching the 1150 WHP/1220 Nm target, which Raldorf believes could take him to victory in the Pro / AM Class in the 2025 World Time Attack Challenge.

MEK Automotive's VA STI demo car

With the way things are progressing, The TR Racing Team and MEK Automotive’s quest to turn in the perfect lap is one to watch out for. The project is completely self-funded by The TR Racing Team, but they are very much open for interested partners who want to join their WTAC journey.

If you want to know more about The TR Racing Team and MEK Automotive, you can do so by subscribing through their YouTube account The TR Racing Team, where you can have full access to all the in-depth videos and live events of this exciting project. For their highlights, you can check out their other YouTube channel, MEK Automotive TV.