Electrifying Finish for Yoshihara at 2022 Super Lap Battle COTA

ENEOS ambassador Dai Yoshihara and partners Evasive Motorsports are definitely charged up for the 2022 motorsports season. The team is excited to get back into action and were busy in the off-season, preparing the Turn 14 Distribution / Toyo Tires / ENEOS / Evasive Motorsports Tesla Model 3 Pikes Peak race car to get it ready for the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb later this June.

With redemption at Pikes Peak a prime goal for 2022, Evasive decided to compete at the Global Time Attack Super Lap Battle event at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) to learn how the Tesla’s newest modifications would perform.

Competing at COTA is a unique experience — using the same pits and paddock as legendary F1 and MotoGP teams is exhilarating no matter if you’re a driver, mechanic or fan. The high-speed 3.426-mile track would be a true test of the Tesla, and the team was particularly interested to see how far it could run on a full battery charge.

The primary enhancements for 2022 come in the form of aero, such as improvements to the radiator ducting, closed panel gaps on the front end, front tire deflectors, new rear wing position, and a revised diffuser.

While it helped having the high-amp 220V power supply in the garage for quicker charging, the length of the COTA track caused the Tesla to use up 40% of a full charge in a single lap! It meant that at best, Dai could only complete two or three laps before the car needed recharging, which ate precious time and valuable test sessions.

Throughout the weekend, Dai continuously improved his lap times despite the challenge of battery endurance, and Evasive had created a flexible test program to extract what they could from their limited track time. While the team had a lap time target of 2:25, Dai finished Sunday with a best of 2:23.838, providing the team valuable data for the Tesla Pikes Peak program. The lessons learned will be expanded with future aero efficiency projects.

“We’re exploring more options to improve cooling and efficiency in preparation for Pikes Peak,” said Kel Yong from Evasive Motorsports. “We’re actively looking to test different driving strategies to explore the best combination of battery life versus competition pace.”

Support of the Evasive EV program remains a primary focus for ENEOS. The Japanese oil company’s engineers and chemists have been looking at how to improve the efficiency of current and future EVs. The result is the ENEOS EV Fluid Series, which aims to provide superior lubrication and cooling properties than currently available in the EV market. The new Fluid Series will be offered by ENEOS to its existing OEM partners and manufacturers around the world.

Photos: Larry Chen