A90 Supra: The Perfect Modern Day Time Attack Track Car?

LapMeta Drivers Spotlight: Mike Reyes (Boss Boss Racing) 

“The A90 Supra is a very capable platform for those who want a car that can go very quickly out of the box,” says Boss Boss Racing’s Mike Reyes. Although a bit newer to the Time Attack scene, Mike has quickly proved that even as a developing driver, the MK5 Supra can be a competitive and winning Time Attack track car without having to add crazy custom (expensive) mods. Most of his build is composed of quality engineered bolt ons from leading performance manufacturers. He bought his example about a year ago and it’s seen a range of improvements from safety, to handling, to power. Read the full interview to learn more.

LapMeta: What made you choose the Supra platform?

Mike Reyes: Before getting the Supra, I've had a couple different sports cars but neither of them had a competitive presence in Time Attack. Knowing that I wanted to dip my feet into the world of Time Attack, I just looked at who was the fastest and most successful -- and looked at what they were driving. In this case, I saw that Jackie Ding was piloting a 2020 GR Supra and was dominating Global Time Attack and Gridlife. There was a lot of aftermarket support for the Supra, a well documented tried and tested setup in Jackie's car, and on top of that; the car itself looked incredible. It was a no-brainer that this would be my next track car.

LM: What are some of the major modifications you’ve made?

MR: Although the list of mods are long, it's actually a very moderate bolt-on setup! Basically, for power, we have a completely stock engine with the stock turbo, a catted downpipe, intake, flex-fuel, and a tune! For suspension we're running one-way coilovers with swift springs, an eibach front sway bar, and just half of the SPL suspension parts catalogue mostly in the front of the car. For brakes, we are running CSG C21 and C11 pads. For tires, we're currently running Bridgestone Potenza RE71RS 295/35/18 and loving it! For safety, we're running a Sabelt Titan racing seat, Sabelt Silver Enduro 2" 6PT harness, and a StudioRSR V1 Rollbar.

Engine
AMS Catted Downpipe
Armaspeed CF Intake
Visconti Tuning Flex Fuel Kit
Counterspace Garage Tune - 500whp
HKS Dual-Muffler Exhaust

Cooling
Trackspec Hood Louvers
Custom BBR Vent Wickers
Sayber Designs Carbon Fender Vents

Suspension
CKS Suspension x PHDRacing Spec 1-way Coilovers
Swift Springs 10kg/18kg
Eibach Front Sway Bar
SPL Front LCA
SPL Tie Rod Ends
SPL Front Swaybar Endlinks

Brakes
Stock Calipers
Counterspace Garage C21 Front
Counterspace Garage C11 Rear

Wheels + Tires
Titan 7 T-S5 10x7 +38 Square
Bridgestone Potenza RE71RS 295/35/18
Motorsport Hardware M14x1.5 Lug Stud Conversion
Motorsport Hardware Spacers (+15mm front, +10mm rear)

Aero
Sayber Designs AERO7 Front Lip
Sayber Designs THERMAL7 Carbon Hood Louvers

Interior + Safety
StudioRSR V1 Rollcage
Sabelt Titan Racing Seat
Sabelt Enduro Silver 2” 6pt Harness
JQWerks Magnetic Shifter Paddles

LM: What mod do you think has made the most significant benefit in making the car quicker and why?

MR: I think all of the parts work together harmoniously, but if I had to choose the one mod that I made early on that has helped me turn faster laps, it would have to be my Sabelt Titan racing bucket seat. Stock seats (even in sports cars) are great for driving around the town in comfort but are terrible for when you take it on the track. You're sustaining so many G's into a corner that you need to be held into your seat properly so that you're not being thrown around. A seat combined with a proper 6-point harness is the magic bullet that most beginners on the track should do first when it comes to modification. You won't believe how much it helps.

LM: What are your accomplishments as far as results with the car?

MR: So far, I've only competed in 3 Time Attack challenges: TRD Series, Narita Dogfight Attack Challenge, and Technocraft Time Attack. I placed 1st in my class in all of them, which was a massive confidence booster considering that I pretty much only took track-driving and Time Attack seriously in April of 2021. Before then, I maybe did 1-2 track days a year. 

Apart from placing 1st in those events, the biggest accomplishment of all has been seeing my PB's just get lower and lower with every track day. There's nothing more satisfying than seeing all green on the lap-timer!

LM: What hooked you into motorsports and gave you the urge to want to build a car and then start tracking it?

MR: I've been into cars and motorsports ever since I was a teenager. I spent all my summers (and most of my time, really) watching Video Option and Hot Version videos on YouTube, daydreaming of what it would be like to be a racing driver. But like most teens, I had no money and getting into a car that I could take to the track was impossible. Flash forward to the present day, I'm in my early 30's and am itching to finally live out of my dream to drive cars very quickly around a track and finally have some capital to do so -- I had to do it. I think my 16 year old self would think it's really awesome what I'm accomplishing now.

LM: Throughout your history, what has been your best resource for improving your lap times? 

MR: Ever since I can remember, I've always been a visual learner who also leans heavily on self taught trial and error. When it comes to improving my lap times and learning from both good and bad experiences, it's a mixture of trying different things out on the track and also watching other drivers' in-car footage. On top of that, I record my own in-car footage that has proven to be really helpful because you can clearly spot your deficiencies when you watch yourself drive.

Personally, LapMeta has been a great resource because I'm able to see where I stack up against some of the other very quick drivers out there and watch their videos and see how they attack the same tracks. Videos are certainly a helpful tool, but at the end of the day it's all about taking all that information and transforming those learnings into a calculated fast lap on the track.

LM: What are your future goals / plans for the car and/or your goals for motorsports?

MR: This year I'm going to compete in more local Time Attack competitions. However, I've got my eyes set on competing with the big dogs in Global Time Attack. It'll be an uphill battle because a lot of the competitors have insane builds often backed by a race shop or big sponsors. Competing with those drivers as a very small privateer will be a tall task, but I know with consistent and effective practice, I'll be able to compete with the fastest out there.

LM: If you could do anything differently throughout the process of the build, what would it be and why? 

MR: As much as I'm hyping up the Supra as an extremely capable car out-of-the-box for beginners, I think I might be a stronger driver if I had started out with a low-horsepower-high-effort car; like a 90's Honda. The Supra is undoubtedly fast and it'll teach you how to drive a fast car fast. However, in a low horsepower car, you learn how to drive at the limit. The limit happens to be dancing on a razors edge on these 90's Honda's, so car control is something you learn by necessity and survival. On top of that, parts and consumables are so cheap for those cars, so you can spend a lot of time on the track for very little. 

I think my path with the Supra as my first track car still suits me because now I know how to dance the car around the corner (as made evident on most of my in-car videos where I'm constantly drifting corners), but I still think it's way cooler to know how to drive a slow car fast. Because if you can drive a slow car fast, you can drive a fast car even faster.

LM: What's your favorite aspect of being a part of the track / time attack community?

MR: The friends that I've made since getting into Time Attack and track community have been amazing. They've definitely become life-long friends. Any time I get to spend with my friends on the track is absolutely memorable and the good vibes that are had are spectacular. We're always pushing each other to go faster and it's that type of camaraderie that brought me to the track and is what will keep me going back.

LM: What's your favorite track and why?

MR: Chuckwalla Valley Raceway has to be my favorite track. It's a track that flows incredibly well. The track surface is well-kept, the staff there are super friendly, and the fact that you can race in the morning, have a BBQ and bonfire, sleep in a cabin, and wake up the next day and do it all over again is so awesome.

We look forward to following along with Mike’s future endeavors on track hopefully in Global Time Attack!

Check out his onboard video from Chuckwalla Valley Raceway  on LapMeta HERE.
Follow Mike and Boss Boss Racing on Instagram at: @bossbossracing