Super Lap Battle at COTA 2020
Imagine a racing series where every lap you complete is your fastest lap. No need to really imagine it too much because that’s what Super Lap Battle is. It’s a time attack series that stopped at Circuit of the Americas for the second year in a row.
Now you’re probably thinking, don’t race car drivers always go as fast as possible on every lap? Well the answer is simply no. There’s many factors to a race that have keep a certain pace that is often slower than what you’re capable of. The first factor would be fuel. In a race with no refueling, you’re often having to coast into turns to avoid consuming all of your fuel and possibly running out. The second factor is tires. Not taking every corner at full speed will help with the life of the tires and optimize your timing for the long race. Lastly is the slower track traffic. Granted we all love a good race battle but having a car in front of you will slow you down from giving it your all.
Forget all that when it comes to Super Lap Battle. The goal is to have a single lap that you give it your all. You’ve loaded up the car with the bare minimum fuel for weight saving, you’ve put on a fresh set of tires that are up to temperature, and you’ve got no traffic in your way. Seeing the drivers during every single turn was exhilarating to see as man and machine took it to the limits. As the stop watch was clicked, it marked 2:15.020 for the Porsche GT3 driven by Ryan Schimsk and making it a RWD record for Super Lap Battle. To make sense of the time, a Mclaren P1 has been clocked at 2:17.49.
The weekend didn’t only have single fast laps being measured. The GridLife racing series also shared the track for the weekend. Of course everyone’s eyes were on the Honda Odyssey van on the track. You read that right, a mini van was on track and kicking ass! Imagine telling the wife, “Hey honey, I’ll drive the van, you can keep the sports sedan!” The van was completely gutted and fitted with a roll cage. The best part was seeing the cars behind him struggling to pass him as he made the already wide van, even wider in defense of his position.
Lastly, many of our skid happy friends from Lone Star Drift, filled the inner lot at COTA for a drift exhibition. We were able to see an array of cars ranging from the usual JDMs to multiple Corvettes that appear to be increasing in popularity. Overall it was a great weekend that had a little of everything for every type of race fan. We can’t wait for next year’s race.
