Time Attack Returns to Circuit of The Americas for Super Lap Battle USA 2020
tracktuned.com Contributor
Story and photography by Duston Nixon
The second year of Super Lap Battle promised to ramp up the competition, with a year under its belt at America’s F1 track and an entry list spanning both North America and the land down under. With 2019 class champions in every class returning for round 2, the stage was set for an epic weekend.
International Flare
A big story for 2020 was the presence of two well known names from the World Time Attack Challenge - Barton Mawer, driver of the famed RP968, and the Elusive Racing Honda Integra of Brett Dickie making the trip to Austin. Mawer would not have his familiar dominance, driving a modestly prepared 350Z provided by Lyfe Motorsports, but could be found signing autographs and bench racing in the garages throughout the weekend.
Dickie and the Elusive team had a more eventful weekend, suffering a gearbox failure early in the first session of the weekend on Saturday. The call was put out for anyone in the area that had a K-Series compatible transmission, and the team worked through the night to get back on track for Sunday. The work paid off, with the Elusive team making all four sessions, and finishing with a 2:25.471 and a staggering 177mph trap speed on the track’s monstrous back straight.
Unlimited
The highlight battle of the first edition of Super Lap was the showdown between the Lyfe Motorsports GT-R of Cole Powelson and the K-Tuned backed entry of James Houghton from Canada. Houghton attended again this year, but did so to compete in a GLTC entry while a massive rebuild is completed on his familiar Acura Integra Type R.
The Lyfe team suffered an early setback with a broken front axle in the first session out, but quickly had the car back together only to find tuning issues. The car made several trips back out, but was not able to set a representative lap.
The class would end up in the hands of Ryan Schimsk, the defending street class champion, driving a beautiful blue Porsche 911 GT3 backed by Performance Motorsport. Ryan set a blistering 2:15.020 - good for the new RWD record in class.
Limited
The story of Limited in 2019 was American muscle, with Feras Qartoumy and Scott Dollahite taking the battle to the final shootout round with throaty V8s. Feras was again at the top of the class in his QAR Optics Corvette Z06, but this time found himself battling with the incredibly quick Subaru WRX of JC Meynet for most of the weekend. JC and the Ripe Vapes Subie would set the AWD class record with a 2:18.590, and also take home the award for wildest intercooler setup of the weekend.
The move to Yokohama as the spec tire potentially had the greatest effect on the Limited class, as the top finishers in 2019 were on the notoriously sticky Kumho ACR. Qartoumy set his fastest time running a modest 285 width A052 on the rear of the high powered Corvette to assist with gearing, and managed to better his 2019 record with a 2:17.142.
Limited also welcomed the well known Will Au-Yeung in his backup Acura RSX, who worked tirelessly with his team over the two days to resolve issues with the car. The team called it a day early on Sunday, after setting the new FWD record at 2:19.368 and taking third in class.
Street
The Street class again featured many well known names from the Global Time Attack and GridLife series, with regulars Jackie Ding and Sally McNulty going to battle with local driver and defending class champion Ryan Schimsk and his Subaru WRX STI.
As anyone familiar with Jackie’s social media would understand, the latest round of updates to the A90 Supra were finished mere hours before time to leave for the long trip to Texas. After some controversy on Saturday that resulted in his laps being disallowed for an aero violation, the PHD team was rewarded with the class win. Ding took home a new RWD and class record at 2:22.508, just edging out Schimsk’s 2:23.612.
McNulty and co-driver Markos Mylonas suffered a failure in the metal-flake flamed WRX’s splitter mounts early on. As a quick fix, the team resorted to a field test of the age-old crossed vs straight argument, utilizing ratchet straps to hold up the splitter for the rest of the weekend. For the record, the crossed straps hung on, but the straight ones weren’t up to the task.
Enthusiast
Enthusiast class was a battle of legendary AWD nameplates, as the Mitsubishi Evo RS of Jenson Little edged out defending champion Zachary Sober and his Subaru STI in the closest matchup of the weekend. In the end, only 3 tenths of a second separated the two drivers over the 3.4 mile course. Little took home the new AWD record, while third place Thomas Thompson and his Cadillac ATS-V set a new RWD record at 2:37.458.
Pro/Comp
The open-ruled Pro/Comp class saw two of the most interesting entries of the weekend, in Justin Bayliss’ Volkswagen Rabbit GTI featuring the heart and internal organs of many vehicles including an S2000 and Miata. The car features massive aero and a screaming VTEC engine, and promises to have serious potential as the team sorts it out.
Nicolas Bright and Thomas Lee’s Spoon Sports Honda Accord Euro was also a highlight, bringing back memories of the pixelated Honda tuner cars of early Gran Turismo for many in attendance. In the end, the class was taken by Bayliss with a 2:31.238.
Looking Forward
Year 2 of Super Lap Battle felt like a step in the proper direction. The presence of well known names from the greater time attack world was welcome, and the paddock was buzzing with families checking out the cars and meeting the drivers. While the lack of a new Unlimited outright record left us wanting for a bit more, the overall competition, atmosphere, and location continue to be top notch. Congratulations to all the winners and new record holders - we’ll see you in 2021!