Section: One Lap Of America
Written By: Phil Floraday
October 31st, 2007 1:13 PM
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Those of you who followed our coverage of One Lap of America earlier this year certainly remember this Honda Odyssey took first place at the Mid America Motorplex event.
If you haven’t read about this maximum minivan yet, be sure to read our detailed post about it from the One Lap coverage. Don’t forget to view the galleries below and let us know if your opinion of this Odyssey has changed since May in comments below.
Written By: Steven J. Ewing
May 14th, 2007 12:50 PM
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Following the dry skid pad event at The Tire Rack on Saturday, points were totaled and the winners were revealed for the 2007 One Lap Of America.
First Place: #1 Porsche 996 Turbo (Mark DaVia, Drew Wikstrom).
Second Place: #3 Dodge Hennessey Viper (Brian Smith, Nick Arevalo).
Third Place: #14 Toyota Supra (Greg Caloudas, Leh Keen).
This is now the fourth year in a row that DaVia and Wikstrom have emerged victorious on One Lap, an unprecedented achievement. We fully expect them to be back next year to see if they can keep their bragging rights and add another trophy to the collection.
In addition to the overall winners, other awards were given out to the teams who placed first within their individual classes. Those results can be found after the jump.
Click the images below to see photos of the winners.
continued →
Written By: Steven J. Ewing
May 14th, 2007 12:03 PM
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Though it may not seem like it, the One Lap racers have a decent amount of down time at each event. Since at most tracks, well under a dozen cars are on-track at any given time, the remaining cars are parked in the paddocks, where the One Lappers have time to repair their vehicles, catch up on some rest, get a bite to eat, or just hang around and bench race with the other competitors.
Click the images below to see some more pictures from the paddocks.
Written By: Steven J. Ewing
May 13th, 2007 7:03 PM
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The last road course event of One Lap took place at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Friday. While the racers still would still have to face the dry skid pad event at the Tire Rack, this was the last time they would have a twisty, challenging track to compete on. The weather was beautiful, and there were no significant on-track issues to report, making the day a success overall.
Two events were on the docket for Mid-Ohio on Friday. Here’s how the racers finished up:
Event #1:
- First place: #3 Dodge Hennessey Viper, 5:00.571.
- Second place: #1 Porsche 996 Turbo, 5:07.871.
- Third place: #14 Toyota Supra, 5:08.041.
Event #2:
- First place: #3 Dodge Hennessey Viper, 5:00.473.
- Second place: #2 Dodge Viper, 5:01.489.
- Third place: #1 Porsche 996 Turbo, 5:05.062.
All of this means that through Mid-Ohio, defending champion Mark DaVia’s #1 Porsche 996 TT has a solid lead overall, and it looks like he and Drew Wikstrom are set to repeat for an unprecedented fourth straight time. Will they be able to bring it all home again at the Tire Rack? Stay tuned.
In the meantime, enjoy these shots from the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Written By: Steven J. Ewing
May 11th, 2007 4:37 PM
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What happens when you take a 2006 Dodge Viper SRT-10 and hand it over to the fine people at Hennessey for some performance tuning? You get the baddest snake to hit the One Lap circuit this year. Team members Brian Smith and Nick Arevalo have been running some mighty quick times around the circuits, making their Viper one of the top cars in the competition so far.
The Hennessey Viper is quoted as pushing out a whopping 650 horsepower at the wheels, with additional fortitude provided by a Moton suspension, StopTech brakes, Michelin tires, a Mopar aero kit, and Hennessey’s 800R package.
Click the images below for more of the Hennessey-tuned Dodge Viper
Written By: Steven J. Ewing
May 11th, 2007 1:57 PM
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It’s pretty safe to say that when it comes to the cars on this year’s One Lap, the Ultima GTR stands out as one of the most interesting. It has a wonderful track presence, and consistently turns heads whenever it goes flying down the interstate on its way to the next event. The #26 car is driven by Carl Warren and Sam Kimberley-Bryant, and is in its third year of contention in One Lap Of America.
What makes the Ultima so unique? Other than its distinctive styling, the little racer is powered by a Corvette engine mated to a Porsche transaxle. According to the company’s website, early road tests of the GTR revealed that the 2200-pound track-goer can shoot from 0-60 miles-per-hour in just over three seconds, and can reach a top speed of more than 200 mph. The UK-based manufacturer has been building performance cars for the last two decades. More remarkably, Ultimas were used as test mules in developing one of the most legendary performance cars ever built, the McLaren F1. The Ultima was used to test McLaren engines, gearboxes, brakes, and cooling systems, and is still highly regarded as a great track day machine.
Click the link below to visit the company’s website, and click the images to see more of the #26 GTR.
+ Ultimacars.com
Written By: Steven J. Ewing
May 10th, 2007 2:09 PM
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The technical name for this vehicle is the World Class Motorsports Ultralite, but no matter what you call it, this Lotus Seven-influenced roadster clearly stands out as one of the most unique cars here on the One Lap.
Fielded by Loren Edwards and Kevin Boulton, this particular World Class uses a four-cylinder Honda engine tuned to produce roughly 300 horsepower at the wheels. Since the roadster only weighs around 1320 pounds, it’s fair to say that it can move around at a pretty decent pace. According to the team’s website, the WC can surge from a standstill to 100 miles-per-hour and back to zero again in just over nine seconds. It also makes for a nifty tow vehicle, as demonstrated by the pair’s low-profile trailer that’s loaded down with tools, parts, and necessities like rain suits and parkas.
“It’s not nearly as comfortable as a Rolls-Royce,” says Boulton. “It’s hot, it’s cold, it’s wet… but it’s fun!” Unfortunately, the lack of roof makes the drive from track to track a little difficult – nobody likes to get caught in the rain in a convertible, and there have been plenty of epic rainstorms during the transit stages on this year’s One Lap. We wouldn’t necessarily recommend driving across the country in a World Class, but Edwards and Boulton seem to be having a pretty good time along the way, and we applaud their fortitude.
This is the World Class’ second year running in the One Lap Of America, and as the car’s owners are clearly glutton for punishment, we expect to see them for years to come.
(Click the images below to see more of the World Class Roadster)
+ World Class Motorsports
+ Organic Racing
Written By: Steven J. Ewing
May 10th, 2007 11:33 AM
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We’ve just spent the day at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit, a nifty little 1.8-mile, 10-turn road course just outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Some pretty nasty storms have been hitting this region lately (Wednesday was the first day in a dozen that it didn’t rain for most of the afternoon), so the racers had to deal with a wet track for the first event this morning, though the weather cleared up for the second event this afternoon, resulting in some much quicker times.
Mark DaVia and Drew Wikstrom managed to take the first place spot in both events today with their extremely consistent #1 Porsche 996 Turbo. They ran 4:32.696 in the first event, and shortened that time remarkably in the second event by clocking in at 4:13.008, illustrating just how important a dry track can be.
Trailing the Porsche, the #45 Subaru WRX STi took the second place spot in the first event with a time of 4:35.228, and the #3 Hennessey Viper took third with a 4:36.482 run. That same Viper zoomed into the second place position in the day’s second event, running a time of 4:16.473, and the #14 Toyota Supra took third place with a time of 4:24.753.
It’s becoming a close race at the top between the #1 Porsche and #3 Dodge. Stay tuned throughout the rest of the week to see who takes first place and earns bragging rights for next year.
For now, click the images below to see more from the races at Hallett.
Written By: Steven J. Ewing
May 9th, 2007 2:19 PM
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Back at Miller Motorsports Park, the #78 GMC Typhoon ran into some mechanical troubles as it exited the track on its last run of the afternoon. No worries, though, as Brock Yates Jr.’s Honda Fit was pressed into service by WINDING ROAD online editor Chris Paukert, who is crewing the event.
When one thinks of towing capabilities, a Honda Fit isn’t exactly the first vehicle that comes to mind–but in this scenario, everything worked out: the Fit pulled the sport-ute back to its place in the paddocks for repairs.
(Click the images below to see a couple of high-resolution shots of the Fit’s rescue mission)
Written By: Steven J. Ewing
May 8th, 2007 4:04 PM
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Sometimes, a car that starts One Lap of America doesn’t always make it to the end. Such was the case for the green #7 Noble M400, a car that had shown real promise in this year’s early going.
In its place, the team of Derek Whitis and Tim Anderson hitched a ride to O’Hare airport in Chicago and rented this pewter Cadillac Escalade. The hood ornament, though, was not part of the rental package. According to the drivers, the unfortunate fauna has been strapped on the hood good and tight–the poor thing’s restraints have been tested at speeds up to 120 miles-per-hour with no untoward movements. The high speeds didn’t so much as dislodge one of the epoxied headless arrows from its chest, or even scrape away at the animal’s hastily applied nail polish.
We’re not sure where the deer came from, but we do know that it provided for some unusual entertainment at Miller Motorsports Park this afternoon when it took to the track for a tire-squeeling “exhibition run.”
Click the images below for more of the Cadillac Escalade with aftermarket roadkill package.
Written By: Steven J. Ewing
May 8th, 2007 12:06 PM
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It was a beautiful day in Tooele, Utah yesterday, where the One Lappers participated in two events at Miller Motorsports Park, a gorgeous road racing facility that was christened just last year. The first event gave drivers a short run around Miller’s East course, and the second event made full use of the facility’s entire 4.5 mile, 24-turn circuit.
How did they finish?
In the first event, the #3 Hennessey Viper driven by the team of Brian Smith and Nick Arevalo took first place with a time of 5:11.379. Following behind was Greg Caloudas and Leh Keen in the #14 Toyota Supra with a time of 5:19.340. Steve Stubbs and Aaron Pfadt in their #8 Chevrolet Corvette took the third place position with a time of 5:19.554.
Afterwards, drivers took to the long course in the second event, where the Hennessey Viper and Toyota Supra took the first and second place spots again. The Viper timed in at 9:44.746 and the Supra brought home the silver with 9:46.337. Third place this round was awarded to the #1 Porsche 996 Turbo team of Mark DaVia and Drew Wikstrom with a time of 9:49.572.
Click the images below for more shots from the race, as well as some atmospheric shots of Miller’s beautiful new facilities.
+ Miller Motorsports Park
Written By: Steven J. Ewing
May 7th, 2007 3:16 PM
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Upon entering the paddocks at any of the racetracks, there are a few cars that truly stand out from the others. Sure, there’s the general assortment of Vipers, Corvettes, Mustangs, 911s and WRX, but a Honda Odyssey? That’s pretty remarkable.
What’s even more remarkable is that the Odyssey managed to nab the first place spot in yesterday’s event at the Mid America Motorplex. The team of Bradley Buchanan, Toby Leslie, and Paul Street managed to pull off a total run time of 5:45.797 – that’s a four-second lead on the second-place BMW M5. (Click here for the complete list of results). Naturally, there’s a reason for this: Rain. Inclement weather hurt the majority of the One Lap field, but the weather cleared up in time for this Honda’s run. With that said, we don’t mean to take away anything from the engineers who have wrought one seriously impressive Mommymobile.
We had a chance to talk with the Odyssey team this morning before the event at the Miller Motorsports Park began. The van is powered by a turbocharged 3.5-liter V-6 engine and mated to a six-speed manual transmission (pulled from an Acura TL) with a custom-built clutch. The turbocharger was custom built by the Honda team, and the engine is estimated at producing 350-400 horsepower at the wheels.
Inside, the standard dashboard kit has been removed, as well as passenger seating and most of the interior panels. The rear seats can be put back in the van with ease, though, and the team says that the van is quite comfortable for the long-distance driving between tracks.
We like the Odyssey because it offers a different perspective on the track, and makes us realize that just about any vehicle can be tuned, power-boosted, and dare we say it… sexy. While we don’t see this race-Odyssey as the perfect vehicle to take the kids to soccer practice in, we like it’s presence on the course and will be interested to see if the minivan will continue to do well the rest of this week.
Click the images below for more photos of the Odyssey.
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