Final Results

Classic American Class After Gingerman (Final)

The One Lap of America is all over and done.

Our lads have done well.  The Reed/Sugg team finished 1st in class. 

In spite of missing 4 of the 14 events, the Olthoff/Ray team finished 2nd in class.

The Gould/Naquin team finished 4th in class.

The Kline/Roxbury team missed the last 8 events, but still accumulated an impressive 1575 overall points.

It is interesting to note that class ranking for Superformance based on overall points would  be 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 6th.  A very strong showing indeed.

Overall After Gingerman (Final)

Last years winner, SP116, was brought in 11th overall, just 40 points out of the top 10.  An excellent driving job by first time One Lapper David Sugg.  The Reed/Sugg team had 4 top 10 finishes and 12 top 20 finishes (including the 4 top 10) out of 15 events.  A strong, consistent performance.

The Olthoff/Ray Superformance Coupe had 1 top 5 finish, 5 top 10 finishes and 8 top 20 finishes out of the 11 events it completed.  An excellent showing for a brand new car without any development time.  It could easily have been a top 10 finisher overall even at this early stage in its life.  Next weekend the Superformance Coupe is headed to Carlyle, Pennsylvania, for that great annual gearhead get together.  Dennis will drive it up and drive it home.

The Gould/Naquin team posted a best finish of 29th at VIR #1.  The Kline/Roxbury posted a best run of 36th at Michigan before bowing out for good after Sebring.  Both teams demonstrated potential in this very challenging event.  I hope that they will represent us next year.

Sunday May,14

Epilogue and photos by David Sugg

	The story is this...  A Cobra bit a Viper on the butt (in as much as snakes have this anatomical feature) and the Viper laid down some serious rubber trying to escape.  There is no word as to how the Viper got under the Porsche.
	Mk III's and other competitors in front of the Cannonball Pub.
	Not all is fun and games.  The #82 Corvette-powered Chevy Blazer driven by Glenn Dodd and Michael Stein hit a tire wall at Nelson Ledges and finished the run and the event on its roof, giving it a roofline similar to the chopped top Dodge truck entry.  Fortunately, no one was injured.

It has been so busy since Thursday night that there has been no time to update this. However, I am waiting for my flight back to Charlotte and have some time left to finalize the saga.

Well, there was a ghost on the third floor of the Park Hotel. When we checked in on Thursday night we left a wake up call for 6:30 AM. Shortly before 6:30, the phone rang and it was Doug saying he was down in the lobby waiting for me. I told him that we had left a 6:30 wakeup call and I would be down at 7. He said that his TV went on at 6 AM and he figured the hotel had an advanced wake up system. I checked my TV and there was not timer or alarm on it. When we told the person at the front desk this story she confirmed that it was the "Pink Lady" at work.

Nelsons Ledges was the low point in the trip. The track is in horrible shape with many bumps and patches and no amenities. This track does not even have running water and uses large outhouses. This is a real throwback in comparison to the other lovely tracks we visited. The "Ledges" was not very good to the Mk III's. It is a very fast track but very bumpy. I tried setting the shocks on a soft setting during the first run but the car wallowed so much that it was slower than if it had been on a stiffer setting. I reset the shocks for the second run and would have run about 3-4 seconds quicker than the morning, but a car spun in front of me and forced me to come to a stop to avoid him. So the time was virtually the same as the morning. Dennis and Clay also ran with no spectacular results.

We then left for Greencastle Indiana for the final "checkpoint" on the run. This was a run of about 300 miles. We then left Greencastle for Gingerman amidst an incredible natural fireworks display. Normally this would have been beautiful except that it was accompanied by torrential rains, which I fought for about 300 miles back to Michigan. Driving a Mk III in the rain is difficult enough, but in the middle of the night, on unfamiliar roads, and without sleep, it was a real chore. I was fried by the time we arrived in South Haven around 2:30 AM on Saturday.

Saturday morning was cooler after the cold fronts had moved through and it was a sunny, clear day. Everyone was excited, as the battle for 7^th through 12^th place was very close. We were tied for 9^th. On the first run, the sleep deprivation finally caught up with me. I was not smooth driving the car and missed a shift on a fairly fast corner. This mistake cost me a lot of positions and moved us back to 12^th place. I went to the trailer and took a nap so I would be somewhat rested for the next run. Clay and Barry arrived late looking rested as they had stopped and spent the night without going to the checkpoint. Dennis and Mark had also blown off the checkpoint and had a great night’s sleep.

The final run consisted of three timed laps, a cool down lap and then one flat out final lap. This was an interesting format as the final lap actually cost the Hennessey viper the event. They spun out on the final lap and lost the event. We fared somewhat better with a much better time and Dennis actually posted the fifth fastest overall time on the final lap. He was very excited about this.

So, we ended up in 11^th place when it was over. I know Mike has the results posted so I will not bore you with details.

Thoughts on the event-

If someone had told me I would drive a Mk III cross-country in a week I would have told them they were nuts. Well, the 4000+ miles we drove was just that. All I can say is that the little Mk III we drove was amazing. This is a grueling event, but the only things we did were check tire pressures, adjust shocks, and add about ½ quart of oil. We almost never even raised the hood, while all the cars around us were replacing broken parts and doing all sorts of heavy maintenance. There were numerous accounts of engines being replaced and the FedEx truck was a regular sight bringing parts to the cars.

One thing that needs to be acknowledged is that this is a serious event with real consequences. There were two major accidents out of 114 cars in the event. The first involved one of the Vipers on the way down to Florida. A truck pulled into the path of the car without looking and the Viper hit it. The car was destroyed, but no one was hurt because the car had a competition roll cage installed and the drivers were wearing their belts. The second one was a car that went off the track at Nelsons Ledges and rolled over.

Factory involvement was evident although in a very low-key way. I know the SAAB Viggen blew a motor at Road Atlanta, which was replaced overnight in the SAAB Technical Center in Atlanta. There was an ever-present Saturn vehicle, which was not one of the competitors and there were factory Porsches, BMW’s and others. Steve Dinan, the big California BMW tuner was also there with a very quick M3. The winners of the event were Michelin test drivers in a factory supplied Dodge Viper. There were numerous paid drivers in the front running cars.

This event is getting bigger as the factories know that it is a good testimonial to their reliability to do well in this event. It should be even more interesting in the future.

Will I do it again? Perhaps, but not in another Mk III. I am too old to endure the constant noise and lack of amenities. I want a quiet car with air conditioning, a radio and room to stretch out for the week. Also, I want a carbon fiber body, 750 HP and killer suspension and brakes. Sounds like the new Superformance Coupe……

We’ll see.

I for one have tremendously enjoyed being involved with Dennis Olthoff and Doug Reed in the their victory last year and with David Sugg, Doug, Dennis and Mark Ray this year in another great effort. I hope that you the readers have enjoyed it as well and have come to better understand the combination of performance and endurance that the One Lap of America demands from both man and machine.

To do well, the car must be not just fast, but consistently fast. The scoring system is not tolerant of mistakes. And just as important, it must be consistently reliable. One DNS/DNF and you are out of the running for a top finish. As we say here in the South, "One ah poop wipes out a dozen at-a-boys."

For example,

• 4 of the top 5 cars finished in the top 20 in all 15 events. The other one finished out of the top 20 only once.
• The top 12 finishers all finished in the top 20 in at least 12 events.
• The #8 Hennessey Viper had the most wins, 7 of 15 events, and 12 top 5 finishes. But one bad finish, a 91^st, dropped him to 6^th overall.
• The highest placed car with a DNS/DNF was the top seeded Consulier GTP in 22^nd place overall.
• The very quick Beck Lister Corvette had 2 first place finishes. But with 3 DNS/DNF’s, it finished in 25^th place overall.

The Beck Lister Corvette illustrates the third thing a winner must have - a modicum of creature comfort. The Beck Lister Corvette sacrificed too much for light weight and speed. The long highway miles between events beat the drivers into submission and directly resulted in their DNS/DNF’s.

There are two other things most folks think are required for an overall win - deep pockets and a professional driver. And while this has been true for the overall winner for several years now, it isn’t necessarily true for the class winners and may not always be true for the overall winner.

Dennis Olthoff and Doug Reid took 1^st in class and 4^th overall in 1999. David Sugg and Doug Reid took 1^st in class and 11^th overall in 2000 with the same car - SP116. None of the four are professional drivers. The car is an essentially standard Superformance Mk III prepared by Bob and Dennis Olthoff, the Southeastern Superformance dealers. Bob and Dennis will build anyone the same car turnkey for $58,000 or so including hardtop. When you look at the substantial six figure prices on some of the tuner specials, this is quite a bargain.

Dave and Doug had a best finish of 8^th place. They finished no worse than 27^th out of 113 entries. They had 4 top 10 finishes and 12 top 20 finishes. Fast. And consistently fast. Dave and Doug didn’t even take any tools with them this year, which says a lot about the car’s reliability. Any car that finishes in the top 10% of competitors is a contender for top honors and this car had done it twice.

The brand spanking new Superformance Coupe was in fact too new for such a grueling event. A broken piston in the first event took it out of overall contention. In spite of the phenomenal effort by Bob Olthoff, Dennis Olthoff, Geoff Blandford, and Paul Whitlock, five days in not enough time to complete a brand new car, shake it out, and learn to drive it. But the Coupe showed enormous promise. The first opportunity in its short life to open it up was qualification and it qualified in 7^th place. It posted a best finish of 4^th place overall, with 5 top 10 finishes and 9 top 20 finishes in the 11 events it completed. It certainly showed the potential for a top 5 or top 10 overall finish in its first outing. With some development time, it will certainly be a top contender for overall honors.

Wouldn’t that be a kick? A pretty much standard (albeit limited production) car with a reasonable price tag and non-professional drivers kicking some major butt in an event like the One Lap of America. What a car!

From Peter Brock

Dear Michael...

Thanks so much for sending the pictures of the new Superformance Coupe. Glad to hear it’s working so well with so little development time. That’s a pretty good indication that everything is close to its original target.

A note here about the name. This is not yet cast in stone, as it’s Jimmy’s car and he owns the company, but the idea was not to make another "Daytona", but to create a totally "new" car with much of the original aero technology. Of the six Daytona coupes built, one (CSX2286) was originally fabricated with a 3" longer wheelbase and was fitted with a 390 CID engine. It was built just to run against Ferrari’s "cheater" 250 LM’s (Enzo was trying to have the 250 LM’s homologated as GT’s to run against the Daytonas as the GTO’s were getting their doors blown off by the Daytonas. We planned to run this "Monza" coupe in the last few races of the ‘64 season at Monza and Rheims, where the straights would allow 200+ MPH.

As it turned out the critical parts arrived late in Modena where the bodies were being built, and the car never made it to Monza. So the car was returned to the US for the ‘65 season and rebuilt there as a standard Daytona, with the shortened wheelbase and 289 engine. That car, the "Monza" coupe would have smoked the Ferrari 250 LM’s in the proto class, but the GT 40’s took priority because Ford was paying the bills and wanted to see "their" car win and that was the end of the project.. until now. That’s why I refer to this new car as the "Monza" coupe, not a Daytona.

I think the real secret to this car’s success will be the chassis! It’s probably more beautiful than the body! I think it should be able to match the C5 Corvette for comfort and handling. Let me know your impressions when you’ve had a chance to drive it. Again, thanks for the update.

Ed: Peter Brock was the designer of the original Daytona Coupe and served as design consultant for the Superformance Coupe.