When it comes to turning a fast lap on a challenging course the first name that comes to mind is Nurburgring, which is the true test track of the world, but certainly we have to be host to at least one great racetrack in the US that can give us a thrill around the track and challenge drivers who want to attempt to white knuckle their way to the finish line. Thankfully we do have such a track and it’s called the Virginia International Raceway which is the ultimate road course for the ultimate performance cars to master.
This track has been the house of the Lightning Lap for the past decade and has given to the supremacy that will be shown when automakers bring their cars to the track in order to see which one will come out on top. The course is a 4.1-mile Grand West Course that is one of the longest road courses in the country to give cars a great way to see how they can do against the rest of the models that show up at this course for some fast laps around the circuit.
What you might not know is that the group for this year is strikingly similar to the list that was in place for the original Lightning Lap. There is of course a Mustang, a Corvette, a BMW , a Dodge Charger, a Viper, a Porsche Cayman, a Charger and much more that were also on the track for the inaugural run of this lap. The main difference in these cars is the model changes over the past ten years and the speed with which they can make their way around the track. The fastest time ten years ago was 3:00.7 and this year we saw a lap around this course completed in 2:44.2.
Each car was fitted with a Racelogic VBOX GPS data logger to allow the recording of the data for the racing around this course. The event went off as expected with five classes of vehicles in attendance from a variety of automakers to show off their wares and give you an idea of how fast they really are on a course that winds through the trees and makes a huge impression on the landscape including showing off the elevation changes that a great road course needs to have in order to be in the same class as Nurburgring.
What cars ran the lap at the speedway? The variety of cars that made the lap around the track trying to be the fastest included the Audi TTS, Lexus GS F, Chevrolet Camaro 1LE, Ford Focus RS, Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, Jaguar F-Type Project 7, BMW M2, Audi R8 V-10 Plus, Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE, Porsche Cayman GT4, BMW M4 GTS, Ford Mustang Shelby GT350R, Acura NSX, McLaren 570S, Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, Ferrari 488 GTB and the Dodge Viper ACR. There were some bonus cars as well, enjoy this video and learn some more about this awesome event.
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