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Gridding up for the first practice session was a first come, first serve basis. Karla Pestotnik in her Street Class RWD AP1 S2000 and Edo Stepanyan in his Unlimited class FWD DA Integra eagerly await their turns to get on track and shake down for setup data.
Most used the morning practice to gather tire pressure and temperature data, as well as verifying proper functionality of cars (like myself). Others hadn’t seen much track time throughout the year and just knocked off the rust.Enthusiast Class
The rules for Enthusiast Class cater to milder builds, yet Super Lap Battle tends to bring out some “built to class” cars which high potential despite the limitations implemented in the rule set. Tire width limits within the drivetrain classes and the use of harder compound street tires make grip somewhat scarce.
Dominic Bautista was the sole Enthusiast RWD competitor, but was also the overall fastest car in class with a time of 1:55.518 out of the Supercharged Ap2 built by Auto Function. The mild chassis setup and big horsepower from forced induction gave Dom a lot to handle with the lower grip tires mandated for the class. Dom’s lap time is also the new Enthusiast Class Overall Record.
Markos Mylonas, long time supporter of Global Time Attack, entered Enthusiast AWD in a relatively stock 2015 Subaru WRX from Snail Performance in Arizona, since his Street class prepped Subaru was not ready in time. His experience in AWD Subarus shined with his 2:05.738 pace for 2nd in class.
Cody Gilbert was able to take top spot in Enthusiast AWD with a time of 2:03.924 in his “Sloburu” STi. Cody has attended all the Global Time Attack Pro/Am rounds this year honing his ability, and it showed with a great finish.
The Enthusiast AWD class podium, Jessie Lang in 3rd, Markos Mylonas in 2nd, and Cody Gilbert in 1st. An all Subaru podium at that!Street Class
With the evolution of street class over the years, most cars competing are purpose-built with aero and suspension setups built to the limits of the rules, as well as powerful forced induction power setups. Tire width limits are still implemented for each class, but the use of the track oriented extreme performance street tires is allowed. With the popularity of setting bench marks for lap times on a street tire, this class is inspiring to up and coming track day and time attack drivers.
Sally McNulty is another Arizona based Subaru from the Snail Performance camp. Regularly competing in both Global Time Attack Pro/Am and local NASA AZ time trial events, Sally used the year to refine the setup on her WRX and get more accustomed to Socal tracks. Being her first Super Lap Battle, as well as her first time at Buttonwillow Raceway in dry weather, her 4th place finish at 2:01.289 in competitive class was a good way to end the season.
Travis Barnes, lead tuner for Snail Performance, usually campaigns his “Bugeye” generation Subaru WRX in Unlimited Class. In light of a very busy year with business and work, his dedicated time attack car could not be completed in time. So instead, the Snail Performance 2015 WRX STi, which was displayed just the week before at the SEMA Show 2015 in Las Vegas, was put into affect for the event. With a mild setup, Travis showed the potential of both the 2015 chassis and his experience behind the wheel with a best lap of 2:00.286 for 3rd place in Street AWD, and only .008 of a second off 2nd.
Istvan Klag, owner of Night Motorsports, has had an extremely busy year with the operations of his shop as well as tuning with his recently purchased dyno. He preps and campaigns his Subaru STi in Global Time Attack Pro/Am events in his spare time. Last year Super Lap Battle, the STi saw an unfortunate engine bay fire. This year was a bit of a resurrection for the car and Istvan getting back on the horse for Super Lap Battle. Locking in 2nd place at 2:00.278 with minimal testing throughout the year, Istvan has a bright 2016 ahead of him as he further refines the car.
