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Karla Pestotnik has come a long way since last year’s Global Time Attack Super Lap Battle, which was in-fact her first time attack competition event. With a mild setup, but a solid amount of HPDE seat time throughout tracks in Socal, she was able to finish 3rd in Enthusiast class RWD with a 2:05 lap time. For 2015 however, Karla stepped up to Street class, with little more than an appropriate tire change for the class rules, and a year’s worth of chassis refinement and seat time.
Despite being the lowest powered car in Street RWD and having a basic build utilizing simple, but proven bolt-on parts, Karla was able to show how much her driving ability can make for fast laps and the true potential of the AP1 S2000 chassis. She was even fighting an ankle ligament injury and was on crutches for the the whole event and months prior. Then on top of all that, between day one and two, the header failed- cracking in half, which had to be replaced over night in the garage. Thanks to fellow competitor, Graham Downey, for the extra header in order to stay in the game for day two, Karla finished 3rd place with a blazing quick time of 1:56.584, which puts her on the level with some of the fastest NA street tire S2000s in CA. With more testing, chassis setup refinement, and a healed ankle, she can be several seconds faster without forced induction. This just goes to show how hard work, determination, and precision can truly carry a driver to success.Watch the precision driving and momentum that got Karla Pestotnik to 3rd place in Street RWD!
Rif Dagher went into Global Time Attack Super Lap Battle the defending Street RWD record holder with a NA C7 Corvette with mild setup. Rif’s driving experience runs deep to years back as a champion in shifter karts back in his home country.
Knowing that one of his main competitors in class was bringing a high amount of power through forced induction, Rif went the same route in the Platte Forme A.G. C7 Corvette with a supercharger setup that would push his output to over 600whp. Unfortunately, the elevated amounts of crankcase pressure from the forced induction setup over-whelmed the OE PCV configuration, which caused oil to leak out of the valve covers and onto the front tires. Even though he was off of his own NA record pace of 1:50, Rif was able to hustle the Vette to 1:52.487 with oil soaked tires- securing 2nd place. Next year, Rif and Platte Forme A.G. will have all these issues sorted to make for a better run.
Tony Fuentes brought big power, big tires, and a light-weight competitor to SLB in the form of a supercharged, widebody S2000. The Auto Function AP2 was well over 500whp and sported 275mm tires on 18×10.5 wheels all around. With the full year of testing, Tony had one goal for Street RWD at Super Lap Battle- to reset the record pace.
Running an absurdly fast lap time of 1:48.802 on street tires, not only did Tony secure the Street RWD record, but also the Street class overall fastest time.Here’s Tony’s record setting in-car video for street class overall!
Street RWD podium, 3rd place Karla Pestotnik, 2nd place Rif Dagher, 1st place Tony Fuentes.Limited Class
Limited class is popular because the aerodynamics and suspension rules get a healthy bump in aggression compared to Street class rules. Another factor is the tire width limits and also the engine swap regulations are much more lax. Tire compounds get into the quick “R-comp” tire market, which have much less tread void area then street class legal tires and significantly more grip, yet they still don’t have quite the pace of the slick tires seen in Unlimited class.
Cory Wells in the WRD Honda Prelude had some mechanical issues the first day, which he spent fixing overnight to make a return on second day for a solid finish in Limited FWD at 2:06.154.
Mike Hatten in one of the most respected and quickest Honda FF guys in Socal. With plans for Super Lap Battle to have fun and show what his home built and clean DC2 Integra could do, Mike locked down 1st place in Limited FWD at a lap time of 1:57.841.
