One Lap of America

[Melchior]

I just got done running One Lap of America in my E92. I probably should have posted something before the event, but I've been swamped with work and prepping the car. For those not familiar with this event it's an 8 day road trip racing on some of America's greatest race tracks. This years event we drove 3600 miles, had 17 events over 6 different tracks, wet skid pad, dry skid pad, and drag race, and drove through 10 states. This is my 2nd year running this event with my co-driver, last year we were in a near stock 2009 C63 AMG and took 11th overall.



This year we put more prep into the car and actually drove it before the first OLOA event, so we figured we'd do better. We started out this year about as bad as we possibly could after I botched the wet skid pad, 51st out of 59 cars. The Dunlops do decent in damp conditions, but through the standing water on the skid pad the car would skate across puddles and loose all grip. The top ZII* finish was 46th overall, so I'm going to blame the tires . We managed to make an impressive come back to ultimately win the Luxury Class, and place 7th overall. We had raw times to finish 5th overall, but could never quite make up from the skid pad performance. We also managed to be the fastest BMW at the event. Not bad considering our weightower vs anything in the top 20.

Results can be found here: http://www.onelapofamerica.com/event....do?eventId=35

If any of you are on the fence I highly recommend you run this event next year. What a fun week testing your ability to learn new tracks quickly, testing the limits of both your car and body. I can't wait for next year!

I'll cross post this data into lap time thread as well.

Car: 2011 E92 M3 DCT
Suspension: KW Clubsports, Eibach FSB
Brakes: StopTech ST-40 Fronts, StopTech Street Pads Front/Rear
Mods: Challenge Sport Xpipe w/ HFCs, Ti Exhaust, AA Pulley, MS Intake, BPM Tune, Mode Carbon GTS V2 Lip, Zebulon Wing, Recaro Race Seats, no back seats
Power: 352 whp (SAE corrected on a dynojet)
Tires: 285/30/18 Dunlop ZII* on ARC8 18x10.5 Front/Rear
Weight: 3450 lbs w/ driver

Track: Mid America Motorplex (MAM)
Best Lap Time:1:39.978 (me driving, co-driver had drying conditions in the morning)
Video:

Track: High Plains Raceway (HPR)
Best Lap Time:1:59.417 (me driving, co-driver had drying conditions in the morning, traqmate data shows near identical mid corner speeds from my dead hoosiers I previously ran. I botched T10 in all 3 laps, min speeds 5+ mph low from where they could be, or else I think I would have had a mid 58)
Video: No video, battery died

Track: Pueblo Motorsports Park (PMP)
Best Time: Modified this event due to massive down pour, so lap times are not consistent for the track.

Track: Motorsports Ranch Cresson 1.3 Mile (MSR)
Best Lap Time:1:06.435 (me driving)
Video:

Track: Motorsports Ranch Cresson 1.7 Mile (MSR)
Best Lap Time:1:23.002 (me driving)
Video:

Track: Motorsports Ranch Cresson 3.1 Mile (MSR)
Best Lap Time: 2:27.839 (me driving. Should have been much faster but I went off track on the crossover between the long and short course on my first lap. I thought the transition was wide open and it's pretty tight. This broke my front lip off the car and packed the grill full of grass, so the car was pushy at high speed and went into limp mode because it got so hot).
Video:

Track: Hallett Motor Raceway Circuit
Best Lap Time:1:26.453 (me driving, co-driver had a dirty track first thing in the morning)
Video:

Track: National Corvette Museum Full Course (NCM)
Best Lap Time: 2:18.8 (co-driver)
Video:

[GotE46M]

Awesome sounds like a great time!

[SYT_Shadow]

Wow, that really is awesome! Congratulations

[w0ady]

Congrats on 7th! I know what an ordeal the event is, I've had a few friends run it the past several years. My buddies Bob and Derek had to drop out after engine issues with their blue GTR. However my other buddies Catesby and Will won 1st place for the second year in a row. Very cool event and would love to try it one day!

[Patrón]

Simply awesome.

[Melchior]

Originally Posted by w0ady

Congrats on 7th! I know what an ordeal the event is, I've had a few friends run it the past several years. My buddies Bob and Derek had to drop out after engine issues with their blue GTR. However my other buddies Catesby and Will won 1st place for the second year in a row. Very cool event and would love to try it one day!

It's unfortunate Bob had to retire his car.

Catesby is a phenomenal driver, and Will has the car dialed in. Will also setup Huge's GTR this year (the red one in 2nd place), so he is very capable with prepping a car.

[bdaddylo]

Congrats on the win! Y'all did a hell of a job driving. What are you alignment specs and did you adjust camber before and after each track event?

[Melchior]

Thanks everyone!

We did not adjust alignment at each location.

Front Camber: -3.0
Front Caster: 6.9
Front Toe: 0.0 deg

Rear Camber:-2.3
Rear Toe: 0.3 degtoe in

[CSBM5]

Congrats on a great finish, especially for a car with so few modifications, power-wise, compared to many competitors!

I'm curious what tires everyone else was running in the event now. Rivals? RS3s? RE-71Rs? Pilot Super Sports?

[Melchior]

The majority of cars were on PSS. The PSS won both the wet and dry skidpad, so it's a really solid tire. Here's the top 15

1 - PSS
2 - PSS
3 - ZII
4 - AD08R
5 - PSS
6 - PSS
7 - ZII*
8 - PSS
9 - PSS
10 - PSS
11 - PSS
12 - AD08R
13 - ZII*
14 - PSS
15 - PSS

I counted 5 cars on the ZII*, including another M3. All these cars did terrible on the wet skid pad.

I only saw one set of RE71Rs on the CTSV wagon. They had a problem with an axle popping or so they couldn't push hard. Tires looked good with 4/32 at the end.

I only saw Rivals on the MDX. I did not see a single RS3.

[dnvrdrvr]

Congrats! The local NASA events are going to be a snoozefest after that.

[CSBM5]

Originally Posted by Melchior

The majority of cars were on PSS. The PSS won both the wet and dry skidpad, so it's a really solid tire. Here's the top 15

1 - PSS
2 - PSS
3 - ZII
4 - AD08R
5 - PSS
6 - PSS
7 - ZII*
8 - PSS
9 - PSS
10 - PSS
11 - PSS
12 - AD08R
13 - ZII*
14 - PSS
15 - PSS

I counted 5 cars on the ZII*, including another M3. All these cars did terrible on the wet skid pad.

I only saw one set of RE71Rs on the CTSV wagon. They had a problem with an axle popping or so they couldn't push hard. Tires looked good with 4/32 at the end.

I only saw Rivals on the MDX. I did not see a single RS3.

Thanks! Great information.

[SYT_Shadow]

Interesting tire info. Based on what some people say, the PSS instantly melts when you hit the track

[w0ady]

Originally Posted by Melchior

It's unfortunate Bob had to retire his car.

Catesby is a phenomenal driver, and Will has the car dialed in. Will also setup Huge's GTR this year (the red one in 2nd place), so he is very capable with prepping a car.

Yeah we were quite heartbroken to hear that news, Bob is a really good guy and loves this event. We had both cars on track with us in February doing some testing for OLOA so it was cool to see them run in person. Will and Derek are both ridiculously smart and always fun to chat with for sure.

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

Interesting tire info. Based on what some people say, the PSS instantly melts when you hit the track

Yup it makes me wonder about M3 owners complaining about the PSS when I know numerous GTRs running them on track without issue. The only other thing I can think of is maybe its an east vs west coast issue regarding the types of tracks?

Will who set up the #1 and #2 cars was actually who I talked to when picking tires for my M3. As it's also my daily, I went with the Continental DW which they tested and performed even better in the wet. It may be a couple seconds slower per lap vs the PSS but I am fine with that.

[bdaddylo]

Originally Posted by w0ady

Yup it makes me wonder about M3 owners complaining about the PSS when I know numerous GTRs running them on track without issue. The only other thing I can think of is maybe its an east vs west coast issue regarding the types of tracks?

I don't think you're going to find many advanced drivers running PSS at the track. They're a good dual pupose tire, but down in the south they're not going to last a full DE session without getting greasy. The OLAP track events only consist of a few hot laps, so it's not an accurate or full assessment on the track performance of a tire.

[V1.47fan]

Originally Posted by bdaddylo

I don't think you're going to find many advanced drivers running PSS at the track. They're a good dual pupose tire, but down in the south they're not going to last a full DE session without getting greasy. The OLAP track events only consist of a few hot laps, so it's not an accurate or full assessment on the track performance of a tire.

+1

[Melchior]

Originally Posted by dnvrdrvr

Congrats! The local NASA events are going to be a snoozefest after that.

Thanks Christina! Chris drove excellent as always and had a huge part in this accomplishment.

I'll have to make do with NASA events for 350 days until next years One Lap.

[TXmtrhed]

Melchior,

I was wondering how the fastest lap times were determined. Total time over three laps from a standing start? I assume only a single session at venues like Cresson when you had multiple track layouts. What about recon laps? With the compressed schedule I assume there was not much if any. Saw several pics of bicycles being trailered to One Lap (and I read that Brian Hair was roller blading) which seems to confirm that.

Congrats on an outstanding finish!

[Melchior]

Originally Posted by TXmtrhed

Melchior,

I was wondering how the fastest lap times were determined. Total time over three laps from a standing start? I assume only a single session at venues like Cresson when you had multiple track layouts. What about recon laps? With the compressed schedule I assume there was not much if any. Saw several pics of bicycles being trailered to One Lap (and I read that Brian Hair was roller blading) which seems to confirm that.

Congrats on an outstanding finish!

You can walk or bike (nothing motorized) in the morning before the first session starts. Most tracks had a morning session and an afternoon session, Cresson had 2 morning sessions running the 1.3 Mile and 1.7 Mile tracks simultaneously, and then a 3rd session of the full track in the afternoon. You cannot typically walk/ride the track durning the break for lunch.

Cars are broke out into groups of 4-6 cars based on qualifying times from the first event. If you've ever run a Time Trial event it's similar and sets the fastest cars at the front of the group so no one gets held up by another car. Cars line up on the pit road and get sent out on their recon lap ~15 seconds apart. You get one recon lap around the track, so this is often the first time driving the track at speed. You get a recon lap at every track. You can drive the recon lap at any pace you want, but you have to come to a complete stop at the timing lights (typically the start/finish line when possible). I typically went 8/10s on the recon lap to learn the corners and braking points, but didn't want to get the car and tires too hot.

Once all cars in the group are lined up at the timing lights they will send the first car. There is probably ~20 ft rollout from the staging cones to the timing lights and as soon as you cross the timing lights your clock begins. The next car will pull up to the line and launch ~20 seconds later.

The time for the session includes the launch and all 3 hot laps. It also does not stop of you go off track, spin, break, run it of gas, ect.