Last year the factory Superlite SLC race effort won the NASA Super Unlimited class National Championship with a convincing win over the field, almost lapping the entire class on a damp track.
But this year, the defending car wasn't able to defend its championship because a blown motor that put paid to their effort at Hyperfest this year wasn't able to be repaired quickly enough to get it back in the car, and ready to race in time for the national championships.
So the effort to hold up the Superlite SLC's honor fell to a privateer entry. Bob Davidson's team took their RCR Superlite Eagle (their name for the SLC they have been running on the West coast) to the famed Mid Ohio track in central Ohio to compete for the championship.
This car was a little different from most SLCs in that the drivetrain was pretty exotic: powered by a Ford engine built by Roush-Yates that was originally made for the Panoz front-engined LMP1 cars running at LeMans, it definitely had power, and an exotic sound. The engine power was sent through a sequential transaxle from the same LMP car but connected directly to the engine, instead of using a long driveshaft as in the original front-engined Panoz.
And although the drivetrain package was from a successful LMP car, in Super Unlimited sometimes too much is not enough. The Panoz engine was reputedly making in excess of 600 HP, but was stacked up against other cars (like the Knoop-Mann Lister special) that they told us had over 850 HP last year. In terms of power-to-weight, it was good, but not at the top.
Even worse for the SLC, this year was the year that the DSR cars from SCCA found out about the Super Unlimited class. As the name implies, there are no rules in SU except for safety-related regs. So literally anything goes. In the case of the DSR cars, it meant turbocharged or normally-aspirated motorcycle engines powering cars that weighed only 900 lbs wet. Including the driver. With all-carbon construction for light weight and stiffness, practically zero ground clearance, and use of the entire body and chassis to make downforce, these cars have incredible corner speed, and power/weight ratios that made the "regular" cars flush with envy. These are pure racing machines, with no pretense at being anything else. They are also very expensive. For context, one of these DSR cars with a turbo 670cc engine recently ran at Road America with a time not far from what Mark Donohue ran there when he qualified his Porsche Can Am car.
But that's what makes racing interesting, and that's what the "regular" cars were up against this year.
Well, those and the two Radicals, one with V8 power. Most people know that Radicals are another kind of pure race car, built solely for track superiority. The V8 variants are the highest on the Radical ladder, and regularly run the fastest times of the day at many NASA races.
Also present at this year’s event was an ex-GrandAm Daytona Prototype car, complete with Lexus power. Acquired last year with the express intent of “beating that green car”, the Riley MK XI DP car looked very fast on track. Ominously, it had run reliably all year, and was fast.
So it was fair to say that the SLC, with much more weight than the DSRs, less power than some of the other cars, and run by a team that was fielding two cars at the event, had a big task ahead. It did have the advantage of the Superlite DNA, really big brakes, and the same grippy Michelin tires that the DP car and the Lister had as well.
At the start of the championship race, the SLC ran 5th behind the two DSR cars, and followed the Lister and the Daytona Prototype car for much of the race. Eventually, the Lister expired, and the Riley DP and the SLC were able to move up to the battling DSR cars at the front, courtesy of a full-course caution. At lap 18, the SLC made it’s move and passed the DP car for 3rd, after which the DP car promptly spun into the wall after turn one, apparently trying to keep up.
The two leaders were having a hammer-and-tongs fight up front, and the SLC was slowly gaining on them when the checkers flew. At the end, the gap was less than 15 seconds from the SLC to the leaders, who finished within 3/10s of each other.
Who knows if the SLC could have caught the DSR cars if the race had been longer?
But the Superlite SLC still finished ahead of all the non-DSR cars- even ahead of the Radicals (one of whom lost it hard coming into the hairpin while trying to outbrake the SLC, and barely missing contact with it on the way to an urgent meeting with Mr. Tirewall.)
The Superlite SLC still had the fastest lap time of all the cars except the two winning DSR cars (and all three top cars were running in the 1:23s.)
And finished on the podium, again.
Is anyone else seeing a pattern here?
Congratulations to Mike Bagnoli in the Speads RS11 who narrowly edged out Ralph Provitz in a Staudacher S08, and to Burt Frisselle, who piloted the #18 RCR Superlite Eagle SLC to a great podium finish in their first appearance at the national championships!
But this year, the defending car wasn't able to defend its championship because a blown motor that put paid to their effort at Hyperfest this year wasn't able to be repaired quickly enough to get it back in the car, and ready to race in time for the national championships.
So the effort to hold up the Superlite SLC's honor fell to a privateer entry. Bob Davidson's team took their RCR Superlite Eagle (their name for the SLC they have been running on the West coast) to the famed Mid Ohio track in central Ohio to compete for the championship.
This car was a little different from most SLCs in that the drivetrain was pretty exotic: powered by a Ford engine built by Roush-Yates that was originally made for the Panoz front-engined LMP1 cars running at LeMans, it definitely had power, and an exotic sound. The engine power was sent through a sequential transaxle from the same LMP car but connected directly to the engine, instead of using a long driveshaft as in the original front-engined Panoz.
And although the drivetrain package was from a successful LMP car, in Super Unlimited sometimes too much is not enough. The Panoz engine was reputedly making in excess of 600 HP, but was stacked up against other cars (like the Knoop-Mann Lister special) that they told us had over 850 HP last year. In terms of power-to-weight, it was good, but not at the top.
Even worse for the SLC, this year was the year that the DSR cars from SCCA found out about the Super Unlimited class. As the name implies, there are no rules in SU except for safety-related regs. So literally anything goes. In the case of the DSR cars, it meant turbocharged or normally-aspirated motorcycle engines powering cars that weighed only 900 lbs wet. Including the driver. With all-carbon construction for light weight and stiffness, practically zero ground clearance, and use of the entire body and chassis to make downforce, these cars have incredible corner speed, and power/weight ratios that made the "regular" cars flush with envy. These are pure racing machines, with no pretense at being anything else. They are also very expensive. For context, one of these DSR cars with a turbo 670cc engine recently ran at Road America with a time not far from what Mark Donohue ran there when he qualified his Porsche Can Am car.
But that's what makes racing interesting, and that's what the "regular" cars were up against this year.
Well, those and the two Radicals, one with V8 power. Most people know that Radicals are another kind of pure race car, built solely for track superiority. The V8 variants are the highest on the Radical ladder, and regularly run the fastest times of the day at many NASA races.
Also present at this year’s event was an ex-GrandAm Daytona Prototype car, complete with Lexus power. Acquired last year with the express intent of “beating that green car”, the Riley MK XI DP car looked very fast on track. Ominously, it had run reliably all year, and was fast.
So it was fair to say that the SLC, with much more weight than the DSRs, less power than some of the other cars, and run by a team that was fielding two cars at the event, had a big task ahead. It did have the advantage of the Superlite DNA, really big brakes, and the same grippy Michelin tires that the DP car and the Lister had as well.
At the start of the championship race, the SLC ran 5th behind the two DSR cars, and followed the Lister and the Daytona Prototype car for much of the race. Eventually, the Lister expired, and the Riley DP and the SLC were able to move up to the battling DSR cars at the front, courtesy of a full-course caution. At lap 18, the SLC made it’s move and passed the DP car for 3rd, after which the DP car promptly spun into the wall after turn one, apparently trying to keep up.
The two leaders were having a hammer-and-tongs fight up front, and the SLC was slowly gaining on them when the checkers flew. At the end, the gap was less than 15 seconds from the SLC to the leaders, who finished within 3/10s of each other.
Who knows if the SLC could have caught the DSR cars if the race had been longer?
But the Superlite SLC still finished ahead of all the non-DSR cars- even ahead of the Radicals (one of whom lost it hard coming into the hairpin while trying to outbrake the SLC, and barely missing contact with it on the way to an urgent meeting with Mr. Tirewall.)
The Superlite SLC still had the fastest lap time of all the cars except the two winning DSR cars (and all three top cars were running in the 1:23s.)
And finished on the podium, again.
Is anyone else seeing a pattern here?
Congratulations to Mike Bagnoli in the Speads RS11 who narrowly edged out Ralph Provitz in a Staudacher S08, and to Burt Frisselle, who piloted the #18 RCR Superlite Eagle SLC to a great podium finish in their first appearance at the national championships!
