Mazdeuce does One Lap, again! 2016 transit edition.

The unofficial 'official cars of GRM' for 2016 One Lap.

I don't suck at something! 24th in the autocross. Slow on track but not spectacularly slow. Turning off traction control transformed the car and it has become nice to drive. Road America was fantastic.

Low ET of 15.4 just in case you were wondering what a Mini can do in the 1/4.

I'm at the airport in Chicago and my One Lap is done. Sleepyhead is headed to South Bend to compete in the dry skid pad and presumptively receive a very special award.
I ran the North course at Autobahn Country Club this morning and, honestly, it's not terribly enjoyable. I'm finally getting a handle on the car, which was good, but the course feels largely like a series of connected turns in a flat field. I rode some parade laps on the North Course with Ms. Sonic in the speed couch and that side is much better. Of course, coming from Road America yesterday pretty much anything would be a let down.
I had a great event and I want to go back. I have a bunch of things and experiences rolling around in my head and as soon as I get home and get some sleep I'll jot them all down. I'm hoping to pull some pictures from the internet and from sleepyhead to spice up the last bit. Thanks for following along, I know it wasn't as exciting as last year, but short notice, a short week, and someone else's car left me with a lot less to talk about.
One Lap is one hell of a ride.

Thanks for taking us along again!

Finally rested and time for a recap of the event.
It was fun as hell.
After last year I tried to tell myself that doing it once was good enough and maybe I'd do it again when the kids were gone. After doing it two years in a row I know I need to organize my life to make this happen again, and I think I can do that.
Driving a car on track that I've never driven before is a challenge. I can autocross like that, but I'm cautious working my way up in speed and braking on track. This is fun, but not great for results. This was confirmed when we 'won' the All Remaining Cars award which is given out to the team that finishes all of the events and collects the least points for doing so. Putting three average drivers in a slow-ish car that none of them have driven on track is a sure fire way to end up at the back so you better have a good sense of humor about it.
And we did. We hung out at the back and smile and laughed. Sonic and Ms. Sonic were well ahead of us but we hung out and shared their shade and had a great time. The guys in the 914 made us laugh every day with their antics. The Acura guys were always there with a smile and the Toyota fleet was super enthusiastic about the whole thing. It's not often that you get to talk to a driver about a track and have him say things like "that corner is super scary in an IMSA car but it will be fine in ours".
Brock kept us organized, safe, and happy.
I've got a new project cooking for next year with my co-driver from last year. It'll either come together nicely or we have the V Wagon as a backup, which is fine position to be in.

Doing the One Lap is on my bucket list now. Meeting everyone and seeing some hotlaps was a good day.