Super Lap Battle - Game On

Since the mid '70s, Shoreline Drive and other various streets that connect to form the downtown portion of Long Beach have been better known every April as the official course of the Long Beach Grand Prix. Used primarily by Champ Car, this two-mile course has played host to other racing series such as Formula One, Grand-Am, the American Le Mans Series and, most recently, has doubled as a demo course for Formula Drift, which uses a portion of the LBGP track for their own drift competition. So, yeah, serious motorsports goes on here. This year, our Super Lap Battle joined the ranks of these prestigious events, playing right alongside Formula D's Team Drift exhibition, making it the very first time attack to take on a street course anywhere in the world. To celebrate, we brought a few friends who just happen to be some of the best road racers in the U.S., to show the LBC why SLB is the next hot ticket.

We picked a select group of Super Lap contestants to represent our first time out at the LBGP, all of whom were last season's fastest drivers. Some used cars as exotic as an Acura NSX and others came in something the general population could relate better to, like a Scion tC or Acura Integra. But despite their class ranking in the automotive food chain, each and every car was balls-out fast. But the LBGP course wasn't all high-fives. This course is challenging, especially for cars that aren't prepared to handle the long straights that pushed a lot of these engines to their limits. Flames and other mechanical problems were not uncommon and by the last day of competition, the strain took its toll on the unlucky. Despite these conditions, we still pulled some very quick laps. Don't believe us? Our first place winner, Billy Johnson, came within five seconds of the fastest World Challenge time of 1:25.479 by the ACS/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang Cobra when he posted a 1:30.170 lap time in the Factor X NSX.

Check out our website for more photos and full results from the Long Beach Super Lap Battle and Formula D's Team Drift. superstreetonline.com