The Finish

After 3700 miles in 7 days of driving our One Lap America has ended. 

Aeroyacht Racing's Porsche Carrera GT took us through 10 states, 8 race tracks and some beautiful back country roads. We drove through hail, sunshine, rain, tornados and even snow at one point. The personalities we met ranged from Austrian nobility, Motorhead chicks, pro drivers, Swiss chocolatiers and Hollywood stunt women. The car remained perfect throughout this endurance event. It was a test of mental and physical stamina, navigation, logistics and driver skills. I only realized how fatigued I was when after the finish I was not able to remember my own zip code !  

Mike and me are grateful to have driven this epic event. 

Next year we will participate ...in a Porsche 918 hybrid supercar. 

We WILL be back !

Burn Out

We made it to the finish in South Bend Indiana and today's dry skidpad event was won by the leading Nissan GTR - Godzillas.

Overcooked

Unfortunately on the last run our friend in the Corvette had a major off and totaled his beautiful car. Luckily he wasn't hurt. 

All together 15 out of 59 cars either crashed or had to drop out because of mechanical failure. 

We are fortunate to be still in the running. 

Now en route to our last destination (the bar at our next hotel) and skid pad challenge at our starting point 3000 miles ago in South Bend Indiana. 

539 miles to go....

Bug Killer

Our Carrera GT is a killing machine. In nearly 3000 miles of driving many a bug has lost his life on our front bumper. 

They will be dearly missed - not. 

We also inadvertently ran over an already dead roadkill rabbit to make sure it was already a goner. 

Last 48 Hours

A beautiful sunny day and brand new race track awaits us. We are now in Bowling Green Kentucky and racing in the National Corvette Museum track. Freshly surfaced it offers a very fast but technical 3.2 mile course. 

Cockpit at 147 mph

The driving environment of the Carrera GT is one of Teutonic purpose. The good news is we are surrounded by carbon and leather ...the bad - the bucket seats are made for midgets, and the firm suspension makes us eventually loose the feeling in our behinds. It usually takes about 5 hours until the ass cheecks are completely numb...

At 147 mph however you stop thinking about your behind....

Contemplate the fact that we reached this speed at 7,500 rpm in only 5th gear and the car has another 2,000 rpm and 6th gear left you wet yourself fantasizing about going beyond the cars 205 mph (331 kph) 

Competitors

Well...they are all nuts really ...

Ideal Trailer Vehicle

Some of the cars here have participated in dozens of One Lap America events - notable are the race cars that trailer their luggage. 

Imagine the below Ariel Atom open wheeler in yesterday's torrential downpour.....

You Sleep When You Can

With an average of 4 hrs of sleep fatigue is starting to creep into our days. By 2:30pm it feels like am. After our track event we now have a mere 720 miles to drive to Kentucky to arrive at 2 am once again. Alarms are set for 5:30am. Today is probably the hardest day and if we survive today it's downhill to the finish on Saturday. 

More High Plains Action

A piece of art. Our Porsche CGT's titanium V10. 

Line up

Last lap

Wetting Oneself

I managed not to wet myself at 145mph  but today joined the ranks of many who have snap spun a Carrera GT. (happens when your hands are a millisecond slower than your car). 

The Mid America track sessions were a blast and we managed to leave several Vipers, Porsche Turbo S's and Corvettes behind us. 

We are still in one piece and now on the 560 mile transit stage to Colorado. 

Ohh... and we hit a bird..sorry. Mike said that the last thing going through that birdies head...was his ass.  

The Bates Motel

Checked into Bates Motel at midnight and discovered a certain crunchiness to the pillows. Later discovered that they were covered in plastic. 

At 65$ it was a charming place in the middle of a nowhere mining town and we survived it. Our toothless receptionist wished us a "nice day"

The Bates Motel:

First Result

Not too bad for starters. Never having driven on a wet skidpad Mike managed a respectable 11 position out 16. We are happy ....driving. 

Nowhere Oaklahoma

Today we race Hallett race track. Much needed dry weather and sunshine will provide grip. We will try to avoid the "bitch" - a sandy trap surrounded by a concrete wall over a high speed negative camber crest (with a bump that makes you airborne)

Transit

again...

2400 miles covered and a 1000 to go. We managed to keep the Carrera GT in the tarmac on all tracks and the car is a dream to drive. It begs to be accelerated and it is certainly the most photographed car in the race. 5.5 million Facebook hits the first day proves its sex appeal and we are privileged to be made to look like superstars wherever we go. The outpouring of friendliness without envy in every small American town is something I would never experience in Europe.