A 2009 Nissan GT-R equipped with Continental’s ContiSportContact 3 ultra-high performance tires won top overall honors at the 2009 Tire Rack One Lap of America. Driven by Steven Rankins and Will Taylor, the GT-R racked up 5,215 overall points to take the win. When the smoke had cleared, Rankins and Taylor had won seven out of 17 timed events; they also had seven second-place finishes as well as one third.
The Tire Rack event is eight days of competition featuring some of the fastest street-legal cars, on a number of the nation’s most challenging racetracks, including Daytona International Speedway and Sebring International Raceway. This year’s competition tested the endurance of a field of 63 vehicles and their drivers who traveled nearly 3,400 miles from track to track at legal speeds, while measuring their performance during skidpad and autocross competition, as well as drag, oval and open track road racing.
In the first event of the week-long competition, the Nissan grabbed first place while setting an event record in a Wet Skid Pad Shootout, and held on to take the overall and class championship crowns following the final Dry Skid Pad Shootout May 9 at Tire Rack’s South Bend, Ind. headquarters.
The team took best in the SSGT-1Big Bore Class, with a two-way wet cornering average of 0.953 Gs. The Nissan’s cornering capability broke the previous One Lap of America and Tire Rack wet track record of 0.930 Gs set by Glen Clark in 2004 driving a 1979 Porsche 911.
“This tire is specifically engineered to deliver enhanced handling characteristics and powerful grip on dry and wet roads, so this win really reinforces what our engineers set out to do in creating this outstanding tire,” says technical product manager Robert Liu.
Developed for performance vehicles, the ContiSportContact 3 is geared to provide shorter braking distances, enhanced handling characteristics and improved grip, especially on wet roads. It is available in a wide range of 17- to 21-inch wheel diameters with aspect ratios from 25 to 55, and carries a UTQG rating of 280 AA A.
For more information, visit www.tirerack.com/features/motorsports/one_lap.jsp and www.conti-na.com.
