You really couldn't pick a better place for a tuning show then the Messe Friedrichshafen Exhibition Centre.

We probably picked the wrong day to venture out to Willow Springs International Motorsports Park for Round Two of Super Lap Battle's qualifying events. The facility hosted the time attack championship over the Memorial Day weekend, May 23 and 24, on its 2.5-mile "big" track, but we only made it out for the Sunday portion of the event, which we quickly learned was short a few big-name players after a grueling Saturday.

Already packed up and gone home by the 24th were Chris Rado and the Unlimited-FF World Racing/NOS Energy Drink/Scion tC, which we understand was suffering some electrical issues, and the Bergenholtzs, who debuted their dual-purpose U-FR Bergenholtz Racing/Mazda North America RX-8 but used the qualifier only as a shakedown session (the car is also Justin Pawlak's soon-to-be drift car).

At the track but also out of Sunday's action were Tyler McQuarrie and the U-FR Brian Crower/C-West/Design Craft Honda S2000. After setting a Super Lap Willow Springs lap record the day before - an untouchable 1:22.288 - the roadster needed a new head gasket, which Gary Castillo from Design Craft replaced on Sunday, but the F-series motor continued to leak so the team called it a weekend.

There was still plenty of familiar talent on hand for day two, like Dan Gardner in the U-FF Jackson-Dawson Scion tC and JC Meynet in his Limited-AWD Harman Motive/Toyo/Cosworth Subaru Impreza WRX STi. Tarzan Yamada was also in the house, this time in the Street-AWD Crawford Performance Subaru STI after the familiar orange and black U-AWD STI was out for repairs.

Ex-Sport Compact Car magazine editor and current Octane Report (octanereport.com) impresario Joey Leh hauled out his Street-AWD M1 Fab Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX, which was ably driven by Russ Warr, who took the car to the top of the S-AWD charts with a 1:34.128. The Tokico Levin we spotted at Toyotafest in Long Beach a few weeks back was also circling the track, running in one of the High Performance Driving Experience (HPDE) run groups.

That's right, Super Lap piggybacked on a larger National Auto Sport Association (NASA) race weekend at Willow, which meant in addition to the time attack machinery at the circuit there were racers from Honda Challenge, Spec Miata and a handful of other classes, plus HPDE. SLB competitors were classified with the Time Trial groups (TT) and ran during their sessions.

The mixed event allowed us to get a look at H2's Renan Bayar in Honda Challenge, who is currently the hot shit in his After Hours Performance Honda EG Civic hatchback. The driver is owning the H2 class this season, stomping all over any comers in a field that includes the likes of AEM cofounder Greg Neuwirth in his Acura DC2 Integra and one-time drag racer, current drift team owner Stephan Papadakis in the AEM/Toyo Honda CR-X. Bayar dominated Sunday's race, with Papadakis crossing the stripe in a distant second.

After a weekend of sessions, McQuarrie and his S2000 couldn't be caught, not simply taking U-FR but also claiming the overall win out of all Unlimited Classes. The best of the Limited Class runners was Meynet in his L-AWD STI, who put down a 1:27.119, while the fastest lapping Street Class challenger was the S-FR Autowave Acura NSX driven by Messley Young with a 1:32.036 (also absent on Sunday).

As we mentioned earlier, Leh's EVO IX locked up Street-AWD with a 1:34 and change, all the more impressive when you consider his next closest challenger was esteemed hot-shoe Yamada in the Crawford STI. The best 2008's Super Lap champ could muster was a 1:37.572, a full two-plus seconds slower than the Russ Warr-driven Mitsubishi.

Up next for Super Lap is Qualifying Round 3 for the November finale, set for July 31 to August 2 at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

superlapbattle.com

Super Lap Battle Time Attack - Qualifying Round 2
Willow Springs International Motorsports Park, Rosamond, CA

Unlimited Class OVERALL Winner
Team: BC/C-West/Design Craft
Car: Honda S2000
Driver: Tyler McQuarrie
Time: 1:22.288 - NEW SLB RECORD

Limited Class OVERALL Winner
Team: Harmon Motive
Car: Subaru Impreza WRX STi
Driver: JC Meynet
Time: 1:27.119

Street Class OVERALL Winner
Team: Autowave
Car: Acura NSX
Driver: Messley Young
Time: 1:32.036

Street Class AWD Winner
Team: Octanereport.com/M1 Fabrications
Car: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
Driver: Russ Warr
Time: 1:34.128

Photo Gallery

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