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Unitronic® customers Micaiah Hackbarth and Pete Jankowiak set out to have the time of their lives in a unique experience competing in the One Lap of America (OLOA) 2019 alongside some grueling competition, with their Unitronic Stage 2 E85 tuned Audi TT RS and RS 3 2.5TFSI EVO’s. For those of you who may not be familiar with One Lap of America, it’s 8 straight days of competition with nearly 4,000 miles of driving, 6 different race tracks visited, with more than 18 different types of competition, ranging from skid pads, road courses, autocross, drag racing, and bracket racing. The goal is to survive the entire journey, all while competing for the top spot. There are no support vehicles permitted throughout the entire journey, too, making it even more of a challenge. It’s a proving grounds of sorts, that really highlights any weaknesses that are present with car, engine, drivers, and, interestingly enough, your relationship with your co-driver considering you spend nearly 4,000 miles tightly packed into the car for 8 straight days, day and night.
This year’s entry list consisted of a stacked field with 77 total entries, included the likes of a 2018 McLaren 720S, a 2018 Porsche GT2 RS, three different Porsche GT3 RS’s, a 1000-hp Nissan GTR, a Dodge Viper ACR, and plenty of other potent track-ready vehicles.
Hackbarth and co-pilot Brandon Ranvek managed to turn heads all week, taking home the Overall Win finishing 1st Place Overall and 1st Place in Class (SGT-1 SB) with Hackbarth’s Unitronic Stage 2 E85 powered 2018 Audi TT RS (One Lap TT RS on Facebook).
Ranvek said, “Winning the 2019 Brock Yates Tire Rack One Lap of America is a special accomplishment that we could not have done on our own. We knew the Audi platform would be strong but the strength of the team went far beyond ourselves. Huge high fives to the experts at Unitronic who have dialed in the engine and trans tuning to deliver incredible performance. The car ran flawless over 4,000 transit miles and 18 track competitions in just 8 days!” This is the first time in One Lap of America’s 36-year history that an Audi has taken home the overall event win, thanks to some ace driving from the Hackbarth and Ranvek duo. Ranvek continued, “It feels like we are only scratching the surface with road course capabilities of this chassis which is very exciting. We can’t wait to raise the bar even further with the world class expertise from our partners at Unitronic.”
Commending on the 2.5TFSI EVO tuning marketing, Hackbarth said, “In our search for the ultimate tuning solution we nearly gave up on the platform. One of the highly regarded tuning companies could not get our TT RS around the track without major issues and I began to lack confidence that I had picked the right platform for our endgame, [which was] winning One Lap of America. I reached out to John Staffi at Unitronic, I was able to tell within 5 minutes of our phone call that Unitronic had a much better, more refined, and a much more thought-out and thorough approach to tuning than many other aftermarket companies I've dealt with. The results tell you we made the right choice, our car finished, won, and did so without a blemish, all while delivering the power!”
One Lap TT RS 2018 Audi TT RS #OLOA2019 Accomplishments
Jankowiak and co-pilot Dana Basinski also impressed everyone with Jankowiak’s Unitronic Stage 2 E85 powered 2017 Audi RS3 (Oneof250 on Facebook). The duo managed to secure the 13th Place Overall and 3rd Place in Class (SGT-1 SB and Luxury Sedan) spots, with several outstanding individual events and some overall event victories, which is a absolutely amazing accomplishment considering neither Jankowiak and Basinski had ever competed in One Lap of America before. “When it comes to luxury performance sedans and track performance, Audi is often overlooked and considered to be just a straight line performer,” said Jankowiak. “Looking at the competition we were facing at OLOA 2019, and the fact that we had never done this before, we would have been happy with a top 20 finish. When pushing your car as hard as you have to do in order to be competitive at OLOA you need to have confidence in your car and the team around you. Thanks to the support and guidance provided by Unitronic and the community they have built we were able to not only build a "competitive sedan" but we were able to over achieve and go head to head with multiple Porsche Caymans, BMW's, Vipers and track prepped Camaros and come in with a 13th overall finish.”
Oneof250 2017 Audi RS 3 #OLOA2019 Accomplishments
Both #TeamUnitronic cars never skipped a beat the entire event and offered superior reliability, drivability, and delivered maximum performance without compromise with Unitronic Performance Software powering both vehicles. This is a true real-life testament to the overall package that Unitronic Performance Software provides. Not only quick in a straight line, but also allows for competition in the most grueling conditions as proven by both #TeamUnitronic cars in One Lap of America 2019. Special thanks goes out Andy at ASMotorsports for the endless advice and help in preparing the competitors and their vehicles for the hardcore journey known as One Lap of America!
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