Fine Tuning

Mer VIR, HOME OF OUR ANNUAL LLGHTNING LAP TEST, TECHNICAL EDITOR DAN EDMUNDS SITS IN WITH LUCID DEVELOPMENT ENGINEERS AS THEY TWEAK THE 1200-PLUS-HP TRI-MOTOR AIR SAPPHIRE.

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You can’t let some curbing stand in the way of a good lap time, particularly at Virginia International Raceway, where it’s best to clip almost as many as possible to set a competitive lap. Snake is one such section, and the Lucid Air Sapphire prototype I’m piloting glides over the concrete serrations as if built to do nothing else and then rockets toward the Climbing Esses. More care and selective curb skimming work better here. Next, the tight Oak Tree corner offers another light dose of apex clobbering. The right-hand detour into VIR’s inner loop comes up quickly, but the Sapphire’s humongous 10-piston front brake calipers squeeze track-worthy carbonceramic rotors to haul this cruise missile smartly down to turn-in speed without a hint of squirm or squiggle. The car bends through the low-speed horseshoe smoothly with perhaps a hiccup at the exit. Then it’s off to Spiral and the diving left-right combination that comes just over a blind crest.

“Whoa! That was a big twitch.” There’s another slight power interruption when I graze the low curb at the exit of Spiral, but the car reasserts itself through the rest of the Infield. The Sapphire seems to love Roller Coaster, but as I exit Hog Pen and set my sights on the Front Straight, the car walks toward the left edge of the track, robbing me of the confidence to plant my right foot. With a full lap under my belt, it’s time to return to the pits for a debrief. After that, we'll consider making some changes.