The wish list of vehicles to run at Lightning Lap starts long but quickly shrinks as the excuses start to roll in. Vehicle availability and timing are major factors. Sometimes, Lightning Lap comes too early, and a car hasn't landed in the press fleet or at dealers. Recent years have brought supply-chain issues, which have led to even more no-shows. And there's always the chance that the car earmarked for us to lap at Virginia International Raceway gets damaged in transit or by someone who exceeded their limits. Unfortunately, that happens more often than you might think.

In the weeks leading up to our 17th pilgrimage to VIR, we realized our group of 12 vehicles had room to grow. So, after getting a no from Koenigsegg, Ferrari, Rimac, and Aston Martin, we expanded our horizons. This led us to a couple of race cars: the Subaru WRX Airslayer Gymkhana machine and the darling of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the NASCAR-based Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro. And we invited a motorcycle -- the BMW M 1000 RR -- and a pro rider to see how a performance street bike would do against the year's fastest things on four wheels.

The contenders:
Honda Civic Si https://www.caranddriver.com/features...
Subaru BRZ (modified) https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a46...
Kia EV6 GT https://www.caranddriver.com/features...
Acura Integra Type S https://www.caranddriver.com/features...
BMW X5 M Competition https://www.caranddriver.com/features...
BMW M2 https://www.caranddriver.com/features...
Nissan Z NISMO https://www.caranddriver.com/features...
Ford Mustang Dark Horse https://www.caranddriver.com/features...
BMW M3 CS https://www.caranddriver.com/features...
Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray https://www.caranddriver.com/features...
Lucid Air Sapphire https://www.caranddriver.com/features...
Porsche 911 GT3 Manthey Racing https://www.caranddriver.com/features...
Porsche 911 GT3 RS https://www.caranddriver.com/features...
BMW M 1000 RR https://www.caranddriver.com/features...
Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 https://www.caranddriver.com/features...
Subaru Airslayer https://www.caranddriver.com/features...

00:00 Intro and how we test
01:44 Honda Civic Si, 03:16.9
03:14 Subaru BRZ (modified), 03:09.3
04:34 Kia EV6 GT, 03:04.9
05:57 Acura Integra Type S, 03:04.2
07:19 MW X5 M Competition, 02:58.1
08:46 BMW M2, 02:56.9
10:04 Nissan Z NISMO, 02:56.2
11:40 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, 02:51.2
13:25 BMW M3 CS, 02:50.0
14:36 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray, 02:45.9
16:23 Lucid Air Sapphire, 02:44.3
18:41 Porsche 911 GT3 Manthey Racing, 02:39.8
20:28 Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 02:37.2
22:26 Porsche 911 GT3 RS hot lap
25:26 The motorcycle and the two race cars
25:50 BMW M 1000 RR, 02:42.7
27:45 Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, 02:26.7
29:48 Subaru Airslayer, 02:25.6
31:39 Results 2006 to 2024: Every vehicle, every lap time