By Jen Dunnaway
Editor
Tony Swan of Car and Driver, who ran the Nissan GT-R in this year's One Lap of America, has apparently gotten a lot of static about finishing "only" 11th in the overall standings and feels understandably prevailed upon to justify the much-hyped supercar's performance. But oddly, the article that appears for this purpose on the Car and Driver website mostly just comes across as a load of whiny diapers. Though he blames everything from tires to computer technology, much of the apologia centers on the "fateful" autocross challenge at BeaveRun, where Tony got confused and went off course, resulting in a DNF and a minor tantrum by the driver, who reportedly stormed off in a huff, gunning the GT-R through a paddock populated by spectators. Probably not his proudest moment, but in the ensuing drama, it nonetheless became the spearhead for a movement to award a bunch of "bonus points" to those who failed to negotiate the autocross course successfully. Fortunately, common sense eventually prevailed, with the organizers confirming that a DNF is a DNF and that it wasn't in the spirit of the event to compensate teams for poor performance. Seems perfectly reasonable, though Tony apparently has a different sense of how it all went down. It's clear that he's endeavoring to be candid and honest about what happened, but having a GT-R fall on its face in multiple events turns out to be not the easiest thing to explain away. Read Tony's article here to decide for yourself if he gives a satisfactory defense of the GT-R's finish.