By alley - Jul 14, 2017, 3:11 PM ET

Do FIA GT3 racecars fit in SCCA’s GT1 class?

As I sat on a plane flying back from a stint behind the wheel of the new Acura NSX GT3 racecar at GingerMan Raceway

for a story I would write for RACER

, I wished I hadn't packed so light. The video and data I'd recorded from my test of the car were in my hand, but I didn't bring a laptop to view it. Infernal impatience was getting the better of me.

As the anticipation of viewing the data built, I began to wonder how this purpose-built, professional racecar fared in the land of SCCA Club Racing? This year, we have seen Honda R&D member Chad Gilsinger on track at SCCA's Hoosier Racing Tire Super Tour and U.S. Majors Tour events racing a converted NSX street car in the GT2 class. While Gilsinger has been able to record podium finishes, there is still a way to go before you could consider the road-going NSX a competitive GT2 racecar – which is understandable considering the range of cars that are in that class as well as the short racecar development time Gilsinger has had with his NSX.

Today, many of the FIA GT3-spec cars are already classed in SCCA's GT1 class, utilizing trim similar to how the cars compete in IMSA or World Challenge, with a few tweaks to the balance of power, like weight and restrictor changes. I soon began to wonder just how fast those traditional ground-pounding, V8-powered monsters in GT1 get around GingerMan.

Once home, I checked the 2016 SCCA Majors race results and found that SCCA Runoffs champ Cliff Ebben had driven his GT1 Mustang to the win, lapping the track in 1:30.72. Digging deeper, I found that Michael Lewis, who owns an obscene number of GT1 Runoffs titles, held the GT1 track record at 1:26.88.

I was sure my time behind the wheel of the GT3-spec NSX would not threaten the GingerMan GT1 lap record, but a data download revealed otherwise. After a few familiarization laps around the circuit, I crossed the stripe on my sixth and final flying lap in the NSX GT3 racecar with a lap time of 1:28.19.

Those laps certainly gave me reason to believe that had someone competent been behind the wheel, like RealTime NSX GT3 driver Ryan Eversley, the potential to run up front with even the fastest in SCCA's GT1 class existed.

Perhaps with a little prodding, we could convince RealTime patriarch Peter Cunningham to come out of his self-imposed "retirement," jump in one of his team's NSX GT3s and go after that Runoffs title that seems to be the only thing missing from his collection.