What is the Best ACTIVE Racecar?

As my trip to the Grand-Am race at Mid-Ohio gradually fades into a distant memory, I've found myself reflecting on the hidden brilliance of the Rolex Sports Car Series. It may not be the best racing on Earth, but underneath it's ugly facade lies racing that certainly puts up a good case to get at least an Honorable Mention if we were trying to determine what the best racing on Earth is.

But that got me thinking about something else: Forget best overall racing, what's the best single RACECAR in active competition? What car combines looks that'll suck you in with competitiveness that will keep you genuinely entertained?

Sadly, Rolex Sports Car Series already loses. Even the rather nice-looking Crawford DP08 is not a brilliant hook for the aesthetically-minded. But let's take a look at six cars I feel deserve Honorable Mention for their efforts, then finish up with my pick for best active racecar.

The criteria:

1: Purpose-built racecars only. No production-based GT cars. Yes, this means NASCAR is eligible.
2: The cars must genuinely look good. It doesn't have to be the BEST-LOOKING car in the racing world, but if it looks alone are capable of drawing someone in, it's a viable entry.
3: They must be reasonably competitive in their series. Criteria for "reasonably competitive" obviously varies from series to series.
4: They must be active in an actual, modern series. No historic racers.
5: "Spec" series are eligible, but automatically lose points on competitiveness due to them not racing against other chassis designs.

Let's hop to it!

Superleague Formula

If you like modern formula cars, you love this baby. A strong case for the best-looking active open-wheeler in the world, it lost out a lot on competitiveness points for being in a spec championship.

Open-cockpit Lola LMPs

(image courtesy of ultimatecarpage.com)

If you really look at Lola's Le Mans cars from the past decade, they've always followed the same basic characteristics, and yet each time around they just get better and better. The current open-cockpit Lolas, particularly the LMP1 version, are true beauties to behold.

Helps too that they're pretty much the best customer chassis you can get without sacrificing a small fortune. Up until the Porsche RS Spyder hit the scene, Lolas were the chassis to have in LMP2.

Acura ARX-02a

(image courtesy of ultimatecarpage.com)

LMPs have often been described as "Open-wheel cars with fenders." The Acura ARX-02a LMP1 is a perfect example of this, as it's about as close as you can get without the statement being completely true. One mark against it is that it's overall competitiveness is still something of a question mark due to it only going up against the Audi diesels once.

Swift 017.n/FN09

Like the Superleague Formula car, this bad boy lost out on competitiveness points for being in a semi-spec series. Unlike the SF car, the Swift FN09 can run one of two engines, similar in spec to current IRL engines, but there are no other chassis competing against it.

But still, this is a car worthy of being on this list. And if the picture doesn't convince you, watch it in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bibODVilL6c

Warning: Video contains overly enthusiastic(at times) Japanese commentators.

Stohr WF1

(image courtesy of the Sports Racer Network Galleries)

Moving away from LMPs, but yet another sport racer. The Stohr WF1 is the dominant chassis in the SCCA's D-Sport Racer class. Dominance is key when it comes to competitiveness points.

Closed-cockpit Lola LMPs

(image courtesy of ultimatecarpage.com)

Some of you are now sorely disappointed, and understandably so: The new closed-cockpit Lola LMPs are some of most beautiful machines ever designed. How DARE I not declare them the best active racecars?!

Well, the answer is rather simple: They've lost out on competitiveness. Although the LMP2 version has been able to give the Porsche RS Spyders some headaches over in Europe, as well as the Acura LMP2 over here, the closed-cockpit Lola LMPs have not yet scored a victory.

And don't bring up the new Aston Martin Lola. That hideous abomination is an insult to this beautiful design and I shall never lump them together with the standard version.

The Lola LMP Coupes are this high up mostly on account of style, but as I mentioned they've given the Porsche RS Spyders over in Europe some nasty headaches, which nets them major competitiveness points despite lack of victories. They are, after all, giving the RS Spyders some nasty headaches.

You can see where I'm going with this, can't you?

Best Active Racecar: Porsche RS Spyder Evo

(once again, image courtesy of ultimatecarpage.com)

Yes! The best racecar active today is the PORSCHE RS SPYDER EVO! The only LMP2 car to take overall victories in the ALMS against the Audi R10 diesel, this sexy beast also took every victory in the 2008 Le Mans Series, four of those wins, as well as it's debut Le Mans win, in the hands of "Jos the Boss" Verstappen - the pictured car is, in fact, the one Jos the Boss drove in the 2008 Le Mans Series.

An absolutely dominating chassis, this thing scores MASSIVE points on competitiveness, and gets pushed over the edge by extremely high marks on the style front, even though it is far from the best-looking LMP on this list, beating out only the open-cockpit Lolas.

You will be hard-pressed to find a car more deserving of this distinction in modern racing. If you wanted to restrict a list to ONLY looks or competitiveness, this car would never reach the top. But for the criteria of this list, it takes the position with flying colors.