Yes, it's the automatic — Heinricy's run was made in a CTS-V equipped with the new six-speed automatic. More incredibly however, even though the new transmission is equipped with shift triggers on the steering wheel, Heinricy never once touches them during the run. "He's letting the computer do the shifting," one source told us. "It matches the right gears to the braking perfectly."
The manual isn't as fast — "The reason you see John wave at the beginning of the video," another anonymous source told us, "is because (ride and drive engineer) Aaron Link is right behind him in a manual-transmission CTS-V." Link, an excellent driver in his own right, simply couldn't keep up with Heinricy and throughout testing, the automatic has proven to be the hot setup for this car. "There's video of Aaron's run, and he's incredibly busy" an insider told us. "Meanwhile, John barely moves."
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=126303
I stick by my story.. 14 mile track, very demanding on driver who has clutch work, let a lone choose their own gears on a sequential gear box.
Similar to how rotax karts, although slower than a 6 speed shifter kart, can easily out perform in a long race simply because it is less work for the driver.