A perfect lap, first introduced in Wipeout 2097, refers to a player completing a lap without taking damage of any kind. This include collision with walls and other ships, damage from weapon fire and violations of the track limits. When one is performed, "Perfect lap!" may visually appear on-screen, followed by the announcer audibly saying it.
While completing a perfect lap has little to no effect in the majority of the games, starting from Wipeout Fusion, this will add extra credits to the player's prize pool as part of their "Skill Bonus". Starting from Pulse and HD, completing a perfect lap adds extra Loyalty points while racing for any specific team. In 2048, this adds extra XP points accumulated during a particular event.
In Zone, running a perfect lap adds extra points to the player's score. A "Perfect Zone" can be scored by making through one zone intact with no damage taken for roughly ten seconds. Doing so also restores a small amount of the ship's shield energy.
In Zone Battle, running a perfect lap significantly increases the ship's "Zone Energy", as does running a perfect Zone.