The rains came, but we stayed. CART autox # 3

The skies were threatening, and the weather guessers were unkind, but the Connecticut Autocross and Rally Team held the third autocross of the 2007 season. The lot was wet, with standing water in several puddles. A light rain fell thru out most of tech and registration, but by the time the driver's meeting was called, the sun was peeking thru. The lot quickly dried, except for one stubborn puddle. A pair of expertly wielded brooms handled the situation.

Fifty one drivers, including fourteen novices, registered for the event. A combination of weather and two competing events were expected to keep attendance down, but a good field was on hand for the event.

The course was quickly laid out, but the first corner was a point of major discussion. A small knot of drivers looked at it in every direction, and when the discussion was done, the corner was left alone. After all the looking and discussion, the first turn was the easiest. Turn 7, right behind the discussion, was the source of major grief. So near, and yet so far! The course started about one third of the way across the lot with a short straight. Turn one was a right that put you in line for a sweeping, gradual right. At the top of this section, a right / left pivot cone "S" turn started the fastest section of the course. This was a wide, long left sweep that encircled two thirds of the course. It was a challenge, balancing the car between turning and accelerating, as you went two hundred and seventy degrees, linking turns four, five and six. A nasty, frustrating, off set gate was set just before turn 7. Yup, that's where I went flying off course for my first run. You had your choice here: missing the gate, spinning thru the gate, missing turn 7 or getting lost in turn 7. All of these things happened multiple times, even with experienced drivers. Even Bill Evans, the course designer, managed an out of bounds experience.

Turn 7 was the point where you had to remember if you were on your first lap, and continued left, back into the interior of the course, or went straight, and finished the run. If you were on the first part, you fed back into turn 2, almost restarting the course. As the weather warmed, and the course cleaned up, the times dropped. A heck of a lot of rubber went up in smoke trying to get the power down in the turn 4 and 5 transition, and the outer loop. At times it looked like a drifting exhibition.

In AS Joe Solury threaded the needle in his 90 Corvette, beating Pete Day's 06 Evo by less than 1.5 seconds. Joe also made a strong run at FTD, but missed that goal, also by 1.5 seconds. In a bump from CS, Charlie Aucoin, one of the Hartford Three, won BS in his Miata, beating Tim Healy's BMW M3. Joe Rathbun's Neon won GS, beating the only bumped HS car, James Reline's Civic. I think that since Joe's hip replacement surgery he should have to run a modified class, but the competition committee has ruled it's Joe that's modified, not his car.

ASP was a mixture. Mark Eastwood won in his ESP Mustang, beating the Pride of British Isles, Andy Pyle and his 70 TVR. CSP was a blowout, as Paul Omichinski (Porsche) beat me (Miata) like a hammer, and also finished third in the FTD run. CP was a single car class, with Ray Covino's Merkur taking all of the places. AM was the same way, as Larry Boardman's Legend was first, last and in between. The world was back on it's balance between the Fiero twins in FP with Jay Bode beating Bob Doiron.

Nick Fandacone won SM2 in his 350Z, but nearly lost the class in his quest to score FTD. Four of his five runs were ruined by multiple cones as Nick attempted to balance between aggression and discretion, but third run was a charm with the class win and FTD. Todd Doiron was second in Nick's car. It was a good run for Todd, as he was a late entry, and never got a chance to walk the course.

Peter Agapoglou only got one clean run in his M3, but it was enough to win Y Novice by two tenths over Martin Domitrz's GTI. Z Novice had STI's at the head of the class, as Randy Laroche beat Ammonis Lampkin by less than a second.

We'll be in Watertown, Connecticut next, as the road trip season continues, and the circus moves from place to place. Grab a helmet, and join us.