Autocross Lucky # 13 by Kevin FitzMaurice

It was a bright and sunny morning, with a crisp autumn chill in the air, perfect for a late season New England autocross. The temperatures were forecast in the 50’s and there was a mild breeze. There was only one problem; it was Monday, and the event was held the day before in 30 degree temperatures, with freezing rain and snow falling. Once again, the weather gods frowned on us, once again, we pressed on regardless.

The Rowley Spring lot has a sealant on it that makes traction a challenge when the temperatures drop below 50 degrees. Now add a film of near freezing water, and what do you get? A Prius turning FTD, and a Smart car not too far behind! The course started out with a series of left right switch backs that fed into a right one eighty with a transition gate. Stay left for the first part of the course, take a quick straight squirt, and feed back left into the switch backs. Second time, stay right on the transition, come across the back of the lot, and turn left. A short straight chute led to a seventy degree left and then you needed to turn 110 degrees to the finish. Easy, right? Now do it on ball bearings with a cross wind.

The competitors faced about every handling problem there is: power over steer, power under steer, wheel spin at launch, brake lock up, drifting, spinning, you name it. It became a race of who could go the slowest fastest.

For the stock classes, there were several single car classes. John Williamson (Subaru) won AS, Yaro Taeger (BMW) won BS and Jim Duphiney (Miata) won ES. No one else came out to play with them. Rob Mills beat Chris Mills in CS, sharing a 03 MR2, with a .429 second margin of victory. Brad Snow (Mini) ran away with GS, beating Tim Brodeur (Celica) by 4.697 seconds. HS was the class to watch, if for no other reason than when do you see Prius vs. Smart Car? Tom Mak took the win and FTD in the Prius, beating long time Corvair driver Bob Peplow in a Smart car. It was fun to watch Bob pedal a car around that could have fit lengthwise in a gate with room to spare.

Street prepared had the second largest class: three cars. Andy Pyle cruised to the ASP win in his TVR. The TVR had an advantage; being British, it was used to a cold, rainy climate. CSP, the three car class, had a surprise winner as Kevin FitzMaurice was able to poke around and beat Paul Omichinski who was handicapped by slick tires and horsepower. Paul was entertaining to watch, as he slid the car in every direction trying to move forward. ESP was the Mustang class, with Joe Barbato beating Chazz Logue by just over 4 seconds. FSP was the child abuse class as usual, only this time Dad Joseph but the beating on Son Matt by less than two tenths of a second.

Prepared were all single car classes. James Jaffe won XP sliding his Miata Turbo around with a great deal of enthusiasm. Dennis Polio gets the hardship award, since his 64 Corvette has no roof or windows. Dennis took BP, which in this case stood for “Boat Prepared”, as he took on water all day long. Marc Boerma took CP in his Mustang, scoring some much needed year end points. Common sense won out in FP. Jay Bode left his Fiero in the trailer, and worked timing all day long, enjoying the heater.

Street Touring “All” had the largest class, five cars in total. Art Desrosiers used the beauty of All Wheel drive in his WRX wagon to beat Mike Lodsin’s Honda CRX by just under a second. The top 3 cars in this class were separated by just over two seconds. Street Modified “All” was Street Modified “One” with Nick Fandacone (350Z) on top.

It’s the end of the year, and the novice class should be small, but since we only had one novice, congratulations to Nelson Batista, winning ZN in his VW Golf. Pat Huxley took the exhibition class and a shot at FTD, just missing in his Honda Civic.

Thanks to everyone who attended our events this year. Despite the sometime foul weather, it was a good, competitive season. We said goodbye to a good friend, made some new friends, and had a good time with good people. Our next event is the Rally on November 22. Check us out at www.cartct.com just because the season is over, it doesn’t mean things aren’t happening.