January 17, 2012
Event 1 of 4 for the Spring Series
by Dane Traines
Transitional Behavior
After a brief hiatus, We're back. This issue begins a new chapter of the Pylon Press. Thanks to Dave Lahey for many years of great writing, mentorship to your new editor and service to our club. Dave is a tough act to follow. His passion for Miatas, autocrossing and our club shows through in his humerous writing style and the time he's put into this newsletter. Did I say he was passionate about Miatas? Let me look back. Oh, yes, I did. It's tough to write with the flair that he did, for as long as he did. If you get a chance, give Dave some thanks for his efforts.
The January 17, 2012 course was another of Britt Dollmeyer's excellent designs. The day was cold, with a bit of sprinkling rain at the end of Group C that continued for a time into the D Group. Staging at that start line, you see a slight wiggle to the right, followed by a left turn that was sharper than it looked. Hitting the gas a bit more, a shift to second, preparing to set up for a 90 degree right turn. Remember to set up for an offset slalom. A sweeping right turn waits. Hit the throttle early, the smaller cars can get through a Chicago box feature without much of a wheel turn. Remember to slow for another right hander to repeat what we just went through. On the second pass at the far right hand sweeper, don't turn right, just go somewhat straight. Be sure to avoid the double cones to set yourself up for ANOTHER RIGHT (arrrrrgh). Wiggle through a short left, right turn combo, hit the throttle hard once more and you're done.
The Open Category saw some good run times. Corvette driver Michael Terry was tops in Super Stock, followed by Jim Young. Chris Andela won the FSP class. Bayram Orazov and Joe Sandoval had a close fight for STS, with Bayram coming in first, Joe second and Dave Branson third---all in Miatas. George Liberios (Honda Civic) finished ahead of of Pete Immel (John Cooper Works, Mini Cooper S) and Eric Malsack in a MazdaSpeed 3. Todd Houser took STU in his Subaro WRX.
STR was, once again, an extremely competitive class. Mazda Miata versus Honda S2000 was the rule. Dave Lahey took top honors in his 1999 Miata, followed closely by Chad Mizner in his recently purchased 2007 Miata. Matt Soeffner, Larry Burrow and Don Sattler, all in Miatas were close in times. The S2000's of Ryan Bernholtz and Jeff Williams were sixth and seventh. Harry Berzes, Dane Traines and Jim Allen (more Miatas) rounded out the field.
Brant Bauman won SSM in a Miata with Zack Foulk following in a 1967 air cooled VW Kafer. Jeff Dallstrea (XP) and Sean Powers (DP) won their respective classes. EP was dominated by the Higgenbotham family, with Aaron driving just a bit faster than Doug in their shared Honda Civic. John Huft won the B Mod class in his Speads RM07.
The instructor class has some of our top drivers. This time Ben Clement (Mitsubishi EVO) was quicker than Brian Weikert, Chris Groppi, Fred Zust Kevin O'Neill and Kevin Venisnik. I understand that Kevin V. had just flown in from out of town. He wasn't sure if he was going to make the event. He did, but were his arms tired (Get it? Flying in, arms tired....all right, no more)
The Pro Category was contested by two drivers. Jim Harnish ran an STC Honda Civic and Ted had his venerable Lotus Elan. Ted had the faster raw time, but Jim collected top PAX honors. Teresa Clement took top PAX time in the PAX Ladies category in her family Evo. Mitzi Burrow was second in her family Miata, Deb Eymann in her family Gran Sport Corvette and Mandy Owen completed that field in her family Miata.
Two of our multi-time National Champions took the top two spots in Sportsman, our largest Category of the day. Mark Huffman easily won this class and also took the top raw time and PAX time of the day in his immaculate Lotus Elan. Brian Peters went back to a Miata and finished second. In SK1, Scott Meyers took the top PAX time in his Mazda 3, just ahead of Stu Lasswell in his John cooper Works, Mini. Brian Miller and Kim Kemper followed in their Porsches. Stephen King (Honda), Dan Hawrylkiw (Lotus Elise) and Steve Ashcraft (Miata) finished in that order. Glenda Meyers finished with the top PAX time in SK Ladies in the family Mazda 3, though Debi Hammersly (Porsche Cayman R) had the faster raw time.
Tong Qi (Porsche Carrera S) took top PAX time in Novice 1, followed by Deana Kraft and Matt Speicher, both in Honda Civic Si's). Novice 2 saw Michael McClughen (Mustang), Casey Aldridge (Camaro) and Andy Phan (Honda S2000) finish 1-2-3. Bruce King took top PAX in Novice 3 in his Civic. Paul Hardy (Scion tC), Josh Vogt (BMW) and Lucas Chavez-Pardini (Acura) complete that category. There were four competitors in Novicer Ladies. Valerie Pichette took top PAX time in her Pontiac GTA. Shannon Ecke was second in a Mini Cooper, with Lindsay Maxfield and Zemmi Chun finishing in Miatas.
56 drivers took part in the Time Only/Fun Runs. Not surprisingly, Mark Huffman took the top raw time and PAX time in his Lotus, though his competition runs were a bit quicker. Brian Peters was second, this time in a Corvette. STR drivers Greg Laver in an S2000 was third and Dave Lahey in a Miata was fourth.
Many thanks to all our volunteers, without whom we couldn't have the event. Josh Johnston handled extra duties in leading the annual tech for many of us. Thanks, too, to our Director, Brian Weikert for jumping back in to the Tech area to help Josh. Jeff Israel spent a great deal of time in adapting the excellent Tucson Registration web page for us Phoenix folks to also use for our events. Thanks, Jeff. A "Welcome Back" to Travis Gianelli, Zack Foulk, Sean Powers and the Maxfields--Dave, Lindsey and Nick.
Remember the next few events: Tucson/Marana autocross on January 29, Firebird, again, for the Phoenix area on February 4. That's a SATURDAY event, so we can enjoy a conflict free Super Bowl Sunday. Our Awards Banquet will be held at Macayo's Restaurant on February 11. See the Forum for details or contact Beth Balducci.
Peace out
Thanks to Bruce King and Rob Rockefeller for the photos featured here and on the Arizona Autocross Photos website.