I had the chance to go to the first Northwest Region SCCA ProSolo event in Packwood, WA on 5/16. If you've never autocrossed at Packwood before you MUST go, this place is HUGE! After driving the smooth and open pavement at Packwood I appreciated just how rough our PIR courses are. Anyways, it was a great event and NWR SCCA really has their act together. John and I brought up my RX-7 where we were the oldest car, the most miles, the smallest engine, and the least amount of HP. Talk about a knife at a gunfight :(
We made do, did pretty well in class, and John got picked as one of the cars in the Challenge, in MY car! The jerk! Anyways I worked the course and watched him whip up on not one, but two C5 Z06's Vette's to make the semi-finals where he whipped an RX-8. The RX-8 owner complained about the staging lights blinking so they re-ran the round and John lost it on the last run. Oh well, we did our best.
The next day we returned for the normal Auto-X and had a blast. Packwood is a cool place to stay and a great place to race. Here are some assorted pictures from both days. I didn't get very many single-car shots as it was our first time at Packwood and I was a little overwhelmed!
Grid for ProSolo. The SSM class C4 Vette was downright intimidating!
Inside the
massive hangar! Most hardcore types spend the night in here. We opted for a hotel (the Tatoosh, which was awesome and dirt cheap
and walking distance to the track).
It's so big and so pretty here. Really a nice weekend getaway.
The excellent timing and scoring setup with NHRA drag tree. Guys, a perfect light has been .000 for 3 years, time to stop with the .500 tree ;)
Line up of awesomeness. That's a new GT-R, a CSP Miata, and an SSM C4. The Miata and Vette were fast. The GT-R was quick, but stock.
Our competition car for the weekend, my 1983 Mazda RX-7 with a 234,000 mile 12A that's never been rebuilt!
A very clean Porsche 944.
John's favorite car of the event, a Black Viper GTS Coupe.
As always, if you were there or see pics of your car you would like please e-mail me and I will send them right out, free of charge. If you have pics you'd like to share I'd love to post them.
Oregon Region PCA hosted a new event called the "Spring Break Out" on the last weekend of February/1st of March. It was 2 days of solid autocrossing with a school, teen driver's clinic, practice, and a competition event. This was all held in the "Pro Pits" at PIR as BMWCCA and ORPCA were holding HPDE's at the same time! It was an awesome weekend despite the cold and wet weather. We hadn't been racing since October, so everybody was willing to tough it out and just enjoy not having snow. The grids were PACKED and the courses were HOT! I have hundreds of pics from both days of the BreakOut so even if you don't see your car, please feel free to e-mail and I will send you full-size copies of whatever I have.
Spring BreakOut featured packed lunches, and a sold-out grid for every event.
The view down the start. The Pro Pits area is small but well paved and the course designs made full use of every inch.
Into the stop box at the finish, the defending class champion Cayman.
The $hitBox taking off on a run with either Britain or JP at the helm.
Barry on a run in his GT3.
John running the 400HP GTO through the wet.
Gary getting up to speed in the 914-6.
We're just made of sterner stuff up here in the Pacific Northwest. That's a brand new Boxter autocrossing in the wet with the top down in Oregon in February. Nice!
A classic air-cooled 911 coming into the finish.
Gary showing the "standing water" conditions we sometimes have to deal with!
The insanely quick, and usually Top-5 overall finisher, Turbo Miata.
The even more insane LS1RX7 driven by builder/owner Josh. This car changes body panels every event but is usually found at FTD in Non-Porsche and even FTD overall.
Myself in my 12A-powered 1st Gen RX7.
And coming in hot at the finish. I had my first ever Top-10 in Non-Porsche at this event and first Top Half of Field. Water is the great power equalizer ;)
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