Remember one thing...
Classifications are the result of the sagacious wisdom of the Solo Board,
the ad hoc committees that advise them, and maybe some actual logic that
dictates a car perceived as a largish sedan is an ESP rather than an ASP,
or whatever. They are, therefore, the Official Word of SCCA.
The PAX, on the other hand, is NOT an SCCA creation. However useful it may
be, it is wholly unofficial and is not used in any official SCCA calculations,
such as to determine handicaps at a Pro Solo. Many Regions use the PAX for
everything from top gun competitions to novice classification, and it is very
handy a tool for that. And reasonably accurate as well, taken over the long
haul of many events during an entire season, but often less accurate for a
single event where course, weather, surface, etc., may favor this car or that.
Still, for whatever flaws it has, it is better than anyone else has come up
with.
So, no, it does not mean the SS Supra got slower when it was set up to Street
Prepared. It means the considerations taken in the SEB's classing determination
are different than the considerations taken when figuring the 1999 PAX, and by
different people looking at different parameters.
Hey, maybe the Supra would be the ESP overdog this year. Better win that
national championship now before they reclassify it! :-)
(yeah, right)
--Rocky
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