For those of you in the Los Angeles area that like to drive your car, you missed
a good event today. I went to Hollywood Park for a Solo II competition with the
local SCCA region.
For those of you not familiar with Solo II competition, it's an autocross or
slalom normally in a large parking lot. A course is set up of cones and you
compete against other drivers based on time. Most of the time you hit 3rd gear
once or twice.
What made today different was the liquid sunshine. This was the first falling
moisture in a long time, which adds to the fun because all the oil and grime
floats to the surface and, until it washes off, the surface is extra slippery.
(Yes, I know we don't have "real" weather in Los Angeles.)
Normally when I take a turn too fast, the car just pushes straight ahead.
Today, I had to make an effort to keep the back of the car in the back. It was
fun sliding around some of the turns, though I would have liked to have the top
on the car (I don't have a convertible top, so it's either hardtop or open).
These events happen regularly around the country. Check http://www.scca.org to
read about Solo II and use the "Region locator" to find your region, including
http://www.solo2.com for Los Angeles or http://www.sdr-solo2.com for San Diego.
In addition to the stock and prepared classes, some regions have additional
classes. I run in a class for cars with street tires. They also have a
historic class for 1968 and older vehicles. These last too classes have a
multiplier to even out the cars. Today only Morgans show up for that one. Cars
must pass a basic tech inspection, but that's about it. Any properly maintained
Triumph out there should be fine to compete. All you need is a helmet, and
loaners may be available.
Hope some of you enjoyed this.
Brian Kemp
72 TR6 at http://home.earthlink.net/~bk13/brian.htm
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