OCC Autocross

Still in drought conditions, and hoping for a bit of grip, we (Billy and I) headed south to Milton for the Grasstrack event, to be met by a turn-out way beyond expectation. 37 cars entered, and the spectator numbers were excellent!
One other MR2 arrived - jason with his red AW11 S/C. The course set was incredibly fast for Autocross, with lots of slalom bits and tight corners, as well as a few pretty unsettling bumps over old fence lines, etc. A rolling start (about 100 meters run-up) and then timed over two laps. The first round was still pretty much on the dry grass. I was the first MR2 away, and had an unusually good run at it - pretty tidy. Did 1.32.05, which
remained the fastest time for that round until almost the end of it. Billy was next, and was determined to not repeat his usual first round practice of going nuts, and spinning everywhere. As a result, he was tidy, but slow, at 1.38.41. Not that slow, though, as most were in the 1.40's. Jason let fly like a bull at a gate, and was going real well until he spun - did a 1.40.03.

Second round was time to get a little more serious. I was first MR2 away again, and tried a whole heap harder ...... and did a Billy/Jason. Lost it almost totally on two corners, and only managed a 1.34.90. Billy was next,
got it pretty much right, and turned in a 1.32.09. Jason had obviously threatened his car with no fresh oil ever, and himself with no sex for a week, put in one of the neatest drives of the whole day, and did 1.29.25.
Lovely to watch.

Third round - wanting to make up for screwing up round two, and match or beat Jason's time - I managed a 1.31.56, but blew two cones in the process, and was credited with 1.51.56 after 10 second penalties per cone! Billy later claimed to have rigged cones with small explosive charges, and to have a remote sender to set them off!! :-) Billy did another smooth round, and sharpened up to 1.32.06. Jason was again going real well, but missed a cone, and had to spin back on himslef to avoid an automatic 10 second penalty - 1.39.45.

Fourth round. The first three were official, and Billy left to go back and deal with flat duties (to do with partying, I suspect). Without the cone exploder at the venue, I managed 1.31.15. Jason did 1.30.21. I have to
admit to being a little disgruntled at still not getting too close to Jason's times. We were talking between rounds four and five, and I told Jason that I was having major turn in / understeer problems. Jason immediately said he could fix that in two tics !!!!!! The trick, he said, is extra weight in the front. He was running with a 20 litre bottle of water under the bonnet! - Try this, said Jason. So, I did.

Round Five. Complete with water bottle installed (hydrolastic suspension?) I did a 1.29.03 !!!!!! Jason (with hydrolastic re-installed) managed a 1.29.75. Thanks, Jason ........ I will remember that .. :-)

Depending on whether you take the first three round times or all times, we finished 7th, 12th and 13th, or 7th, 8th and 13th overall. We also finished 1st and 3rd in the 1300 - 1600 class, and Jason was second in the 2000 plus class. We were mainly beaten by turbo 4WDs, and even then not by that much. The winning time was 1.22.67 from an Imprezza WRX Rally car. Then a big gap back to second at 1.26.94 (Turbo Mirage Cyborg), and another gap back to third at 1.27.70 (Lancer GSR 4WD). The next three were 1.28's.

Summary

Jason 1.40.03 1.29.25 1.39.45 1.30.21 1.29.75
Billy 1.38.41 1.32.09 1.32.06
Daryl 1.32.05 1.34.90 1.31.56 1.31.15
1.29.03

All of us beat the Pulsar Gti-r which beat me at the Patmos Ave hillclimb, as well as a 323 turbo 4WD. We all beat the race/rally 280ZX (comfortably - 1.34s from memory), and all of the other 4-AGE powered racers. It was very interesting to listen to comments from spectators and entrants. All seemed real impressed with how the MR2s performed. How they looked on the circuit as well as the times.

All in all, a great day for AW11's, methinks ....... :-)

Cheers
Daryl Munro

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