Farmington Pro Solo

   Being thrifty (cheap) means that my old autox tires now serve daily driver duties; I hope it doesn't rain much on my trip to the SCCA Farmington Pro Solo. A San Diego local SSP competitior will be transporting my newish Toyo tires.  At over 5000ft elevation, the McGee Park event site has a gradually sloped large rectangular asphalt lot suitable for two decent sized mirrored courses. 

  









   844 miles away, I will travel all day Thursday to get there and show up refreshed for practice starts and the welcome party on Friday afternoon.  STR currently has 14 entries listed and is the largest non bump class. No boosted cars are eligible for the class so the altitude should wreak havoc equally on everybody's powerplant.  Not sure how the clutch is going to like it though.

   Not much room in the miata.  With the pedals removed, the folding bike still barely fits. 

   Thrifty also means that I am not planning to develop the car any further at this time, and will just keep up maintenance and may possibly even re-install the air conditioning.  And bolting on the quieter Borla muffler and mounting the stock driver seat between events will bring much welcome comfort.

Farmington ProSolo Results





   The video above shows my first run of the weekend on the left side course.  I was more agressive and able to hold a tighter line in the crossover during the later runs and aside from some cone trouble thought I drove really well, but K-Mo killed the class in the Bjorn MX5.  Weather was sunny and hot.  As expected, the nearly full tread Toyos felt a little squishy and delayed in the slalom, but not bad enough to give up eight tenths per side.  Even the well-developed lightweight Toyota MR-S on sticker Hankooks could not keep pace with the bigger cars.  Launching at altitude required a clutch dump at 4500 rpm giving just enough wheelspin to keep the clutch happy and resulting in 2.4-2.5 60ft times.  Shifting to second is where I most noticed the lack of power due to the elevation. 

  












   For Saturday afternoon I raised the rear ride height 1/8" to help rotation.  Tire pressures set at 28F, 27R.

Seat Time

   Wake up early Sunday July 1st and drive to El Toro to buy the used 15x7.5" Rotas from Jeff W.  Not feeling well nor motivated so I compete out of class in the morning in CSM (California Street Modified) on the old Toyos. Only (ugh!) a half second behind STR class winner Max H. but he was using very old Dunlops.

El Toro Autox Results

    Rear bearings in the upper shock mounts are loose and noisy due to a modification involving a welder that must have damaged the liner.  Not a big deal at the moment, but new bearings are on the way.


   Multiple slaloms and the world's most epic sweeper make up the July autocross weekend at the Q.  A suggestion was made to have a slalom intensive course for the practice day on Saturday and the result was maybe a little too narrow and busy.  A somewhat refreshing change from the typical road course type third gear stuff we have seen recently.  I drove on my old 195 Toyos and all seemed to work well aside from a bunch of power-on oversteer.  The usual Northwest corner sweeper was one of the best ever and flowed really well with a large fast off-camber downhill decreasing radius exit.  Hot sunshine all weekend.

   Sunday's championship event was mostly the same with a reverse flow and just as many transitions which should favor small cars including my STR Miata.  The 180*+ sweeper was now on-camber uphill and nearly flatout.  New full tread 195 Toyos finally get their first heat cycle in preparation for next weeks ProSolo and eventually Nationals. Run one, mold release.  Run two, fastest.  Run three and four I try too hard, get behind, slow down and cone.  First place by a tenth with new tires and a favorable course.  Sorry, no video from my car, but you can see video HERE from a street tire RX8.

Final San Diego Results

   Lincoln AirPark is huge.  A bicycle is good to have there and also comes in handy at smaller venues too.  I bought a lightweight folding bike off craigslist that features 16" wheels, a magnesium frame, six gears, and a comfy seat.  Weighing only 23 pounds, it folds quickly and easily and is small enough to fit on the Miata passenger seat, but a little too awkward and bulky to squeeze completely into the passenger footwell.  Some folding pedals and minor dissasembly should make it fit better.