The Mohawk-Hudson chapter of the Sports Car Club of America hosted
their 6th solo series autocross event of the season on August 30 at the
Wilton Mall parking lot.
Sixty-five drivers from all over the region met at the parking lot between Dick's Sporting Goods and the Bon Ton at the Wilton Mall to test their agility and performance against the clock.
Autocrossing is a competition that tests driver agility. The drivers raced one lap around a parking lot course marked with orange cones, typically completing the course in 30 to 45 seconds. Speeds typically do not exceed 45 miles per hour, and for each cone knocked over a driver receives a two second penalty to their final score.
The solo time trials were divided into classes based on performance capability, and the types of modifications that have been added to the car. Some of the categories for Sunday's time trial included stock, street prepared, prepared, modified and street modified, and each car had a class ranking within each category.
"I use a simple analogy to explain the different classes: A Corvette wouldn't compete against a Honda Civic, there is no way that the two could be competitive against each other," Russell Burckhard, Solo Chairman and Assistant Regional Executive, said.
Most of the participating cars were street legal, except for a few that arrived on trailers as they could not be driven to the event.
"What we do with the solo program is more for daily drivers," Burckhard said.
According to Tom Moeller, a two year member of the Mohawk-Hudson chapter, "most people just show up in the car they drove to the trials in."
The Mohawk-Hudson chapter of the SCCA also offers driving courses, including a Street Survivor course that targets high school students.
"The purpose of the course is to teach high school students how to control their car. If they have better knowledge of how their car works, they will be able to handle the wheel in an adverse situation," Burckhard said.
"We basically push our vehicles to the limit to get a better understanding of what we are doing in the car," Burkhard said.
The Sports Car Club is open to any driver and any type of car as long as it passes a mandatory club inspection. The Club's first event of every season is a Car Control Course, and the chapter typically holds between six and eight time trail events. The next solo event is on September 20 at an overflow lot in Albany. For more information about the Mohawk-Hudson chapter of the SCCA, visit their website: www.mohud-scca.org.
Autocrossing is a competition that tests driver agility. The drivers raced one lap around a parking lot course marked with orange cones, typically completing the course in 30 to 45 seconds. Speeds typically do not exceed 45 miles per hour, and for each cone knocked over a driver receives a two second penalty to their final score.
The solo time trials were divided into classes based on performance capability, and the types of modifications that have been added to the car. Some of the categories for Sunday's time trial included stock, street prepared, prepared, modified and street modified, and each car had a class ranking within each category.
"I use a simple analogy to explain the different classes: A Corvette wouldn't compete against a Honda Civic, there is no way that the two could be competitive against each other," Russell Burckhard, Solo Chairman and Assistant Regional Executive, said.
Most of the participating cars were street legal, except for a few that arrived on trailers as they could not be driven to the event.
"What we do with the solo program is more for daily drivers," Burckhard said.
According to Tom Moeller, a two year member of the Mohawk-Hudson chapter, "most people just show up in the car they drove to the trials in."
The Mohawk-Hudson chapter of the SCCA also offers driving courses, including a Street Survivor course that targets high school students.
"The purpose of the course is to teach high school students how to control their car. If they have better knowledge of how their car works, they will be able to handle the wheel in an adverse situation," Burckhard said.
"We basically push our vehicles to the limit to get a better understanding of what we are doing in the car," Burkhard said.
The Sports Car Club is open to any driver and any type of car as long as it passes a mandatory club inspection. The Club's first event of every season is a Car Control Course, and the chapter typically holds between six and eight time trail events. The next solo event is on September 20 at an overflow lot in Albany. For more information about the Mohawk-Hudson chapter of the SCCA, visit their website: www.mohud-scca.org.
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Very nice article. A few clarifications: 1) We ended up with a final tally of 71 entrants, 2) each entrant received a total of 5 laps, but not consecutively, and 3) our next event is being held at the McCarty Ave OGS parking lot at the south end of I-787. Thanks for the coverage!
EJ Smith
Timing & Scoring
MoHud SCCA