After more than 3 days of this, I feel compelled to say something.
With all of the classes, and the numbers of drivers, there are always going
to be people who are not as fast, and over dogs. Cars that are very well
prepared, and cars that are barely able to run. And of course, there are the
interesting combinations. Great cars with not so great drivers, and great
drivers who take a pile of junk and win. All of this helps make autocrossing
alot of fun in my book. I think all of us know, at least in the back of our
minds, that this sport is over 90% driver. If the car has any chance at all,
the driver will make or break the chances of taking home a championship. This
is true in virtually every class as well.
It is easy to pick on CP. They are a very interesting group in many ways.
Looking at the top cars though, it is very evident that ther is some good
engineering going on here. Having rules that level the play field is not a
bad thing, and this group enjoys the stability of being able to just fine
tune from year to year withjout having to buy or build a new car every time a
new car comes out or a rule changes. The allowed mods make the car building
more impoirtant than in many other classes, while still keeping the huge
money from being able to totally run away with it. Why is this bad?
Every class has the also rans too. Last time I looked at the rule book there
was no rule saying you had to be within 2 seconds of the leader to be allowed
to run. The only way to get better is seat time. And seat time at national
events is the best trainign you will get. When I ran HS then ES I thought I
could get a trophy, HAH, I was humbled and ended up mid pack.
I have thought about building a CP car several times. I am a tinkerer and
really enjoy modifying my car. I started messing with my 83 Celica over 10
years ago. I was stuck running it in EM for a few years until SM came along.
I had alot of fun, but was about 5 seconds behind Steve Tamandli when he
would come up to Chicago. I chose to keep my car streetable for a few
reasons. The main one being, I like to drive it. I put over 5,000 miles a
year on my old SM car, and will be DRIVING it out to Topeka this year to have
some fun in SM. If I built a CP car, It could not be driven on the street.
Even pushing the rules of SM, it SHOULD still be legal to drive it around, if
not very comfortable. This is the reason I am playing where I am. I am
hopeful I can squease in to the trophies, but I know I am compromising a bit
by keeping my car truly streetable, but that is my choice. I seem to remember
seeing several CP cars with plates on them, and full interiors etc. They can
still have fun, right?
I agree with many of the CPer's comments. If you fel the class is soft, go
ahead and show them up. Same is true for SM or SM2. We are still trying to
figure out what works and what doesn't. Going from 140 hp to 320 hp in a 1983
Celica shure changed how it drove. I have been working for 3 years to make it
turn again. At the Peru tour I missed the last trophy spot by 2/10's. I have
since made another change and hopefully made up that and then some. Building
the car is half the fun.
Gary Meissner
1983 SM turbo Celica
(yes, I have been beat by an ESP car and a CSP car, but I am working on that)
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