DRIVE LIKE A BOSS AT AUTOCROSS

AUTOCROSS IS BACK FOR 2022 !!!

Story and Photos by Keith E. Jacobson 

 

The Bay State Corvette Club ran their first autocross of the season on Sunday, April 10th. For those not familiar with the event their web site says: " Autocross is a form of motorsports that emphasizes safe, low-cost competition and active participation. An autocross is a timed competition where drivers navigate one at a time through a temporary course marked by traffic cones, rather than racing on a track with multiple other cars, as in road racing or oval racing. 

 Autocross tends to place more emphasis on car handling and driver skill than on sheer horsepower, and events typically have many classes which allow almost any vehicle, from economy sedans to purpose-built vehicles, to compete. 

Speeds are slower in absolute terms when compared to other forms of motorsports, usually not exceeding highway speeds, but the activity level (measured in discrete turns per minute) can be higher than even Formula One due to the large number of elements packed into each course. 

 Autocross courses are typically 40 to 70 seconds in length. In addition to being a national-level motorsport in its own right, autocrossing is a good way to learn skills that transfer to road racing, as drivers learn vehicle control and club ethics."

For more information check out their Facebook page or follow the link above.

 

 

 

THERE ARE VARIOUS CLASSES BY SKILL LEVEL AND EQUIPMENT SO NOVICES SHOULDN'T FEEL INTIMIDATED.

STILL ROLLING AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

 

My car show season started on Sunday, March 27th. The day was cool, in the low 50s, with scattered clouds, and a light breeze blowing at my location, the Bristol Harbor Inn in Bristol, Rhode Island.

This was "The #Audrain Motorsport Newport-Bristol Veteran Car Tour." The participating motors were limited to the years 1901-1910.Two cool cars at the event with local manufacturing connections were a #Stanley Steamer, built at a factory on the city line of Newton and Watertown, Massachusetts.

Also, an #Orient Motor Buckboard built by the Waltham Manufacturing Company in Waltham, Massachusetts.

 About 25 cars gathered in Newport for the run with around 15 making it to Bristol. There was a 1901 Oldsmobile piloted by well known car guy and TV personality Wayne #Carini.

One of the last to arrive was a 1902 Packard that had problems and couldn't run at regular speed but did make it with the driver and passengers giving high fives as they backed into a parking space.

All of the cars were wonderful and many rarely seen in public. To     name drop a few a Stevens Duryea, a Winton, a Fiat race car, a 1902  Yale, Packard, and many others. A great time that should become an annual event.