Jeff Cawthorne won the STR class at the SCCA San Diego Championship Tour.

Mazda Drivers Take SCCA Solo Wins

The SCCA Solo season is in full swing and two back-to-back Championship Tour events featured a plethora of Mazda winners. First up was the College Station, Texas, Tour, followed a week later by the San Diego Tour.

The Tire Rack SCCA Solo College Station Championship Tour, held on the Texas A&M University Riverside Annex, home of the Texas A&M Sports Car Club, was the second of the eight events leading to the Tire Rack Solo National Championships in September. All Championship Tour meets use the traditional class-style competition that will be utilized to decide National Champions at the Lincoln (Neb.) Airpark. Three runs each on two different courses – or the same course run the opposite direction – over two days determined the winner, with the best run of each day combined determining a competitor’s time.

Like the two previous National Solo events already in the books, extreme weather conditions had an influence on the weekend’s results. While the weather was palatable during competition on Saturday and Sunday, conditions became downright inhospitable late Friday afternoon as course designer Viveck Goel transformed his visions into reality.

Strong winds picked up dust, dirt and any other small items not tied down. Rain drops and hailstones then fell on anyone that had not already sought shelter. The atmospheric outburst left standing water on the course for drivers to navigate during Saturday’s opening runs.

X Prepared produced a nail-biting finish, which was decided by only 0.218s. Vitek Boruvka (AXWare Systems Mazda MX-5), of Austin, Texas, would end up the winner; but Thomas Thompson certainly made things interesting. Boruvka was the overnight leader in the class with a best time of 66.130. While he only ran the second-quickest time during Sunday’s three runs, Boruvka was able to hold his lead.

After College Station, the Championship Tour moved to San Diego, where the city’s distinction as one of the sunniest in the nation left little chance that the event would be marred by weather. The competitors were greeted with postcard-perfect weather for two days of competition.

Mark Hasbun, of Nipomo, Calif., won H Street by a razor-thin margin of 0.054s. Hasbun and his Mazda3 took a 0.137sec lead into the second day of competition, but Barry Twycross added to the intrigue by bettering his rival’s opening Sunday lap. In the subsequent two runs, neither competitor could better their times, leaving Hasbun at the top of the standings.

The Tire Rack SCCA Solo Championship Tour Series heads to New Jersey to go to battle in the parking lot at MetLife Stadium, May 3-4. More information on The Tire Rack SCCA Solo Program is available at scca.com/solo

College Station SCCA Solo Championship Tour
Texas A&M Riverside Annex
March 29-30, 2014
Mazda Winners

Class Driver Hometown Car
E Street Gerry Terranova Allen Texas Miata
E Street Ladies Stephanie Boehm Austin Texas Miata
Street Touring FWD David Hedderick Pearland Texas Mazda3
Street Touring Sport Ladies Sharon Eberlein Aledo Texas Miata
C Street Prepared Kenneth Baker Aledo Texas MX-5
X Prepared Vitek Boruvka Austin Texas MX-5
D Prepared Drew VanderPloeg Pflugerville Texas Miata
Super Street Modified Michael Wootton Austin Texas MX-5

San Diego SCCA Solo Championship Tour
Qualcomm Stadium
April 5-6, 2014
Mazda Winners

Class Driver Hometown Car
B Street Ladies Barbara LeRoy-Boehme San Diego MX-5
C Street Scott Lewis San Diego MX-5
C Street Ladies Sherri Savage Cardiff by the Sea Calif. MX-5
E Street Martin Coghill Chula Vista Calif. Miata
H Street Mark Hasbun Nipomo Calif. Mazda3
Street Touring Sport Glen Hernandez Marysville Wash. Miata
Street Touring R Jeff Cawthorne San Diego MX-5
Street Touring R Ladies Terry Mayo San Diego MX-5
C Street Prepared Bill Schenker Corona del Mar Calif. Miata
Super Street Modified KJ Christopher Redondo Beach Calif. Miata