Mazda drivers take victories in a variety of SCCA Solo events across the country in the early months of summer.
As the weather heats up, so does the SCCA national Solo season. With three different types of events touring the country, there is something for everyone who enjoys blasting through the cones. The Championship Tour is conducted much like the Solo National Championship, with three runs on two courses over two days, with the best times on each course added together to determine winners. Match Tour events are like three events in one, with two Saturday sessions consisting of traditional three-run autocrosses, like a mini Championship Tour. Then a third session on Saturday morning determines the qualifiers for the Super, Club and Bonus shootouts, which are conducted head to head. ProSolo events are conducted on mirror courses with a Christmas tree start. Fast times on the two courses determine class winners, then the top overall contenders go head-to-head in the shootouts, with the starts playing a pivotal role.
Naturally, Mazda drivers fare well in autocross, with drivers taking wins in every event in everything from all generations of MX-5, RX-7s, RX-8s and even a 323.
At the Lincon Championship Tour in late May, Bob Bundy (949 Racing/MAZDASPEED Mazda Miata), of Anacortes, Wash., took home a narrow victory in Super Street Modified. Bundy progressively worked his way down to setting the fastest lap of the day in the class. On the second day, Bundy did not capture the best time, but had built enough of a gap to take the win over Randall Wilcox by 0.178-second.
At the Devens Airfield Championship Tour in Massachusetts in June, fierce competition was the name of the game. There was no better representation of that than in the Street Touring R class. Joseph Ottofaro (Autosportlabs.com/Hamfist Racing Mazda MX-5), of Merrick, New York, was the class leader following the first day of competition. On Sunday William Koscielny threatened Ottofaro’s lead by setting the fastest lap on the course, but ended up 0.039-second short.
The winner of C Street took home the title with an identical margin of victory. Brent Vander Werf (Mazda MX-5), of Lowell, Massachusetts, went into the overnight break in second, a whole second off the pace of then leader Brian Doherty (Mazda Motorsports Mazda RX-8). On his final run, Werf hit a homerun. He completed that run just over one second faster than Doherty. When the final tabulations were made, the win went to Werf by 0.039-second.
In X Prepared at the Championship Tour in Packwood, Wash., last weekend, Andy McKee, of Livermore, California, took home the class win at the controls of his Mike Maier, Inc./Ankeny Racing Mazda RX-7. McKee had the chance to be the class of the field on Saturday, but three runs in which he took out a cone meant he would need to rest on the least dirty of those runs. On Sunday, McKee made up for Saturday’s miscues. As the only car in the 49-second timeframe, McKee showed why he deserved the class title. That lap cleared the time of his next closest competitor, Kyriacos Panayiotou, by more than 1.5 seconds resulting in a 0.237-second margin of victory.
Mazda Winners at Summer Solo Events
| Event | Class | Driver | Car |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado Champ Tour | STR | Jodi Fordahl | MX-5 |
| Colorado Champ Tour | XP | Mark Mauro Jr. | RX-7 |
| Massachusetts Champ Tour | C Street | Brent Vander Werf | MX-5 |
| Massachusetts Champ Tour | E Street | Ed Lange | Miata |
| Massachusetts Champ Tour | STFWD | Daniel Gross | Mazda3 |
| Massachusetts Champ Tour | STS | Ben Wagstaff | Miata |
| Massachusetts Champ Tour | STR | Joseph Ottofaro | MX-5 |
| Massachusetts Champ Tour | STR Ladies | Tamra Hunt | Miata |
| Massachusetts Champ Tour | CSP | Billy Davis | Miata |
| Washington Champ Tour | C Street Ladies | Rachel Kerswill | RX-8 |
| Washington Champ Tour | E Street | Rich Blake | Miata |
| Washington Champ Tour | STS | Eric Stoltz | Miata |
| Washington Champ Tour | CSP | Brian Hemming | Miata |
| Washington Champ Tour | XP | Andy McKee | RX-7 |
| Washington Champ Tour | DP | Ron Bauer | MX-5 |
| Washington Champ Tour | SMFWD | Adam McCausland | 323 |
| Georgia Match Tour | C Street | Jason Stroud | RX-8 |
| Georgia Match Tour | C Street Ladies | Laraine Wilkinson | MX-5 |
| Georgia Match Tour | STS | Justin Harbour | Miata |
| Georgia Match Tour | FSP | Justin Barbry | 323 |
| Utah Match Tour | E Street | Kent Jolley | Mazdaspeed Miata |
| Utah Match Tour | STS | Eric Stoltz | Miata |
| Utah Match Tour | DP | Skyler Sisson | Miata |
| Mineral Wells ProSolo | SSM | Erik Strelnieks | RX-7 |
| Mineral Wells ProSolo | Race Tire Index 2 | Zachary Sober | RX-7 |
| Toledo ProSolo | C Street | Chris Harvey | MX-5 |
| Toledo ProSolo | STFWD | Bob Day | Mazda3 |
| Toledo ProSolo | STR | Alex Kang | MX-5 |
| Toledo ProSolo | CSP | Billy Davis | Miata |
| Toledo ProSolo | SSM | Randall WIlcox | Miata |
| Toledo ProSolo | Ladies 3 | Tamra Hunt | Miata |