Miatas Sweep RWD at RallyCross Nationals

For another year, Miata drivers win every rear-wheel-drive class at the SCCA RallyCross National Championships.

On dirt as well as pavement, the Miata has once again been proven as the car to have when faced with a course marked with pylons and a stopwatch.

Nine new SCCA RallyCross® National Champions were crowned in the 11th edition of the season-ending competition for RallyCross, a timed competition on non-paved surfaces where drivers run one at a time against the clock. The lowest cumulative time wins. It was the culmination of a two-day competition that kicked off the SCCA National Championship season.

This year’s meet was the first that the season-ending event was held in Indianola, Iowa. The area was an enjoyable challenge for each of the drivers, as a different soil consistency and sizable elevation changes rewarded those able to adjust most quickly.

While RallyCross is most easily described as a Solo competition held on dirt, there is one big difference between the two types of competition – the scoring. Unlike Solo, which only adds together the two best single runs from each course, RallyCross winners are determined by adding together the times of all runs taken throughout the weekend. As a result, consistency across each run is the key to taking home a national title.

Mother Nature played a significant role in the weekend’s competition. Saturday morning started with wet conditions. Before the grass surface of the site was turned into a dirt path, the course was very slick. But that changed dramatically as the day wore on. As more wet dirt was exposed, the course became increasingly slimy. Adjusting to the changing conditions on the fly became very important.

As they did last year, Miata drivers took every rear-wheel-drive category – Stock, Prepared and Modified. Unlike in Solo, where there are many classes for cars based on their abilities, there are only nine in RallyCross: Three levels of preparation for front-, rear- and all-wheel-drive cars.

John Lambert fended off 12 other drivers in Modified RWD to claim the class national title in his Miata. Patryk Matecki was dominant in Prepared Rear-Wheel Drive, winning his class by a margin of 118.663sec in his Bristol Brewing/Shorai Technology Mazda Miata.

In Stock Rear-wheel Drive, Tim Hardy, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was the on-track victor by a relatively narrow margin of 6.179sec in his MAZDASPEED/Thanks Patryk! Mazda Miata. Hardy notched solid times during his seven runs on Saturday, but sealed the deal on Sunday with three class-topping runs.

SCCA RallyCross National Championships
National Balloon Classic
Indianola, Iowa, Aug. 8-9, 2015.
Mazda RallyCross National Champions (provisional)

Class Driver Hometown Car
Modified Rear-wheel Drive John Lambert unavailable Mazda Miata
Prepared Rear-wheel Drive Patryk Matecki Monument, Colo. Mazda Miata
Stock Rear-wheel Drive Tim Hardy Colorado Springs, Colo. Mazda Miata