Over the course of the last year and a half, I’ve only raced in the rain once.   This is largely due to the location of our Autocross events.  Barbers Point Naval Air Station is located in the relatively dry area of West Oahu.  Rain is a common occurrence closer to the mountains; in fact, almost EVERY weather report for Oahu includes “windward and Mauka (mountain area) showers in the morning…”  (see our autocross location)

Imagine my surprise when we were setting out Sunday morning and there were indications that we might get some rain.  I confidently left our jackets at home because I figured it would dry out as the morning progressed.  Boy was I wrong.  The showers came right over us, soaked the track, washed away the chalk lining the course and created standing water puddles on our very flat runway.  By the time the first heat started, the rain had slowed to a light sprinkle.  STS was first up and that meant the Subaru contingent was racing in the kind of weather their cars were designed for.  This also meant that Fran had to run in the mostly wet conditions. 

Fran’s first run produced a 70.817, and she had to run the wipers because of the light drizzle.  By the time her second run came up the rain had slowed enough to drop the top for better headroom and visibility.  Because cars were running on the track, the puddles were turning into a drying line that showed where the cars before had gone through the turn.  In these conditions, Fran improved to a 70.124, then a 68.414, and finally a slightly quicker 68.412.  She handled the slick conditions perfectly, completing four runs without any cones down, and no spins.   Her times earned her second in A Stock and 33^rd out of 82 drivers.

By the time my heat was ready to run, the track was dry.  You would think this would give us a tremendous advantage, and I’m sure some of us were able to take advantage of the improved track conditions.  Granted, my times were faster than Fran’s, but then they usually are!  The surprising this was that my best time was only three seconds clear of her best, and I was on a dry track!   I never go away from an autocross happy when my best time is my first time on the track.  That’s exactly how this weekend developed.  My first circuit would prove to be the fastest at 65.449.  I DNF’d my next run when the tail got away from me and I missed a gate.  The third run could have been my best, but a cone caught by the back of the car as the tail wagged added 2 seconds to my time and produced a 65.812.  On the final run the tail did more than just “wag”, it came all the way around!   What’s going on here!?  What happened to the wonderfully balanced car that I could hold in a four-wheel drift?  The answer may lie in the Bridgestone RE-730 tires.  They’ve got a few more miles on them, and I suspect that as they age they are shifting the balance of the car towards an oversteer condition.  Oh well, it's still quick enough to win A Stock and get me to 20th overall.  The complete results are posted here.