A Different Kind of AX Options

[Joseph Mills]

Just for fun last sunday I attended the Central Oklahoma Jaguar Association club's autocross.

They were kind enough to let me participate.

There were a couple of XKE's that were pretty nice, a red roadster and a red coupe (pretty hot), plus an assortment of mid 80's sedans (V12's?), and smaller, brand new sport sedans. A dealer brought out a brand new big silver turbo'd roadster that everyone was slobbering over.

It was pretty entertaining to see what they pulled out of their trunks. At an SCCA AX you will see guys pulling out big tool boxes, floor jacks, air tanks, etc. Out of the Jags came brief cases, golf bags, gym bags, picnic baskets, etc. Not your typical teener crowd. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

At first glance their AX course seemed rather small and simple, but as it turns out, it's pretty cool. It is a set course that is adhered to by the other Jag clubs all over the country.

It consists of an oval that has a gate at midway of the straights that connects the two turns. Each timed run consists of 3 consecutive laps. The 1st lap you drive around and inside of the two gates on the straights which creates an hour glass shape. The 2nd lap you drive it as a figure 8. The 3rd lap you drive thru the gates on the straights turning it into an oval. There is a garage stop at the finish. You get 5 timed runs.

It was tougher than you would think and was way fun. It was very easy to get lost or skip one of your laps.

Although not a hight speed course, nevertheless, without needing much space, you can set up a course that has a variety of obstacles and turns, requires some concentration skills to not become lost and provides a 45-55 second run. And you can compare your times to other competitors in different geographical locations all over the country. And I guess over the years you can see if you're getting faster or slower. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/biggrin.gif)

Pretty neat concept. Maybe we could do something like this for the 914Cup series someday?

Sparky did pretty good against the Jags. After the runs were finished, several guys came over asking "what kind of engine do you have in that monster?" That put a big grin on my face..."awe, it's a lil' 4-banger volkswagon motor." (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/rolleyes.gif)