In an effort to bring you the solo news that matters most, we will be experimenting with a few different formats and styles of reporting news and views. The latest is a Paddock Report, keeping you up to date on all the event buzz. So here is the report from the San Diego tour, complete with new rides, new tires and past champions poised to reclaim their titles.
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Gary Thomason and Andy McKee debut a new R-Compound tire from Goodyear, dubbed the RS, with wins in Super Stock and Super Street Modified. Paddock rumors circled claiming both that the tires outlast other options and that they wear faster than the Hoosier A6. The tires are designed to have temperature tolerances ideal for autocross according to Jeff Kiesel, who has a long standing relationship with Goodyear and is heavily involved in the project. Expect to see the range of sizes to expand quickly, with a strong possibility of Street Prepared friendly 13 and 15 inch sizes soon.
Defending CSP National Champion Scott Fraser and car owner Tom Kubo arrived on Friday with a new-built Miata complete with power steering and ABS. The car had been trailered to the LA area on Thursday, and then driven to San Diego to break in the motor. The duo were not particularly happy with the car on the practice course, which inspired a late night thrash to prepare the car for Saturday. Despite some teething issues, Fraser was able to take the CSP win for the weekend. Unfortunately, during CSPL competition, the engine had a terminal failure, leaving them scrambling for a solution for this weekend’s El Toro Pro.
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Ken Motonishi, who won STR at Nationals last year, was suspiciously absent from the San Diego Tour. He did make an appearance on Sunday, explaining that family obligations kept him from competing. Though not confirmed, many expect to see Motonishi return to ASP this season.
In other ASP news, 2010 DSP National Champion, Brian Peters has jumped to the an AWD Turbo 911 with the PDK dual clutch transmission. Despite the weight and width disadvantages of the Porsche on an often narrow, fast speed maintenance course, Peters ended up within a tenth of the class win. It will be interesting to see how this combination of driver and car fare as the season progresses.
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With the SEB requesting member comment on a new look for Street Prepared, the San Diego Tour may have given a sneak-peak into the future of at least one SP class. Behind the Berry-Grice juggernaut in BSP, was a very stout effort from Pierre Maurier and Carl Vanderschuit in a 2001 Boxster. The car features a later model Boxster engine and the smallest brakes that Porsche made for the car, to leave room for the 15 inch wheels and tires. The package seemed to work very well as both Boxster drivers posted Sunday scratch times roughly a second off the pace set by class winner, Tom Berry.
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2009 Street Modified and Street Modified Ladies National Champions, Mike Simanyi and Katy Nicholls seem poised to make another run at the titles. With no other Street Mod cars at the Tour, both jumped into faster classes, Katy in Super Street Modified, Mike in X-Prepared and both finishing in second.
