,
Of course, where there are parachutists there are also planes. Runways to the south of the course were in full operation.
While the parachutists and planes did not land on the autoslalom course or the closed runway being used as the paddock, at least one plane (a float plane from the looks of it) meandered through the paddock. Perhaps the pilot wanted a closer look at the cars? They were actually on route to the plane's hangers – but it did make a lot of us take a second look. The puddle isn't from rain – the heat is causing ground water to seep through to the surface!
The key to autoslalom is running fast and clean. An additional component to this National competition is that all four events are tallied which meant that being consistent was crucial. Coming as close to the cones at possible while maintaining a fast line was essential. Mitch Burton was pushing his MX-5 to the limit, going home with a third place in Street Touring R behind two Honda S-2000's. His time was 217.726 for the four events.
Making Mazda RX-8 owners proud, we have Jordan Valgardson's RX-8 shaving the cones! Jordan was the event registrar and working continuously before, after, and during the event to make it run smoothly. Justin Holme, his co-driver pictured above, took the RX-8 to a 3rd place finish with a time of 223.468 seconds combined. Jordan was two spots back in 5th place with a raw time of 223.667 seconds. There were 4 cars in STX with combined times of 223.xxx seconds for some great competition.
The number 56/156 2016 Ford Focus RS put up an amazing David and Goliath type battle as Doug Mikko (wearing #156) and Tasha Mikko (#56) sliced every cone and used every pony under their RS's hood to bring home 3rd (Doug – 221.092) and 4th (Tasha – 222.417) behind a C5 Corvette and a Porsche Cayman in the B Street class.
Alan Rae did not touch cones too often as he brought home a victory in the D Modified class with a raw time of 218.635 seconds. Unfortunately, he did get one in this run, which meant a fast sprint for one of the many volunteers who were out on the course, ensuring that no one was held up.
