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WHOA SOLO! SCCA Pro Solo @ El Toro, CA – April 9, 2011 – April 10, 2011

Quoc-Viet — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 22:06:16 +0000

Austin was down for maintenance. Kandi was not running. Pro Solo was coming up. However, I volunteered to be one of the Chiefs of Course for the Pro Solo, so I wanted to come by to make sure everything was cool.

For those of you unfamiliar w/ Pro Solo, it’s basically autocross on steroids – mirrored courses w/ a drag tree start where you launch against a competitor: EXCITING! For more information, you can check out solo2.com and scca.com.

Luckily for me, Stanley’s regular co-driver, Joe, was out of town. He offered me a co-drive in his SSM Miata. 275 wide Hoosier A6′s all around & 180-200ish whp (since cylinder 2 was low & boost was turned down to 15 psi, haha); “slow” as Stanley puts it. How could I refuse?

I had an absolute blast, despite stalling the poor Miata all around paddock on Friday getting used to the competition clutch. I didn’t stall off the line during my runs, but I didn’t launch very well either; everywhere from the high .6xx to 1+ second range (.500 is the perfect reaction time). The car is a MONSTER. I was having a tough time all weekend since the course was coming up so much faster than I’m used to. I still had a blast & came in 7th out of 11 while Stanley came in 5th w/ about 1 second lead over me each side of the course; not too shabby considering it was my first time driving this car & not being able to launch manuals very well, haha.

This driving experience will definitely help me with the Sprite, which seems “slow” in comparison. If I can get fast in this Miata… oh the possibilities.

Here are some pics of me from Jeff Shyu @ ikonique.com from the weekend. Check his web site for more pictures.

ProSolo This Weekend… G-Stock Here I Come!

Quoc-Viet — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:40:23 +0000

Looks like Candy will be @ the body shop longer than expected. Dropped by yesterday and she just had her body work completed & was scheduled for sanding.

That being said, I will be taking the Sentra to go get my ass kicked at the El Toro Pro Solo (as opposed to taking my 240sx to go get my ass kicked, haha). The only mod on the Sentra is the 17″ rims w/ 235′s in front -> which would put me in STX…

My plan is to put the stock rims back on and slap 225/50R15 Hankook RS-2′s on the stock 15×6″ & compete in G Stock vs all the Mini Cooper’s, eeekkk! From the Entry list, looks like most, if not all, are running R-Compounds for the event.

Man o man, what did I get myself into?

Here are the latest pictures of Candy with the completed body work, smooooottthhhh (click the picture for the main album):

So, I signed up for SCCA Pro Solo March event…

Quoc-Viet — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:32:39 +0000

So I bit the bullet and signed up for the March 29-30, 2008 Pro Solo, which is being held in El Toro. Lots of racers from all over the place are coming down. The National Solo Tour is held 2 weeks earlier in San Diego, then the Pro Solo occurs. After help from my fellow autocrossers on Solo2.com, I found my real class, EP (E Prepared) – I’m gonna get my ass handed to me, I just know it, regardless of class, haha.

For those who don’t know, the Pro Solo differs from a regular autocross with a “drag light” christmas tree start & 2 mirror courses, which 2 competitors run @ the same time, then loop around to the other side, line up, and run again.

I’ve done a few local championships, which I’ve also placed pretty low, but this should be a great new learning experience. I’ll update as the event comes closer.

In the mean-time, I found this picture of me running @ a practice down in El Toro last year in my little sister’s Sentra (yes, it’s also automatic) – IIRC, the course was based on a previous National solo or pro solo course, so I thought it was appropriate: