SOCSA AUTOCROSS

Anton Wannenberg, one of our resident rally drivers (excluding those of us that make unintentional off track excursions) has been successfully organizing a Gymkhana series at The Rock Raceway in Brakpan, and invited SOCSA for an event he termed GymkhanaX, a hybrid of the long and fast sections of AutoX and the tight technical sections of gymkhana.

 Despite his betrayal in joining the Ford camp in his highly modified Fiesta, we decided to join him nonetheless, offering seven newbies a free entry for the day.  The entries were eagerly snapped up and so there were two convoys of Scoobs that set off for the far reaches of Johannesburg to go and kill some cones
 
When we arrived (after certain shop alarms were set off by certain exhausts), documentation proceeded quickly as organizers politely asked us to stop standing around talking about our cars and start driving them towards scrutineering so the day could begin.  We duly took a slow drive around the circuit to learn the course that Anton had laid out for us, and the perfectly smooth surface was littered with camber changes and demanding layouts of cones for us to negotiate at the highest speed our talent/cars/bravery would allow..

Only the perfect organization that we saw on the day would allow each competitor to get SIX runs during the day, with your time announced over the loudspeakers just as you finished parking your car.  There was more entertainment in the waiting areas before you set off and after your run, with friends applauding loudly when you got the course right, and laughing far more loudly when you clipped a cone or forgot the direction the steering wheel should be pointing.  The food at the track shop was good, and quite a few spectators showed up to see what all the fuss was about!

There were a lot of new faces at the event who had a fantastic time learning about what their cars could do, and seeing just how late they could brake and how close tot he cones they could get.  Everyone said they would be back for another fun-filled event like this on the 26th of May.  However, at this event it was once again the Scoobs that shone, with a Subaru on top in every class!  Wayne Hay won the Race class, Craig Watson won the Street Modified class and Chett Meyer won the Street class.

Article by Craig57

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BREAKFAST RUN/NOGGIN

SOCSA Gauteng had their second breakfast run for the year recently, which was enjoyed by some new faces to the club; new members, members who had moved up from the coast and some committee members from TeamST joined the usual suspects for a run out to Magaliesberg to enjoy some of Wimpy’s finest coffee.  As a happy coincidence, the route took in the usual mix of great (and empty) roads and fantastic scenery, and the drivers and passengers could look forward to a breakfast at a new venue, Chef and The Fat Man in Fourways.   There was a good solid 24 cars on the run, and we are hoping for even more for our May event!

Some of the newer members were upset at the very early departure time, until they saw the swathes of lycra on the way back and understood the need to avoid the cyclists.  Unfortunately, one of the many navigational whizzkids in the club decided on a rout with speed bumps on the way back, and so a few lowered Impreza’s were seen clambering slowly and almost gracefully over the speedbumps, careful not to leave an exhaust or a diffuser behind.

The arrival at the parking lot of the breakfast venue was the usual unsubdued, noisy and enjoyable affair, restaurant staff came out to watch as Subaru’s were parked at slightly higher rev’s than was strictly necessary, with a few backfires and flames for good measure, and to entertain the 3 years olds in the kiddies play area and the 3 year olds in the Scoobs!

The breakfast buffet was great, and the staff were only too keen to have us (and our cars) back again for our next run on the 20th of May, where we will be conducting a blanket run to keep the elderly warm in the winter, so please make sure you come and support!

SOCSA had another social event at Brightwater Commons, bowling with the aim of actually hitting the pins.  I arrived a bit late, to find that the bar had been visited first instead of the lanes.  The bar aided in us coming up with a number of creative nicknames for each other to be added onto the scoresheet, although a few of them cannot be printed on a public website without a disclaimer.  There were many other jokes and banter throughout the evening, with a few new faces visiting us from far and wide, like Jean from the north of Pretoria and Anton from Newcastle!

The bowling started off with my laughter at Wayne’s bowling shoes, and ended up with everyone laughing at my “spastic” “slightly down syndromed” bowling.  Middle fingers were thrown by “ladies”, bowling balls were stolen and a good time was had by all, including the wives and girlfriends that came along for the spectacle and to participate!  There was a late dinner afterwards were there was even some discussion about things that didn’t revolve around the blessed life we all lead with All Wheel Drive

Article by Craig57

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