San Diego Miata Club News November 2002
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November 2002 Volume 7 Number 11 UPCOMING EVENTS Vice President’s message To Race, or Not to Race...That is The Question November 8 - 10 have been thinking recently about all the activities that we do as a car club 3rd Bi-Annual Hearst Castle/San Simeon Run and one of the standout items in my mind is racing/competition. We have an extremely large variety of activities but I think that the competition aspect November 9 - Saturday really personifies what a car club is all about. Sure many of us really like to Slots of Fun Run II Iwatch F1, CART, and even NASCAR (turn left, turn left, crash, turn left) but being a spectator is not what it’s all about in a car club. I have to say that most of us really enjoy a drive on twisty roads at a spirited (but legal) pace. The Miata in- spires confidence and a feeling of control and, yes, power. Not the neck-snapping November 10 - Sunday Autocross at the “Q” power of big-block Detroit iron, but the feeling of power you get when you know you are the master of the machine. The Miata is so forgiving and so capable of being driven close to the limit that even an average driver is quite capable of ex- periencing this power rush. It’s one of those cases of “If I have to explain it, you November 11 - Monday wouldn’t understand.” Fortunately for us Miata drivers, it doesn’t have to be ex- Veterans Day Parade plained, only enjoyed. So what does this have to do with racing? Well it’s said that racing improves the November 21 - Thursday breed. This is applicable to both the car and the driver. If we have better control Monthly Meeting of and feel for the car we can enjoy our drives much more. First off we need to A week early due to Thanksgiving take a look at why we race. The fact of the matter is it gets right down to some very individual reasons. Most of us will say we race for FUN. Well certainly most November 30 - Saturday of the Miata folks do but there are also a lot of other reasons. Of course, in profes- Autocross at the “Q” sional racing the prime motivation is money. There are a few other reasons profes- sionals race besides money. Well, actually one other main reason, yes, you guessed, it’s ego. Now, we all have egos but apparently some folks have larger egos then others. I think that professional racers have very large egos. It’s a necessary December 1– 2 factor in winning a race where your life is on the line. The professional racing Thunderhill Track Day and Women’s Track School world is very different from the sportsman racing (trophy) world. Sportsman rac- ing can be a stepping stone to getting involved with professional racing or a means unto itself. A really big reason we race/compete with Miatas is for self improve- Friday - December 13 ment. It is really very satisfying to learn the skills that enable you to feel the con- SDMC Holiday Party nection with your Miata. In simple terms one becomes so attuned to the han- *Note NEW Date! dling and capabilities of the car and their own abilities that they know exactly how the car will react to their inputs. May 3 - 5, 2003 In our Miata world wheel-to-wheel racing is actually quite rare. There are cur- Search For Madonna 2003 rently two people (and a third is setting up a car) in the club that really race Miatas in wheel-to-wheel competition. That, of course, is SPEC Miata. The (Continued on page 2) 1 Vice President’s Message (Continued from page 1) Mission statement Board of Directors problem is you have to strip your car Executive Board down and meet all kinds of rules to he purpose of the club is to President compete. This requires a lot of devo- Tpromote the enjoyment of, SAL CAUSARANO tion and also a fair-sized bank roll. (760) 787-0624 and enthusiasm for, one of the [email protected] We do have a goodly number of world’s most exciting sports cars — Vice President folks who really enjoy going to track the Mazda Miata. STEVE KENNISON days, but those are actually controlled Owning and driving a Miata is (858) 271-8498 [email protected] schools and we are not really racing one of life’s great pleasures, and each other. Track days are not a bad Secretary adding the company and camarade- VERONICA DIDIER thing, in fact they are an absolute blast rie of like-minded enthusiasts only (619) 421-8024 with minimal risk to life and Miata. enhances the experience. Won’t you [email protected] You can learn a great deal and have a join the fun as we enjoy the beauty Treasurer lot of fun doing it. The nice thing is JIM BROKAW of San Diego County from the seat (619) 421-2110 you can pretty much have a stock of a very special little roadster? [email protected] Miata. Most tracks require a roll bar, Let's have fun driving our Miatas! Administrative Board but there are a few tracks (Streets of Membership DAVE MARTIN & GALE CHAN Newsletter Team Willow) that are small enough and (619) 582-2448 or (858) 492-9227 slow enough that the requirement is [email protected] ANTHONY “NEVADABOB” WILDE - Editor dropped. Wear and tear on your [email protected] Events Coordinator Miata is moderate (especially brakes STEVE WAID VOODOO BOB KRUEGER (760) 432-0727 and tires) but when you consider only [email protected] [email protected] doing 2 or 3 track days a year it be- DIANE LONG Club E-mail Postmaster/Webmaster comes quite acceptable. [email protected] ROBERT “JTBOB” HOLLAND The last form of racing is what we TOM SPRAGUE (858) 549-4011 call autocross. As most of you know, [email protected] [email protected] Club Regalia Copies by SEAN O’CONNOR autocross is a timed event held on a PAULA KENNISON & ROSALIND SCOTT SIGN UP (858) 486-6771 large (fairly) flat area. Accidents are (858) 271-8498 or (760) 789-3872 [email protected] rare and car wear and tear is minimal. Of course you do eat up tires over Newsletter ANTHONY “NEVADABOB” WILDE time but nowhere near the wear rates (858) 693-8095 at an actual race track. If you consider [email protected] f you have recently been to the that the average time you are on To send e-mail to all members of the board: SAN DIEGO MIATA CLUB web site course is about 60 seconds (for 3 laps, I [email protected] (www.sandiegomiataclub.org), you proba- about 3 minutes total) you can see the Notices bly have noticed a new banner adver- wear exposure is minimal. The SAN DIEGO MIATA CLUB is a non-profit Cali- tising SERIOUS AUTO. This new AN IEGO IATA LUB Miatas are perfect for autocrossing. fornia corporation. The S D M C program is called the Serious Auto NEWS is the monthly newsletter of the SAN DIEGO They are perfectly balanced front to MIATA CLUB. Use of articles or stories by other Affiliate Program. When a club mem- rear (weight distribution) and han- Miata clubs is hereby granted, provided proper credit ber (or whoever) clicks through that is given. Submissions to the newsletter are welcomed dle…well you know how they handle. link and buys something, SDMC gets and encouraged. Where possible, please e-mail your On the tighter autocross courses the submissions to the newsletter editor. Submissions a 3% commission on the purchase. times between showroom stock can also be mailed to the club’s post office box. The Board felt this is a win-win situa- Miatas and showroom stock Corvettes Submission deadline is the 15th of each month. tion for the club in that it costs us ab- Editor reserves the right to edit all submissions. get extremely close. This just goes to solutely nothing and we may be able show the extremely fine handling that The SAN DIEGO MIATA CLUB has established a to gain some revenue from the trans- dedicated World Wide Web Home Page at: the Miatas produce. And in case you actions. The Serious Auto Affiliate www.sandiegomiataclub.org aren’t aware, the Corvette is the best program is successfully being used by Dedicated 24-hour voice message line: (619) 582-2448 performance bang (in it’s price range) many other Miata clubs around the SAN DIEGO MIATA CLUB for the buck next to the Miata. But country. So, if you are planning to P.O. Box 23081 the real difference between the two is purchase something from SERIOUS, San Diego CA 92193 that the Miata is just plain more fun please click through the SDMC web (Continued on page 15) 2 Upcoming Events for the month of November 3rd Bi-Annual Hearst Home: (619) 470-7860 Drive (check-in point). Castle/San Simeon Run Office: (619) 400-5323 I-5 from the south: take the “Cruise Dates: November 8 – 10 Cell: (619) 884-5917 Ship Terminal/Airport” exit, Haw- Meeting Time Drivers Meeting 8:30 FRS Radio: Channel 7, no CTC, thorne, west on Hawthorne to Pacific a.m.—sharp Call sign “Scott” Highway, left (south) on Pacific With a theme of “Let Us Not For- Departure Time: 9 a.m.—sharp Highway to Ash Street (just past back get!”, the 2002 edition of the San Meeting Place: Madonna Inn Parking side of County Administration build- Diego Veterans Day Parade will be Lot, San Luis Obispo, CA ing on your right), right on Ash Street held on Harbor Drive from Grape Contacts: BARI RUSSELL, (west) one block to Harbor Drive [email protected] Street to Seaport Village.