by Nigel Fenwick
“It wasn’t supposed to rain!” This was the refrain heard throughout the paddock on Saturday, day one of the two-day 34th annual PCA Zone 1 Autocross.
Everyone had checked the forecast the night before and no rain except maybe a shower on Sunday. But this is Devens. And Moore Airfield has its own micro climate as regular attendees will attest.
The first run group had a dry morning but the second run group was wet. Wet wet, not the damp wet, but the drive through puddles wet. Fortunately it dried up somewhat by the time the second run group were running in the afternoon. And the course was fast. Well it was fast in the dry I’m told (I’m not pouting, really). Not so much in the rain. Ollie and Chris did the course design for both days and what a stormer of a course each day was. Sunday’s course was a pure adrenaline rush from start to well after the finish. Wow.
After the wheelie combat on day one we adjourned to the annual Zone 1 BBQ for some solid bench racing and to compare results.
One twist to the competition this year was the random assignment of teams. Saturday night was a good chance to find out where our teams were standing in the competition.
On Sunday morning the first thing I did was check the weather. Dense fog till around 11.00am was forecast. So I was a little surprised when we went outside and found a gorgeous sunny day. And it stayed that way all day. Perfect autocross weather.
The competition was tough on Sunday. Each run brought an even faster run for many drivers. The fastest cars were turning in sub-sixty second runs on a full length Devens course which is rarely ever seen.
All in all it was a fantastic event. If you’ve never done a Zone 1 Autocross, don’t miss next year.
