GTA Autocross Series	This page courtesy of the Chattanooga Region SCCA and Ben Thatcher
October Middle Georgia Results (#8)

Class: Entrant:             Make:           Time:

BS     Rick Cone            Miata           52.78
       John Darrow          Miata           53.686

BSL    Jeanne Darrow        Miata           55.993

CS     Scott Adams          MR2             60.585

DS     Michael Coon         Neon            49.666

ES     Jim Hendrickson      Escort          55.058
       Lindsey Mateer       Celica          57.018
       Clay Smith           CRX             60.226

FS     Jerry Grigg          Camaro          54.161
       Bert Kelly           Ford Truck      62.594

GS     Alex Muresan         Acura           53.298
       Tiberiu Muresan      Acura           53.996
       Cliff Walton         Merkur          56.732
       Ethan Lambert        Probe           57.019
       Greg Paul            Merkur          60.22

HS     Lucas Grote          Saturn          57.404

CSP    Reese Remy           Mazda RX7       50.761
       Nancy Thatcher       914             55.078

DSP    Brett Howell         Civic           52.377
       Darrell Drogula      Mustang         56.464
       Robert Coulter       Civic           59.519

AP     Ben Thatcher         914             52.531
       Brad Boardwell       Porsche 930     52.618

BP     Mark Brenchley       300ZX           49.069

EM     Tom Heldenberg       Datsun 510      49.399

FM     Clint McMahan        Daredevil 440   46.788
       Jim Murphy           Daredevil 440   48.441
       Bob Clay             Zink 440             +
       Warren Hatfield      Zink 440            ++
       Tom Lumm             Zink 440           +++

Fsae   Mac Quillian         FSAE            53.035
       Thor Johnson         FSAE            61.714

Kart   Rhett Lindsey        Cox             68.165

Summer shorts weather greeted the drivers at the 8^th and final KWIK KOOL Shirt GTA Autocross Series event hosted by the Middle Georgia Region SCCA.

This was the second KK-GTA event hosted by Middle Georgia Region. Regional Executive, Mark Odom, laid out a near one minute course in contrast to their first event which length was closer to 30 seconds. The course started out with 4 tight 180s leading to a quick slalom which led to 2 right handers (which if done right was really a big sweeper). Then a 90 degree left led to a long straight , pin turn, long straight, pin turn to the finish. The thirty-six drivers more than doubled the small region’s usual turnout.

Hottest and quickest of the day belonged to "The Kid" Clint McMahan, Covington, Georgia, in Jim Murphy’s FM Daredevil turning a 46.788 to Murphy’s 48.441 for the second fastest of the day. McMahan was also the only driver who had a perfect maximum of points for the KK-GTA Series with a win at EVERY event and maximum bonus point for a total of 188 points.

Two other drivers had sub-50 second runs, Mark Brenchley, Savannah, in his BP 300ZX with a 49.069 and Tom Heldenberg, Macon, in his EM Datsun 510 with a 49.399.

Quickest of the Stock drivers was Rick Cone, Lawrenceville, in his BS Miata clocked a brisk 52.780. Street Prepared’s big gun turned out to be Reese Remy, up from St. Simon’s Island in his CSP Mazda RX7 turning a 50.761.

The largest class was GS with 5 drivers. Alex Muresan, down from the Atlanta area, in his quick Integra Type R took the win over his dad, Tiberiu.

Ben Thatcher’s Porsche 914 faced a stiff challenge in AP from the hot Porsche 930 driven with ‘drama by Brad Boardwell’ from Middle Georgia. Thatcher’s car was on autocross rubber and Boardwell’s car was on street tires and still only lost by a tenth of a second. I guess horsepower DOES count.

The KWIK KOOL Shirt sponsor provided 10 of the prized personal cooling systems ($199 value in 1998 but will cost $119 next year) to be awarded at this event. Five of the shirts were earned with bonus points from the 4 class categories plus 1 for the Ladies. The winners were:

• Stock             Michael Coon   DS Neon      Montgomery AL    28 bonus points
• Street Prepared   Brett Howell   DSP Honda    Acworth, GA      28 bonus points
• Prepared - Tie    Rick Tinsley   EP Honda     Kennesaw, GA      3 bonus points
                    Dick Berger    CP Corvair   Douglasville, GA  3 bonus points
• Modified          Clint McMahan  FM Daredevil Covington, GA    28 bonus points
• Ladies            Jeanne Darrow  BSL Miata    Byron, GA        18 bonus points

The other 5 shirts were awarded by a drawing. Each entrant for the series had a ticket in the drawing for each time (s)he entered an event, theoretically upping the odds of winning. Winners of the drawing were:

• Mark Sipe         AS BMW M3          Montgomery, Alabama
• Tim Betteridge    ASP Porsche 944    Lawrenceville, Georgia
• Jason Youmans     GS Probe           Newnan, Georgia
• Jack Loose        AS                 Alabama
• Jeff Herrmann     EM                 Alabama

-- Ben Thatcher

GTA Autocross Series'98 GTA Points
SE Divisional Solo II Schedule
Chattanooga Region Solo II Chattanooga Region Home Page

Created November 6, 1998