Grassroots Motorsport with a twist.
Imagine taking any streetcar, be it an econobox, sports car or family sedan and competing against similarly performing cars on the track in a test of agility, grip, and acceleration. That is the spirit of Autocross.
Also known as Solodex, the sport of Autocross has a simple premise: A miniature race track is laid out via traffic cones and drivers do their best to get the lowest possible time around the course without making contact with the cones or leaving the course. As simple as it sounds, things become very complex when you consider how technical the courses can be, with extreme direction changes, odd corners you wouldn’t face on a regular racetrack, slaloms galore and short straights providing little breathing room. While you may never reach your car’s top speed, it is one of the most exhilarating drives you will ever have.
The cars are classed based on power to weight and modifications (suspension, low treadwear tyres etc.) to ensure fair competition. The classes go as follows: HS, ES, ESP, SS, EP, EPR, STU and SM in order of calculated pace from left to right, with HS being the slowest and SM being the fastest. The beauty of such a system truly shines when you see stock Lancers, beater Civics, Swifts and even a Suzuki Ciaz competing at the top of their classes, while fully built “JDM monsters”, open wheelers and European supercars fight for overall wins. While having a fast car helps, having a fast driver makes almost anything competitive at Autocross events once classed correctly.
Drivers are also allowed to walk the course before the event starts as well as drive through once or twice to familiarize themselves. They then have only 6 runs to make the best possible time. Every single run could be your quickest as conditions can change throughout the day, meaning drivers must learn to race on dry and wet surfaces with wildly varying track temperatures.
All things considered, Autocross is widely considered a perfect way to enter the world of motorsport due to the low entry requirements (working car, relatively low budget, basic safety gear), ease of access and friendly yet competitive atmosphere. When it comes to “grassroots motorsport”, very few disciplines come close in terms of cost while offering so much to learn, experience and enjoy.
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