Winter is coming up and I for one want to have something to look forward to in spring. I'll copy RoadSurfer1's recent post to start things off. It sounds pretty cool to me, since I'm looking at getting a custom roll bar for next year.

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Yeah, owning a fibre optics company will give you those damned dilemmas.

But he can and does do a lot of customized fabrications for his car at his plant off of Hunt Club (Antares Drive, I think it is). He made custom wheel center caps for his S2000, for example, and a self-designed windblocker for the Miata. And he's hosted a few tech nights for the Miata crew at his large indoor facility. Can't promise it, but he migt be interested in doing something similar for the S2000. I know he certainly prefers the S over the Miata (duh). I believe he kept the Miata for his wife but also as a ticket to keep up his involvement in the Miata crowd.

Once we get a bit more established, I'll approach him.
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I'm up for anything......anything is better than the scene I put up with up here in Pembroke

 

FYI, next year I'm going to be the MCO (Motorsports Club of Ottawa, http://www.mco.org ) club magazine editor. So will be getting the inside scoop on upcoming events. I'll probably also sound like a MCO event promoter too, but that is kinda my job too.

So some things to look forward to that are run by the MCO.

1) Winter driving schools, I'm definitely taking one of these.
2) Winter solo2/rally/ice racing or whatever it will be called. Going to flog my beater on the snow too.
3) Summer solo2 series at the Corel Center, going to continue doing some of these.
4) Rallies, navigational and performance (i.e. like the WRC)
5) At least one lapping day at Shannonville or maybe the new Calabogie track.
6) Race school at Shannonville, like get your racing licence for Solo1 and wheel to wheel.
7) Italian week Ferrari parade, Hey Matrix Ferraris on a small scetioned off road course buzzing through city streets. It was lead by a S2000 this year.
8) There is some karting stuff, but this is more serious training to be a race car driver stuff.

9) There is some possible cool stuff brewing at new Calabogie track. 2004 events are still being discussed. Possible lapping day(s), invitational vintage race, and/or schools. Hoping some of this comes true. It is going to be a fun track to run and close.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Fongu
7) Italian week Ferrari parade, Hey Matrix Ferraris on a small scetioned off road course buzzing through city streets.

 

They did that last year it was cool, didn't know an S2k was leading the pack I'd be happy to volunteer my SPA for the lead

Some of that stuff sounds cool, winter/ice racing sounds kind of fun. I've got a '93 impreza as my winter car. AWD BABY!

 

Thanks for that link to the MCO, Fongu. I'll scan through it later today.

I don't immediately see any indication that the club does any non-competitive road trips. I've always enjoyed one-day or weekend outings with a bunch of other enthusiasts, with planned stops at photo ops and points of ineterest along the way and with the participants in communication with one another via radio. Over the years I've become less enthusiastic about "group driving" in caravan-like lines of cars, but if the route and stops are pre-set, maybe with even something like a casual scavenger hunt motif thrown in to add some theme or focus, there's not necessarily a need to do them in that train-like fashion. It is one of the things I miss about no longer being a full member of the Miata club.

Any chance MCO would be interested in anything like that?

 

The MCO is basically a grassroots racing orginization. So, they concentrate on competition. Mind you they do almost every dicipline except drag racing. There is some community support stuff like advanced summer/winter driving schools, the Italian week and lapping track days. You might enjoy the navigational rally stuff, but from what I understand the rallies are not tarmac courses, although there were some rallies that sounded more like enjoyment tours.

But setting up our own scavenger hunt thing sounds fun. Maybe get some other Miata guys involved.

 

Okay, something to keep in mind for next season. (About four months and counting.) (Though judging by today's weather, the 2003 season hasn't ended yet! Damn, I wish I'd postponed putting the bike away another week!)

I think there may be a few members of the Underground Miata Network who'd be open to taking part in such an event with non-Miataphiles. (I helped create -- and came up with the name for -- the "Society of Ottawa Area Riders" years ago, as an affiliation of marque-specific moto groups in the region, and it's still going strong. So why couldn't something similar be done vis-a-vis the local roadster community?) (Aside from the fact that I'm not energetic enough to take on the role of instigating it.)

 

MCO is going to run a karting league this winter. Anyone interested?