SPOCNE- PhotoArchive - Ice Race

Ice Race 1

February 4, 2001

Justin throws snow over his roof speeding out of a turn.

It's a little tough to go racing in winter. So how about an autocross on a frozen lake? The Boston Chapter BMW CCA has been holding these events on the frozen surface of Newfound Lake, NH, for years. And Saturns have competed in the front wheel drive classes and done well in the past. We're back this year to show the Bimmerheads what a Saturn can do!

Matt Shoop and Justin Hughes represented SPOC of NE today - Justin in his 95 SC2, and Matt brought his 96 SL2 - finally back on the road after numerous modifications, and the failure of about half of them. Matt competed in class E - front wheel drive, all season tires. He used the original rims and tires (Firestone Firehawk GTAs) from his 99 SC2. Justin ran in class F, front wheel drive and snow tires.

Though there were many faster drivers than all of us there, our primary competition was Eldon, driving a 95 Honda Civic DX. Gotta beat the Honda. :) Naturally, a great deal of taunting was called for. Eldon wrote "Hondas rules" in white shoe polish on Matt's back window when he wasn't looking. We then proceeded to make fun of him for his horrible grammar. After erasing this with snow, Justin took the shoe polish and added the obligatory "Type R" to Eldon's Civic. That extra 50hp really makes a big difference on the ice, you know.

Yeah, that's a big difference. Eldon got himself stuck so badly on one of his runs that he had to get towed out of the snowbank - a service that costs $5 a pull. :)

The "tow truck" was also one of the competitors, this Jeep Cherokee. Unlike most forms of racing, trucks and SUVs were welcome. Naturally, they ran in the four wheel drive classes, along with a Suburu Impreza 2.5RS, a BMW 325iX, and numerous Audi Quattros.

The day was mostly an exercise in Zen and the Art of Driving Sideways. Though Justin ran his Knight Rider lights on each run as usual, Matt's SL2 was particularly fun to watch as his DRLs flashed on and off, giving away his generous use of the emergency brake to swing the tail end around.

Nobody could figure out why this Audi 4000 rally car has such a huge wing on the back of it. But even the front wheel drive cars like ours were able to attain 45-50mph on the back straight. The hard part was bleeding off this speed in time to make the tight sweeper at the end!

While waiting for the car to regain traction, Justin somehow found the time to "wave" to the crowd, Miata style. Obviously he temporarily forgot that he was driving a Saturn instead.

A great time was had by all, despite the cold. It looks like everyone will coming back, and hopefully we can drag a few more Saturns with us! Events will be running every Sunday until March 4, with March 11 as a backup date in case poor ice conditions cause an event to get cancelled. Check out the Boston Chapter Ice Racing page for info about the event, as well as the Ice Racing Bulletin for last minute info and changes in the event status.

Video clips!!!!!