Solodex 4 - 8th July 2001

Article by Nebert Marin
Photography byNebert Marin

Solodex continues to be the best opportunity to quickly and safely improve driving skills yet it remains an event that has not yet found wide acceptance as a spectator sport. That's unfortunate. We want to encourage the organizing committee of CARS to continue pressing on as we are confident that the event will eventually experience a boom.

The last Solodex event found the Trinituner crew busy with multiple projects. We intended to take part during the competition stage but with competing demands for our time that weekend, we just could not pull it off. By the time I got there, the first two run groups were finished for the morning session so I did not get to see the much talked about Evolution showdown. Feeling a bit under the weather I left during the lunch break. By the time I returned, the first two groups were finished with the evening session.

The rain came and after a very short pause to dry the timing system's sensors the show was back on. With a wet track however, fast times were hard to come by. Two drivers stood out from the crowd with spectacular runs, namely Ryan Pinheiro in his City Motors sponsored GTi and Sir Bill in his Honda SIR. Despite the conditions, the lone father and son team in their Suzuki Swift did not disappoint.

There were Lancer MX Saloons, Chevy Joys, tame Civics and even the odd Mini and Sunny in the action. Some drivers took the opportunity to push their cars to the limit of cornering and adhesion. There were lots of spin-outs that wowed the small crowd. Johnstone in his Corolla Station Wagon proved that even grocery getters were capable performers at Solodex.

There's no shortage of competitors but we would like to see at least one Impreza and perhaps a Golf GTi. While we're at it, how about the new 4WD Suzuki IGNIS. All of these cars are sold out of the same N&M stable, why not bring some showroom stockers to the rumble. They'll never do it though. But they'll sit in their boardrooms wondering why the foreign used market has the edge on them. Notice how many F-used D-Plate cars are at motorsport events these days. They seem to be (successfully) marketing directly to their potential market while some new car dealerships pretend that these events are beneath them. Motorsports is the proving ground for their products yet they stay away. Maybe they know something about their product we don't.

See you at the next Solodex event where we'll be tossing it up with the best of them.