Autoslalom Director’s Year End Report:
After the successful transition from a multiple event series to a single weekend in 2022, the 2023 CASC Autoslalom Championship took place on July 15-16th.
Hosted by WOSCA at Centralia Airport, the event saw 57 competitors compete in both days of the event and the event was won by Andrew L of Barrie in his ES 2001 Mazda Miata. The club championship was won by TLMC.
Each day saw 70+ cars and the course was long, fast and flowing as it utilized an airport venue. The fastest times being 10 seconds over the 2 minute mark on the Saturday and just under the 2 minute mark when the course was reversed for Sunday.
The event was well run and while there was some rain on Saturday which hurt some of the competitor’s afternoon runs, overall the weather was very good. Several competitors took advantage of the chance to camp at the venue and the socializing went well into the night.
Clubs hosting autoslalom events once again agreed to not host any club events on that weekend to encourage their members to attend which was much appreciated.
Some of the competitors were new to any regional event and while a few expressed concerns that this is most likely the last CASC regional event no one expressed any interest in taking over as CASC Autoslalom Director.
It remains to be seen if there will be a 2024 CASC Regional Championship because at the moment no one seems ready to take on the Autoslalom Director role. Clubs that host Autoslalom events exist in their own ecosystem and what one club does doesn’t usually affect the others. As such, Autoslalom events will run without an Autoslalom Director in place.
Having said that, the Autoslalom Director plays an important role between CASC and the clubs. Especially since there are clubs need to have a greater focus on safety. There are also challenges from a for-profit Autoslalom group.
CASC clubs that hosted Autoslalom events in 2023 included MCO, MSOC, OMSC, PMSC, St. Lac, TBAC, TLMC, Trillium BMW and WOSCA. The SPDA also hosted its 2023 Advanced Driving Clinic.
The Southern Alberta SoloSport Club hosted the 2023 Canadian Autoslalom Championship in August at Airdrie Airport, 30 minutes North of Calgary. The championship will move back east for 2024 and early reports are that it may return to Quebec. Ontario last hosted in 2018.
I have enjoyed my term and thank the competitors and the clubs for their cooperation and their participation. A special thank you to a close group of competitors who helped me organize the Regional events since I took over in 2018.
Steven Day – CASC Autoslalom Director.