For folks who've just recently wandered in to autocrossing, some of the
preparation differences in the classes may seem odd. A lot of folks assume
that there is a natural, logical progression from Stock -> Street Prepared ->
Prepared -> Modified. In my opinion, one would be better off thinking of
more like
-> P \
Stock M
-> SP /
Or even just S -> SP -> M, and P is only there so folks who have road race
production cars can play Solo, too. The carb limits, wheel restrictions and
minimum weights for the Prepared class cars are holdovers from a long history
of competitive adjustments to equalize the cars on a road course. Well, that's
the usual theory at least, let's not discuss that whole can of worms here.
So look at it this way. You have stock, with only a few minor tweaks. Then
there is Street Prepared, which originally came about as a class for common,
bolt-on types of TRS [Trick Racing, uh, Stuff]. And then there is Modified,
where you can add internal engine mods and suspension redesign to the TRS
you've got on your SP ride. Basically, you can do whatever you'd like,
unless you're local Lotus driver Jim Gallagher, who gets DQ'd at Nationals
for being too modified for D Mod. And road racers can bring out there P
cars if they want.
SP is a couple of decades old, the current incarnation is the Street Touring
classes, STS, STR and SM. Triumphs are specifically and completely disallowed
in this preparation category, so no point in talking about it, I guess!
mjb.
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