After consistently being beat by Eric McHatton in his awesome 89 Honda Civic Si, Mike and I finally came across the opportunity to co-drive it at a few recent events. Our first impressions were nearly identical: speechless. It is one of the easiest cars to drive fast at an autocross that I have ever had the pleasure of driving. Yet, it takes a certain sort of driving style to truly make it fly out on course. It's a driving style unlike that of most cars, but when done correctly, feels extremely rewarding.

I had my test drive at CKR's 5th points event at EKU earlier this month on July 5th. Not only was I driving the car that should dominate the class, but two other nationally competitive HS drivers grabbed a ride in STS cars to shake up the class a bit. David Patrick took the wheel of my Integra and put on a very impressive showing. However, by the end of the event, the 89 Civic Si reigned supreme yet again with a great run by Eric, the owner, at the end of the heat.

David, in my Integra, finished less than a tenth behind, while I ended up taking 4th out of 10 total drivers. I was a bit off pace for the lead, but I was happy enough just to experience this great car and see my own STS car do extremely well with a competent driver.

I'd also like to call attention to Alex's strong 3rd place finish in BSP out of 6 very competitive cars and drivers. He is still figuring out his new Kumho V710 setup after coming from Bridgestone RE-01Rs. Since there is very little done to his S2000 to place it out of AS, he hopes to rejoin the stock class very soon to have closer competition and a better PAX score.

This past weekend, on July 20th, Mike took his first turn at the wheel of the Civic Si while I took a spin in his RSX Type-S in the Louisville region at Papa John's. It was a unique course that featured four 180' turns and another tight S-turn before the finish. As a whole, it was far more typical than the usual Louisville course, but it made for a nice change of pace.

Unfortunately, the RSX may have been the wrong choice for Eric and I, who drove it to a mediocre 5th and 7th finish, respectively. Out of 11 drivers, Mike and Phil Osborne were able to keep the Civic Si at the top of the standings, with a solid 1-2 finish well ahead of the rest of the class. Mike ended up with the win in Eric's car, beating Eric and I by over 2 seconds. The video only tells part of the story. The car looked amazingly quick out on course, and Mike's 10th place PAX finish (out of 114 competitors) says a lot more.

Next week we come back to EKU for more local STS rivalry. This time, Mike and I will be competing in our own cars by ourselves.