It’s a new year. There’s still some snow on the ground and we’ll have more before spring arrives. So, what’s happening in the autocross world. Not much in our little corner. I have tried to contact the Austin Healey Club about their Gymkhana. But no word yet. Last year their event got canceled because they lost their venue. The Miata club is also still in hibernation. The 2018 event calendar hasn’t yet been posted so I don’t have any news there either.

What is a Funkhana? Funkhanas are low-speed, light-hearted competitions conducted by car clubs that are a test of dexterity and patience. Each team, composed of a driver and passenger, must complete tasks — often centered around a theme — that involve car handling, teamwork and especially a sense of humor. There are no official rules, the only requirements being that the event is good-natured, low-speed, safe and not hard on the cars. Using toilet plunger to retrieve plate Funkhana challenges range from sophisticated to silly. You might be squeezing into a tight parking spot, balancing on a huge teeter-totter, playing ring toss with a fan belt, or preparing a faux meal of fish and chips. Teams are graded by a combination of time, accuracy, and points. By including an element of luck, everyone has a good chance of winning. . . or screwing up.

Tim Schaffer and I have been talking about maybe doing a Funkhana. What’s a Funkhana? Well it can be a low speed autocross like what the Healey club does.

Big INSURNCE requirement. ONLY ONE CAR on the track at a time. This limits the size of the event and the number of runs. For those that have been unable to commit an entire day to a Miata club auto cross this could be an advantage.

Also, a Funkhana can have a theme or gimmick associated. Think of some of the things we’ve done on some of our rallies. Precision parking, Bean bag toss from the car, and such. Ray Costa has asked if anyone in our club would like to host a Funkhana at the GOF.

We will most likely do something. If you’re interested in helping let me know. I haven’t committed yet but, I think it could be fun. I just don’t want to do it all myself.

~~Jim Compton