Abdhish Bhavsar is a veritable Renaissance man of hobbies amateur car racer, saxophone player, women s jewelry designer, painter, and kite flier. Oh, yes he s also a retina surgeon at Phillips Eye Institute in Minneapolis. Bhavsar races his 94 Dodge Stealth twin turbo, an unmodified street car he sometimes drives to work. Instead, he races against the clock in Autocross meets, with only one other car on the track at the same time. The course takes about 60 seconds and includes lots of hairpin and 90-degree turns.
Speed is secondary to handling.
You run most of the race in second gear at 30 to 60 miles per hour, he says. The skill comes in learning when and how much to brake, when to accelerate out of a turn, and how to keep from bumping into pylons, which slow you down. It s not about going as fast as you can. Last summer, Bhavsar placed first in his Autocross division. Kind of exciting, he says.