July Autocross

Porsche 914

We had a blast today driving 8 times on a fun Autocross course with the Porsche Club of America at Nassau Coliseum. Here's a few highlights for NMS: 

FRS

1st place in S05 class out of 3 drivers. My first run was off course, so the time didn't count, and on my 2nd run I had to pay attention and figure out what I messed up on the first run. I'll blame this on driver error, caused by walking the course only 2 times, and then after working at the scoring system while the first half of the drivers were on course. By the time I made my first run it had been a while since walking the route, and I blew it, totally forgot one cone to drive around. Live and learn. 

Modified Porsche 914

My best run of the day was my first run in the afternoon. Each driver had 4 turns in the morning, then a break, and then 4 more drives in the afternoon. I was hoping to keep lowering my time in those last 3 runs, but it just didn't go that way. 

Driver sign in

UPDATE: Final results have me in 8th place PAX overall for the day, so this keeps me on track to meet my goal of top ten for the year! Not bad, but not as good as last month when I was 2nd. To be honest, I'll say that we had more fast drivers today, so no shame in being beaten by a bunch of fast people! Still 8th out of 52 competitors isn't the worst thing in the world. 

NMS-North, Nassau Coliseum add for upcoming Judas Priest concert

The weather was great for the summer, in the 80s and a mix of some clouds and some sun. Having driven at events in South Carolina, it could have been a LOT hotter! And it didn't rain. And it didn't snow. Those two situations do not make for great driving times, ask me how I know!

Cayman vs. Macan. You can autocross just about anything. 

In between driving I got to meet some more fellow drivers, chat with the folks I already know, and that is really a fun part of these events. While we talk about cars a lot, I realized that I was talking to people about their families, or their health, and what their plans are for the future. Hey, it's kind of like a family!

View from the timings and scoring table. 

My work assignment today was the timing/scoring system, so I was sitting under a canopy and entering car numbers into the automatic timing system. In addition to that, I had a radio and took in calls from the workers on course if there any cones hit (a two second penalty) or any drivers off course (no time is given.) It usually goes very smoothly, but with up to 4 cars on course at a time, and managing the numbers and fielding radio calls, it keeps you occupied!

Matching Porsche hats!

While I was doing the computer, another driver Joan was documenting cars and timings on paper, which is a great way to have an official record if there was to be a computer problem. Our Autocross boss Dan came over and pointed out that we were wearing the same model of Porsche hat, which was totally a coincidence, so figure the odds of that happening!