August Autocross Report

Nice summer day, driver meeting. 

In Greensboro NC last Sunday it was 86 degrees, sunny, and in 10 autocross runs I managed to win my class and have a lot of fun. Yes, there really were other drivers in my class too! I had several runs in a row where I plateaued on the 50 second mark and wasn't improving, but after thinking about how I was driving the big sweepers, I managed to hit a 49.8 on my next to last run. That time was good for 6th place overall on the day out of 25 drivers, and 4th fastest Porsche from 20 P cars. That felt pretty good and reminds me that there's ALWAYS somebody faster than you. 

Reminder: check that brake fluid.

That's why autocross is fun, not that you're competing head-to-head against other drivers, but that you are trying to beat your own best lap of the day, just maybe by using your brain a bit to figure out HOW to do that. In my case, I knew that on these two sweeping corners I was throwing the car in and then it was sliding a bit, and I was waiting for the car to slow enough to get back on the gas. Basically, your tires aren't made to be their fastest when they are going SIDEWAYS. Sure, it sounds cool, and kind of makes you think you're going fast, but dang it, those round tires are made to just roll forward and not sideways. So, I braked more into these corners and cut down on the sliding just a bit in an effort to get back on the gas sooner, and then keep that faster speed going until the next slower spot. 

Here's how it played out: 

Run 1: without knowing how fast the course would be I drove a 52.1 and hit a cone, so officially that's a 54.1 on the books. With that as my starting point it was time to speed up.  Some drivers like to take that first run nice and easy, but I think I do better by just hitting the gas pedal to go fast right away. After that you have a better idea of where to go faster, or go slower as needed.

Run 2: this one was a bit faster, at 51.521, so I was on the right track. Ha-ha, "right track," LOL!

Run 3: at the finish line the timing board said 49.786 and so I was feeling great, which lasted right up until one of the workers let me know that I totally missed one of the cones, shortened the course, and so my time didn't count. Go figure, no wonder my time was quicker! I knew exactly what I'd done wrong, so I fixed it on the next run. 

Run 4: Yep, fixed it, and did a 50.483 and still had one more run to go before the break between two run groups. 

Run 5: a hair slower at 51.007 but of course that only meant that after lunch I wanted to be in the 49 second range. Oh, one more thing. Apparently, you get ZERO extra bonus cool points for hitting a time that ends with 007. Shaken, not stirred you might say. 

For the next hour I worked on course picking up just a few cones that drivers knocked over, and enjoyed plenty of vitamin D while watching the other half of the drivers get their first five runs in. Oh and I drank more water, put on more sunscreen, and had about as much fun as you can standing out in the heat in North Carolina in the summertime. Then we had a lunch break, (this club provides pizza at lunch!) and then it was time to drive five more times and get into the 49s. 

Run 6: 50.086 well shoot, right where I ended the morning, so really not bad, and certainly I could go faster, right? Maybe just 0.087 faster? Pretty please?

Run 7: Nope! Not yet, with a 50.379 so kind of good news and bad news. Good to be consistent on 50 seconds but going slower is NOT what I'm trying to do. Three more runs to go, so as Chuck Norris might say, "It's GO time!"

Run 8: Double-Nope, with a 50.925, so I was still stuck in the 50s but going the wrong way. This really hacked me off and I sat in the car and thought about the course and what I was doing wrong, so I decided to brake harder into those two sweepers to cut down on sliding. It sounded like a good idea anyway!

Run 9: Finally, into the 49s with a 49.802 and while it's just kind of a mental thing that this was only 0.2 seconds faster than my previous best, seeing that lower number just made my day! Hey, one more run, let's go for 48s now!

Run 10: WRONG! Over-cooked it in two spots and actually went the slowest of the afternoon session, 51.121. After being in that 50.X second range on 4 runs, at least I'd dropped one into the 49s. I'm sure the good drivers are more consistent than that, but hopefully I'm getting better. 

Bottom line, it was a smooth-running event, and I had a ton of fun. With two more events this year, I'm leading my class for the season, so I'll be working to add more points in October and November. Thanks for reading.