November Autocross Report #1

3rd Fastest Porsche on the day!

Michelin Proving Grounds in South Carolina was once again the home of a Porsche Club of America autocross, and NMS was there! Well, being there beats being square, if you believe the old "Be there or be square" saying. If you aren't square, does that mean you're round? How about conical? Trapezoidal? Is trapezoidal a word? Whatever!

Drivers meeting covers safety topics like the red flag. I got to wave the red flag on course while working. You can't argue with safety!

After the October event was cancelled, this event was shaping up to be the final event of the year, BUT THEN,  the club pulled a rabbit out of their hat and scheduled another November autocross! Even better, it's at a new location, the Hickory Motor Speedway! Believe it or not, it is located in .....(DRUM ROLL)...... HICKORY North Carolina! What a coincidence! Look for November Autocross Report #2 in about a week! 

NMS #77 and run group 2 lined up for the afternoon session. 

Back at Michelin (AKA the "Black Lake") we had great weather for a fall day; mostly cloudy, low in the morning of low 60s, and high in the 70s! Compared to autocrossing in the rain, sleet, summer heat, this was awesome! Everyone got 5 runs on course in the morning, free pizza for lunch (I mean, FREE PIZZA FOR LUCNH!) and 5 more runs in the afternoon!

Waiting to start. 14 acres of asphalt is BIG! Great weather too!

At the end of the day, NMS finished first in a class of only two, 10th overall out of all 31 drivers, and a best of the year 3rd out of all 18 Porsches! While I'm happy with that performance, I have to tell you that there were some truly fast drivers out there that beat my time, so hats off to the two Porsche 911s, two Corvettes, Honda S2000, two Miatas, and a Tesla that beat me! While some of those cars have way more horsepower than me, and more "race prep" modifications, they all still take good drivers to come out on top. 

The "Chicago Box" cone formation, with a few cones removed in the afternoon. This made it pretty much a straight shot through this element, on to the slalom in the background, and then the finish line. 

During my 10 drives I managed to smack a few cones, slide/spin once, and drop time during the day. My best run was on the next-to-last ninth run with traction control turned off, and lower than normal tire pressures. Maybe next time I'll try higher pressures too. Hey, the good news is that we only have to wait until this Saturday for the next event! Here's a video of my fastest run: 

FAST RUN VIDEO