AutoCross Suckage

[Rally Ninja]

The local autoX was very unkind to me today. (yupnope)

I DNF on 3 of the 4 runs and the only non DNF was sloooooooow
My first run was bad cause my tires were cold and I didn't get any traction what so ever. Then I hit a cone as well. And that was my best lap of the day.

Then the rest of the day I got lost and confused on the course. So I said screw it then turned up the boost DNF the rest of the day in style! Smoke and squeling at every turn.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/uoduck2k1/july22autox/ax4.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/uoduck2k1/july22autox/ax23.jpg
smokie!!!
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/uoduck2k1/july22autox/ax22.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/uoduck2k1/july22autox/ax21.jpg
More Smokie!
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/uoduck2k1/july22autox/ax20.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/uoduck2k1/july22autox/ax16.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/uoduck2k1/july22autox/ax15.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/uoduck2k1/july22autox/ax14.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/uoduck2k1/july22autox/ax13.jpg

[livelyjay]

I've never understood how people get so lost during an auto-x. Very rarely do I go off course and when I do, it's usually because I got out of control and spun out, missing a gate.

Here's the scenario I follow to prevent getting lost and not getting a DNF

1. Walk the course 4-5 times, this means getting there early as hell
2. If a course map is not provided, map it out in a note book
3. If you're not running in the first group, go out and watch people run so you know where the trouble spots are
4. Go slower on your first run so you get a concrete time
5. Trace out the course on your hard/in your mind right before you launch
6. Go nuts on the rest of the runs, tweaking your technique on each run to squeak more time out of them

Of course the longer the course, the more likely you are to forget where it goes. The longest courses we run in our region are in the 70s, so forgetting where to go usually isn't a problem.

[xelderx]

Is that the same lot where the GT3 went into the paddock? Same thing that Jay said....biggest thing is walking the course a lot and actually concentrating on memorizing it. if I walk it while talking to people I don't remember anything. Pace the slaloms by counting steps between cones. That will help you get an idea of the speed you can carry through them before you drive them. It also just helps you get into the mentality of studying the course. Pay more attention to the slow parts over the fast parts. You have more of a chance of screwing up and loosing more time in the slowest sections than in the fast sections.

[livelyjay]

Seeing his car run makes me want to cry though. Since I hit a deer I have missed two auto-x events, and due to a wedding this coming weekend I'll miss another. Then knee surgery on the 6th makes me miss a fourth, and the fifth depends on how well I recover from the surgery and how well I can drive with a brace. The event is 20 days after my surgery and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

An instructor told me way back about slaloms and other different gate setups that aren't time savers, they are time killers. xelderx is kind of saying the same thing, concentrate on the slow parts, because you will likely lose more time there if you aren't set up correctly.

[Rally Ninja]

Yes it was the same site where the Porsche took out 3 other cars. They said it was about $150,000 worth of damage.

This wasn't an SCCA event, it was held by the local Porsche club. You automatically DNF if you miss a gate blahhhh. It was the confusing BOX with the cone in the middle that took me out most of the time.

[drdking]

Are you comming up to Packwood this weekend for the Oregon Region SCCA event? Would be nice to see more MSPs.

[Foolish]

I'm sorry, you autocrossed with a Porsche club, and all the pictures you post are of an MSP? C'mon!! Give us some Porsche love! ;)

[Dr.Sound]

omg, the last autox was so damn confusing.....
have u guys ever had shortcuts implemented in the autox?? well they did it the last autox in California Speedway.

there was this long, semi-high speed turn......which you could take.......but inside it was a shortcut which you could also take, except it was krazy technical and very narrow.
pissed me off cause every time i wanted to enter the shortcut i would always misjudge the entrance angle.

[Scott]

omg, the last autox was so damn confusing.....
have u guys ever had shortcuts implemented in the autox?? well they did it the last autox in California Speedway.

there was this long, semi-high speed turn......which you could take.......but inside it was a shortcut which you could also take, except it was krazy technical and very narrow.
pissed me off cause every time i wanted to enter the shortcut i would always misjudge the entrance angle.

Yeah, MSCC used to do that every once in awhile. It was a lot of fun to see the instructor with the Lincoln Mark VIII take the tight, technical section every time. Dude could drive!