dlparsons

I just want to thank everyone on the forum that takes time to post. I just went to my first autocross this weekend, and although I did do a primer class on Saturday, I spent quite a bit of time reading tips and tricks from everyone here. Took me a few hours of reading, but It really kept me from feeling overwhelmed by the whole experience and I had a great time. My first run was a DNF, second run was a 76 +1 cone, by the end of the day, my final run was a 61.567 clear. By no means anywhere near the best run at the event of 50, but I'm pretty darned pleased with myself anyway. My only goal today was to not wreck my car, have a good time and maybe get around the course and not look like an idiot.

Here's a video of the final run if anyone's bored...


http://youtu.be/B9QBHu2OTZw

mountainbiker2

For your first autocross, you sure looked good.

Steve A.

l98tpi

It takes time, lots of seat time. Keep the car the way it is and learn to drive the car, then upgrade if you want.

Greywolfe

Looking good.

Auto-x is fun and safe way to learn car control and precision driving.

I got 3 coming up in SC this fall. All with NCCC. 14 runs a day!

dlparsons

I have a LOT to learn for sure, and I'm no wear near tapping into the full ability of my car at this point, may never actually :-) I'm sure I'll be doing a lot more of it though, hoping to get my husband driving in them too, I think he'll have fun with it. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get him to go next time we have a primer class in the area.

RallyBird

Your husband would be CRAZY not to go with you next time. Great run for your first time out. Have fun!

TedDBere

Glad you had fun.

I think the starter has a suicide wish standing between rookie Corvette autox'rs and a fence at the start line. I've taken out a few start cones with the rear of my car over the years....

...and a stop box too? In ten years I haven't actually seen one in person. And the chicago box made me chuckle as I watched you try to get through it...maybe a little too tight.

Enjoy and have a good time!

dlparsons

Yeah, when I watched the video earlier I was thinking the same thing about the guy at the start line - I could have run his toes over at a minimum, not very smart. I figured out that if I backed away from the line a bit, I'd have more speed going when I hit the timer, I'm sure that knocked a couple seconds off at the start.

That stop box was a BEAR and then there was a tight left just after it too. The little rice burner cars that were there got through it easily, but us long-nosed vette people definitely had to take our time through, it was pretty snug. I have no idea how to run that any faster, might have done better to take out the corner cone and just bust through it and take the 2 second penalty? There was a stop box in our practice class, so at least I'd driven through one before.

dlparsons

I got him a helmet last night. He wanted to do a ride-along with me yesterday but they didn't have any more helmets for him, so he worked the course instead. He read through the packet of materials I brought home from class already yesterday, so I think it's a good bet he'll do it next time! He's never driven the car, so I think that's the biggest hold up. He's afraid of wrecking the car - ok, not afraid of wrecking it, afraid of what I'd do to him if he wrecked it LOLOL

getkong

that course looks really, really tight, especially for a corvette club run course. never seen a stop box before, either. i'm almost surprised they didn't make you back up into it, haha.

dlparsons

They had a stop box in our primer class the day before, so I had no idea they were "rare" on a course. That's actually good to hear, that thing was a BEAR! I got through it clean a couple times but felt like I had to crawl through there. I heard other guys moaning that it was a slow course Guess it's good to be challenged by a more technical course my first time out, then the next ones should be easier :-)

edwardo99

Glad you had fun, but:

I would have turned around and gone home if I'd showed up and found that layout. I like my car (and bank account) too much to run such a dangerous course. I'm not talking about stop boxes or tight Chicago boxes. I'm talking about lack of space between the racing line and poles, people (the starter and stop-box attendants) and fences.

As a beginner, you won't really understand why I feel this way, but experienced auto crossers on this forum, who have seen close-calls, cars into fences, cars into poles, maybe even cars into people, will understand.

Please take this very serious advice from someone who has done events with various Corvette clubs and SCCA regions at many different venues: Don't autocross with that group. Find another Corvette organization, SCCA region, etc. that has a clue. Preferably one that strictly follows NCCC or SCCA safety and course design rules.

dlparsons

Thanks for the warning. There were only two places that I felt were a real danger - one was on a longer run straight towards the fence line ending in a sharp left turn, the other was heading downhill ending in a sharp right turn. The rest of the course had so many tight corners, you could never really work up too much speed, it was a pretty slow course from what I heard other experienced drivers say. All of the spotters were stationed at light posts (so had something solid to hide behind) and even with a couple of guys that had little to no handling skills on older 'vettes that were all over the road, I never saw what I considered risk to spotters other than the guy at the starting line. I'm actually a member of the host club, and I found it to be very educational. I don't have anything to compare it with as far as safety or efficiency of the club's handling of the event. It was NCCC sanctioned, but I guess that doesn't mean that everyone running it knows all of the rules or follows them? Personally, I'll be taking it real easy as I learn how to handle my car on a course regardless of who is running the Autocross. Ultimately, I am responsible for my own safety and that of my car and that is priority 1 for me.