Although I missed the first local SCCA region event of the season, I had the car somewhat close to "ready" just in time for the second and third events of the season at a 2-day SCCA autocross event in Farmington, NM. This was my first autocross since my very first, which was way back in August of '06. Needless to say I was pretty green to begin with, and given the last minute nature of deciding to go, combined with several other factors, it was a little bit hectic. I almost bailed on the event completely after discovering that the inboard sidewall of one of my tires had some material shaved off from a damaged part that had been rubbing on it. After closer inspection and a few second opinions, I decided to run the tires anyway.Farmington is about 200 miles from Santa Fe, and I could not spend more than one night in a hotel so that meant leaving the morning of the event. Luck would have it that while I was trying to change back to my all-season tires on the stock wheels for the drive and do other preparations to the car, a freak spring snowstorm rolled in literally at the exact same time that I began working on the car outside. Since I still do not have a garage, this meant rushing in the snowy cold before it got completely dark. The next morning I had the pleasure of waking up at 4:15 AM to see two inches of snow on my "race car." Ah, the joys of low-budget amateur racing...
The first day of the weekend's "racing" went even less smoothly than my first ever in '06. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, the bad news about my father's health that I received on the way up, simply the nature of being a beginner, or more likely a combination of these. Simply put, I was NOT on my game, even with my inexperience taken into account. My first event in '06, I had been able to study and memorize a course map days in advance, and had the time to read the Solo II Novice Handbook, (the majority of it's contents I had forgotten in the meantime) and had a friend there to provide encouragement and support. I did not have the benefit of any of these helpful things this time around, but that is good for me. After all, this event was not going to be about being competitive, it was about soaking up as much experience as possible to make future events go smoother, getting the hang of the structure of the event, becoming more familiar with my car and how to set it up properly, and just having fun.
Due to the fact that I had a test pipe (no catalytic converter), 255 width tires, a boost controller, Evo IX diverter valve, and higher flowing fuel pump, I was beyond the specification limits of STU, which would have been a more appropriate class for me to be in. I knew this before hand, but did not get around to spending the time and money to get under STU-spec. Instead I was in the next highest class for my car, BSP, with the class modifier of Novice, a rather ridiculous combo, since BSP allows for unlimited size race tires and unlimited fuel, and many BSP cars are prepared far beyond what the typical novice is capable of taking full advantage of. Classing was not important at this point though. It's not as if I were going to show up to my first event and start collecting leading points in any class. Still, I felt a bit silly with "BSP-N" on the side of my car and having it announced over the PA system every run. I wished I had started with a stock Evo, or perhaps even slower, inferior car more suitable for a beginner. But only for a second ;)
I knew my alignment (see December'07 post below) wasn't ideal for autocross, but was not sure how I should set it up by myself at the venue, especially lacking camber and toe measuring tools so I left it alone for that day, and to use it as a point of reference for future changes. My sloppy driving, or more specifically my totally incorrect timing and amount of inputs and poor navigation of the course would have rendered most improvements to the car negligible in lap time results anyway. By the end of the day though, it became clear that I needed more front grip. The street alignment I was using simply did not have enough front camber and thus not enough front grip for me to keep the car turning where I wanted it to.
The course was relatively fast and technical, as most agreed. 70mph top speed and possibly even a brief touch of third gear were not completely out of the question. It featured the typical autocross slalom and hard 90 degree turns as well as some nice sweepers, but was on a graded incline, and also had relatively long straights. Long straights mean it was easy and fast right? Wrong. This meant that even and especially if you had a powerful car like mine, you had to exercise strategic and efficient braking. Any speed or time gained in the straights was only as good as your ability to slow down and carry speed through the next turn, so it really didn't do much good to be a beginner in a fast car like me. That is always the case, but this course really leaned heavily on it.
Good times for the day ranged from a 56"s in EM to low 60"s in many other classes. My best time of the day was a pathetic and Evo-unworthy 66.54", and that was one of my few clean runs. I also managed THREE DNFs from missing a gate several runs in a row until someone asked me if I knew where I was DNFing. I just replied "I am DNFing?" Spectacular and genius. I also had several other coned runs, and a few times I almost came to a complete stop while fighting the car every way possible (turning, brakes, throttle, you name it). Yup, I SUCKED, badly.
I monitored and adjusted my tire pressure obsessively, probably more than mattered for the day and my lack of skill. This did help a little though, and proved to be an investment in information I could use in the future. The biggest of many mistakes I made throughout the day were having too heavy of a foot on the throttle, and gently riding the brakes far too long every chance I got. That is, until some people made some suggestions that I took to literally, and I rode in some other types of vehicles, the driving techniques of which I tried to emulate, but discovered simply did not apply to my car. A FWD, AWD, and RWD car, especially of greatly varying power levels and curb weight, all have at least a slightly different (and at most almost the opposite) optimal racing line, point of braking before a turn, etc.
The day really was about overcoming the major anxiety I was experiencing, learning how the event works, how the track works and how to work the track, learning what tire pressure to use, what alignment settings to use, and what to absolutely not do in driving. But it was still fun, and did manage to start improving a tiny bit at the very end. I felt like I was learning to walk or read again...
Day two of the 2-day race weekend was a bit better. Not so much in terms of my times (although they were slightly better), but more in terms of mental state, knowing what to expect, how to properly set up my car, and finally, make some improvements in my driving somewhere in between all the rest. The course was very similar, but backwards of the day before, seemed a bit easier, and was definitely faster.
Fastest times of the day were 51"s in EM class, with 56"-58"s being competitive in other popular classes and my best of the day was a 61.324. I managed not to DNF any runs this time, but hit even more cones than the day before, as many as two on a few runs. Having added -1 degrees of front camber and about 1/16" of toe-out made the car much easier to get going where I wanted it, predictably. While I struggled and did not get good times, I was not as far off from the other and better novice drivers' times as I was the day before. It always seems I start to finally get the hang of it right on my last run. I get the feeling that this is just a fact of autocrossing or racing in general, and is why we get addicted and keep coming back...
The first day of the weekend's "racing" went even less smoothly than my first ever in '06. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, the bad news about my father's health that I received on the way up, simply the nature of being a beginner, or more likely a combination of these. Simply put, I was NOT on my game, even with my inexperience taken into account. My first event in '06, I had been able to study and memorize a course map days in advance, and had the time to read the Solo II Novice Handbook, (the majority of it's contents I had forgotten in the meantime) and had a friend there to provide encouragement and support. I did not have the benefit of any of these helpful things this time around, but that is good for me. After all, this event was not going to be about being competitive, it was about soaking up as much experience as possible to make future events go smoother, getting the hang of the structure of the event, becoming more familiar with my car and how to set it up properly, and just having fun.
Due to the fact that I had a test pipe (no catalytic converter), 255 width tires, a boost controller, Evo IX diverter valve, and higher flowing fuel pump, I was beyond the specification limits of STU, which would have been a more appropriate class for me to be in. I knew this before hand, but did not get around to spending the time and money to get under STU-spec. Instead I was in the next highest class for my car, BSP, with the class modifier of Novice, a rather ridiculous combo, since BSP allows for unlimited size race tires and unlimited fuel, and many BSP cars are prepared far beyond what the typical novice is capable of taking full advantage of. Classing was not important at this point though. It's not as if I were going to show up to my first event and start collecting leading points in any class. Still, I felt a bit silly with "BSP-N" on the side of my car and having it announced over the PA system every run. I wished I had started with a stock Evo, or perhaps even slower, inferior car more suitable for a beginner. But only for a second ;)
I knew my alignment (see December'07 post below) wasn't ideal for autocross, but was not sure how I should set it up by myself at the venue, especially lacking camber and toe measuring tools so I left it alone for that day, and to use it as a point of reference for future changes. My sloppy driving, or more specifically my totally incorrect timing and amount of inputs and poor navigation of the course would have rendered most improvements to the car negligible in lap time results anyway. By the end of the day though, it became clear that I needed more front grip. The street alignment I was using simply did not have enough front camber and thus not enough front grip for me to keep the car turning where I wanted it to.
The course was relatively fast and technical, as most agreed. 70mph top speed and possibly even a brief touch of third gear were not completely out of the question. It featured the typical autocross slalom and hard 90 degree turns as well as some nice sweepers, but was on a graded incline, and also had relatively long straights. Long straights mean it was easy and fast right? Wrong. This meant that even and especially if you had a powerful car like mine, you had to exercise strategic and efficient braking. Any speed or time gained in the straights was only as good as your ability to slow down and carry speed through the next turn, so it really didn't do much good to be a beginner in a fast car like me. That is always the case, but this course really leaned heavily on it.
Good times for the day ranged from a 56"s in EM to low 60"s in many other classes. My best time of the day was a pathetic and Evo-unworthy 66.54", and that was one of my few clean runs. I also managed THREE DNFs from missing a gate several runs in a row until someone asked me if I knew where I was DNFing. I just replied "I am DNFing?" Spectacular and genius. I also had several other coned runs, and a few times I almost came to a complete stop while fighting the car every way possible (turning, brakes, throttle, you name it). Yup, I SUCKED, badly.
I monitored and adjusted my tire pressure obsessively, probably more than mattered for the day and my lack of skill. This did help a little though, and proved to be an investment in information I could use in the future. The biggest of many mistakes I made throughout the day were having too heavy of a foot on the throttle, and gently riding the brakes far too long every chance I got. That is, until some people made some suggestions that I took to literally, and I rode in some other types of vehicles, the driving techniques of which I tried to emulate, but discovered simply did not apply to my car. A FWD, AWD, and RWD car, especially of greatly varying power levels and curb weight, all have at least a slightly different (and at most almost the opposite) optimal racing line, point of braking before a turn, etc.
The day really was about overcoming the major anxiety I was experiencing, learning how the event works, how the track works and how to work the track, learning what tire pressure to use, what alignment settings to use, and what to absolutely not do in driving. But it was still fun, and did manage to start improving a tiny bit at the very end. I felt like I was learning to walk or read again...
Day two of the 2-day race weekend was a bit better. Not so much in terms of my times (although they were slightly better), but more in terms of mental state, knowing what to expect, how to properly set up my car, and finally, make some improvements in my driving somewhere in between all the rest. The course was very similar, but backwards of the day before, seemed a bit easier, and was definitely faster.
Fastest times of the day were 51"s in EM class, with 56"-58"s being competitive in other popular classes and my best of the day was a 61.324. I managed not to DNF any runs this time, but hit even more cones than the day before, as many as two on a few runs. Having added -1 degrees of front camber and about 1/16" of toe-out made the car much easier to get going where I wanted it, predictably. While I struggled and did not get good times, I was not as far off from the other and better novice drivers' times as I was the day before. It always seems I start to finally get the hang of it right on my last run. I get the feeling that this is just a fact of autocrossing or racing in general, and is why we get addicted and keep coming back...
