ER's first event is on February 22nd in Mineral Wells! :D
ER's Website : www.autocross.com/er
So who all is going to come out to start the 2004 Autocross season! 8)
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ER's first event is on February 22nd in Mineral Wells! :D
ER's Website : www.autocross.com/er
So who all is going to come out to start the 2004 Autocross season! 8)
I'll be there. I'm waiting on tires to come in.
I'll be teaching at the PCA autocross schools that weekend.
Iain
I'll be learning at the PCA AX schools that weekend. :wink:Quote:
Originally Posted by altiain
What are you getting? My Victoracers shipped out for Shreveport yesterday! 8)Quote:
Originally Posted by JRW
ER List (So Far)
- POS
JRW
I'm getting V700s. It's either those or Hoosiers for us 16" wheel owners.
I thought the PCA school was the first of March?
I'll be there... V700s are mounted... Hopefully things will dry out so I can do a heat cycle.
Be careful on the heat cycle. My last heat cycle rewarded me with a "Demonstration of Acceleration" citation. This was 2nd gear figure 8s in an empty parking lot. I couldn't talk my way out of it even with my infared thermometer and pressure gage and notepad.
That's "scrubbing in"... I'm just going to run 20 minutes two directions on the freeway to get them up to temp...
I should be there, weather and health permitting :roll:
wanting to go, but doubting I'll make it.
I'll be there on my now 3 year old Hoosiers :shock: . Obviously I (1) won't be in the running for 1st place in CS, and (2) will be trying to grind those Hoosiers to their cords. :) On the other hand, I haven't even ordered my replacement R-Compounds, so I guess I'd better get cracking!
:?: I hope it's nothing too bad...Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark52
I can't decide what to do...for a total autox noobie, should I go to the ER autox or should I go the PCA autocross 101 school? They're on the same day so I can't attend both. Which one will teach me more?
Oh and do I get more seat time at the PCA autox school? :P
and is it too late to sign up for the pca school?
It would be ideal it you could get a few events under your belt before going to any AX school. That way, you'd have a small experience base to go from as they are showing/teaching you stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tn
But given the fact that you can either go to your first AX event or attend the PCA school... I'd recommend going to the PCA school (if it's not too late to sign up... and I bet it's not). altiain is an instructor there, and apparently PCA puts on an excellent school. You'll learn a ton of stuff in that school, far more than you would at the ER event. Then you can apply what you learned the following weekend at the NTS2KOC event. :thumleft:
I would recommend going to the PCA school instead of the ER event for a number of reasons.
First and foremost, the AX101 school is designed primarily for those who have never autocrossed before - i.e., people like yourself. This school is designed to get students familiar with driving a car in a high performance environment, and then introduce them to some of the skills that will help them once they start attending actual autocross events. This school is designed to provide you with the basic car control and course reading skills that will help to prevent you from getting frustrated when just starting out in autocrossing.
Secondly, you'll get 10 times the seat time at the PCA school, literally. And all of that seat time will be under the watchful eye of your instructor, who will be able to offer you individual feedback and constructive criticism. As instructors, we are there specifically for the students - our job is to help you, individually. With some students this will mean helping them go faster, with some it will mean helping them to successfully navigate the course, and with others it will mean helping them to counter bad habits that they weren't even consciously aware that they were forming (I'll bet you don't drive with one hand on the shifter anymore, do ya Kestrel? :P ). You won't get that kind of individualized attention at an ER event.
The AX102/TT103 school in Mineral Wells on March 6-7 are geared more towards students with some autocross experience, as these schools focus more on learning how to drive specific course elements, and then learnign how to string the individual elements together into a cohesive whole. However, the AX101 school is designed and focused specifically towards the individual who has seen or heard of autocross and thinks it might be fun to try, but wants to go into it the first time as well prepared as possible.
Iain
Do I need a roll bar for that pca school?
Nope. Don't need a roll bar to autocross with any of the DFW-area clubs (Texas Region SCCA, Equipe Rapide, Maverick PCA, Lone Star BMWCCA, North Texas S2000 Owner's Club) or attend any of their schools.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tn
Here is a link to the Maverick Region PCA driving school site - be sure to sign up if you want to attend, as you cannot "just show up and go".
Iain
Well, altiain answered your question, but he didn't give you the complete skinny on PCA events. You don't have to have a rollbar, but you do have to drive "top up". Doesn't sound like too much of a big deal, but it can be. Try sitting in your car, with you helmet on, and in proper driving/racing position... unless you are shorter than me (I'm 5'8"), your helmet is gonna hit the top. So that means you have to (1) slouch, or (2) recline more than your used to. I think that is way more dangerous than the very small risk that you'll roll the car, but "them's the rules". :rabbit:Quote:
Originally Posted by altiain
And in the event that you do roll your car, that metal softtop frame would be like the blades of a harvester slicing through everything in it's path... but PCA believes that's better than no top at all.
OK, enough moaning. I don't run PCA events specifically because they require me to either (1) install a rollbar (which isn't a bad idea, but not something I'm interested in doing) or (2) run top up and gain all the protection that provides. :roll: But, I know they put on exceptional events, and I've never heard anything but great reviews about their school. Since you are new to all of this, you [probably] won't have the same aversion to racing top up that I do*.
Go to the school, follow their silly rules, but learn from some of the best instructors around. It'll be worth your while!
************************
* BTW, I do run top up at MSR, because they require it there as well. And I think it's just a dangerous there. But I'm willing to put up with it for track time... not willing to put up with it for autocross. And you'll find that almost nobody else here will agree with me on this one... :wink:
New Azenis, new rings, and she's letting me go!!!
:bounce: Woo Hoo :bounce:
I got 2 of my friends to come along with me to the pca autox school :D
see you there Iain!
but yeah...I don't think driving with the top up will be too much of a problem since i'm only 5'5" :cry:
For a guy who whines about rollover protection or lack thereof, Kestrel sure hasn't been in any hurry to install a roll bar in his car - the one thing that might actually protect his head if he ever does get it "shiny side down". :P
Will do - it should be a lot of fun. 8)Quote:
Originally Posted by Tn
Iain
You misunderstand my whining. :wink: I think AX is safe enough to run without any rollover protection, hence I am in no rush to install a rollbar. I think PCA is being foolish with their "top-up" rule. If they are that concerned -- more concerned than SCCA or ER or most other clubs running AX -- they should just require a rollbar and be done with it. It's the "top up is safer" mentality that gets my lederhosen in a twist.Quote:
Originally Posted by altiain
You'll remind me that at an AX early last year -- I think it was a PCA event -- they did have someone roll (in a WRX, if I'm not mistaken). Well, I'm waiting for the day when one of the "safe" top-up ragtops (god forbid it's a Miata :shock: ) goes over... then when the body comes out in four pieces, we'll all see just how safe that little piece of brilliant thinking is :? .
But it's OK... that's just my [warped, and very vocal] opinion. PCA can run any way they want. And in the end, there are plenty of other places I can race... in a terribly unsafe manner with my top down and no rollbar :P .
I'm not picking on you alt... most people on this board are OK with it all, or they just don't care enough to "vent". One day I'll get over myself and just install the bloody rollbar. :lol:
By the way, you may notice that I don't make too big a fuss when MSR requires top up. They probably should require a rollbar, which would mean I couldn't run. So on that score, I stay verwy, verwy quite (said in my best Elmer Fudd voice) :lol: .
Well looks like the following folks will be in beautiful Mineral Wells on Sunday!
- POS
JRW
Tailchaser
Mark52
onething
Kestrel
Anyone else planning on going to Mineral Wells tomorrow??
What a way to start the season!
It was a great day for autocross, and we had an excellent showing by the Miata crowd:
I think we had a total of 11 Miata pilots at this first event:
- -1st in CS by JRW, who was basically on fire all day long
-2nd in ES by POS Racing
-1st in Tire Class by onething
-2nd in DSP by Spec Miata Dude
- 7 CS
- 2 Tire Class
- 1 ES
- 1 DSP
But for the first time in [at least] two years, there were no Miatas in Novice class. :cry: Come on boys and girls -- we've taken the Novice Crown for the last two years... who's going to get it in 2004?
Congrats to JRW - I spoke with Jon W. this evening, and he said mentioned the fact that he got beat.
I heard Kestrel and tailchaser also had new tires out there today, and didn't do so badly themselves.
As for the Novice crown... we hooked a few novices at the PCA school today who might have have a shot at that title. :wink:
Sorry I missed you guys today - see y'all next weekend in Miserable Wells! :D
Iain
Sorry I didnt make it out there for the event. My car was in no shape to race. If someone passed my car at tech I would have laughed my ass off.
I had the trailer hitched to the Miata and ready to go to Mineral Wells, but sudden illness Sunday a.m. kept me home :( The really sad thing is that I felt fine by noon :cry: Anyway, congrats to all you weiners, I mean winners. :D
Ah... no... Unless you call 3+ year old Hoosiers new. :wink: I'm still trying to burn off the tires I got when I bought that second set of wheels. I got 'um last year, and that rubber was already 2+ years old. :shock:Quote:
Originally Posted by altiain
On the other hand, I wasn't too disappointed with my performance. Funny to say that when you place 4th, but I'm telling you CS is gonna be tough this year! I'm not expecting to place very highly in the trophy hunt, but I do expect to learn a lot and become a much better driver as I try to chase the "Big Dogs". I'll continue to behappy with my performance throughout the year as long as I'm close to the eventual winner.
Wanna know what I learned yesterday? I don't know s#@t about reading a course. :( On the initial walk-throughs, I was absolutely convinced that you needed to take the slalom the "easy way". This meant going left around the first cone (taking the cone on your right) and carrying the speed up the hill. That also meant giving up some speed at the end, but that was OK since it was a tight right-hander... you'd have to give up a lot of speed anyway. My thinking was it was better not to lose any speed at the bottom, carry that speed to the top, and give up the speed only when you had to. Well, I would be wrong. In this particular instance, you ended up not giving away too much speed at the bottom if you went to the right of that first cone (took it on your left side), and I trimmed 1.5 seconds off my time when I went that way. Who suggested that? John B. Of course, I didn't listen to him until my third run. :pale:
Well, everything in life can be a learning experience, if you pay attention...
Huh? What was that?
Results are Available! (PDF)