White95's Autocross thread

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white95

white95

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I have so much to say but I am whipped!! Enjoy some pictures from the track while I edit my videos into segments.

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apsmith49921

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Is that bridge on i10? I remember one like it on my way through there. Absolutely beautiful
 
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6EA042F4-A45F-4C04-970C-DEC4A3CF6C70.jpegI promise to fill in the blanks and post videos tomorrow. I’ll throw this out there though..

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To put this into perspective, one of my friends (neighboring SCCA region board member) ran a 43.8xx and he’s usually FTD or top 5 at events. For me to be close to his pace was mind blowing!! The bulk of the group ran in the high 40’s and low/mid 50’s.



Someone learned today!!!

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I didn’t do very well in the slalom clinic. It was tough forgetting what I thought I knew and applying what I was being taught. By the end, though. I was getting smoother. The slalom clinic with Casey Coughlin:


The oval clinic was up next and I forgot to record my initial passes. It seemed to do alright turning left but going right was a different animal altogether. I’ve always been told to look ahead and I thought I had been. The instructor put his hand out with one figure up to show where my eyes NEED to be. That one tidbit of information has forever changed my perspective on driving. The oval clinic with Rick Cone:


When it was time to piece all of that together, I raised every eyebrow out there and I’m not just bragging. I have video to prove it! The autocross full course clinic with Gary Hebert:


 

Warhorse Racing

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Thank you so much for posting these videos! Autocross schools are the best way to improve driving fundamentals and get a better sense of your car's capabilities. Getting good instruction is key to finding speed out on course. You did a great job of implementing the instruction. Very nice driving! I hope everyone following this thread watches these videos and signs up for an autocross school near them soon!

I'm looking forward to seeing your results from your next event.
 
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Thank you so much for posting these videos! Autocross schools are the best way to improve driving fundamentals and get a better sense of your car's capabilities. Getting good instruction is key to finding speed out on course. You did a great job of implementing the instruction. Very nice driving! I hope everyone following this thread watches these videos and signs up for an autocross school near them soon!

I'm looking forward to seeing your results from your next event.

Thank you! I wish I would've went back the next day to run that course again with Delta SCCA, the host region. My best time from the school would've net a 6th overall finish and faster than all CAM cars in attendance. That only reinforces my desire to compete and applying the lessons learned.

Did my best to leave my preconceived notions at home and focused on I was being taught. I knew my car was faster than me and I really needed the one on one instruction away from a competition event. All of the instructors were very helpful and it was fun watching everyone improve as the day went along. The only issues I faced during the event were tune and fuel starvation related. Guess I hadn't driven the car hard enough to know that high G maneuvering with less than a half tank led to issues. For now, I'll just run with the tank full until I sort that. The tune was an easy fix and the car is much happier now.

Another thing I better understand now is the limit of the BFG Rivals and why my buddy told me to bring a sprayer along to cool the tires down. Making 9 consecutive passes really got the tires hot and grip does suffer. There were no adjustments to tire pressure because there was no time but I had them set to 32/31 respectively. I'll have more time to play with this at a future event.

Speaking of, my next event will be at the Lamar Dixon site and the courses are much tighter and technical. Should be a fun challenge but I have a greater understanding of what it takes to be fast and I'm ready.
 

Warhorse Racing

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That course looks like a lot of fun! Looking ahead will be key, especially in the long stretches crossing the larger lot. Getting everything you can in those sections while anticipating the sweepers will allow you to find speed. I'm looking forward to seeing your run videos!
 
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Course is TIGHT. Have to find some speed in the second heat. Live timing is down but my best is a 52.481 and I was pretty much out of control for the last 10% of the course. :D

First run was something a DNF (oops) and my second was 54.xx, I believe. Fastest pass I saw was in the high 48’s.

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More updates after the lunch break and videos later today.

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Just figured out I’m 1.273 behind the guy in my class and I’m happy with that. He has a full blown race truck and attends Pro events.
 
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“You’ll master every element on an autocross course but never on the same pass.”

Those words echoed in my mind at the end of the day.
 

Warhorse Racing

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Thanks for posting the videos! Your aggression level is improving, but it looks like you are driving "one element at a time" instead of linking elements together. When you know what's coming, you are aggressive on the throttle. But there's a lot of coasting in between elements. That course had several areas where you could have anticipated the next element and you could've been "fast out" of one into the other. There are several areas where you are clearly very comfortable and some areas where you seem to lose the course for a moment, just long enough to hesitate. You are also moving your hands on the wheel quite a bit. I tell novices that every time you take your hands off of the wheel, you are losing time. There are some times when it's necessary, but there appeared to be several places on this course where you moved your hands on the wheel when you didn't have to.

The best way to bring your throttle inputs closer together is to link elements in your attack strategy. I do 4-5 course walks before I lead the novice walks at my events. I make mental notes about linking elements, especially elements where I have to think around corners with bad sight lines.

As you walk the course at your next event, stop at the exit of every element and look ahead at the next 2 elements. Look for hidden straightaways, or areas where the next element (or elements) is fast. Doing that allows you to see what elements are "fast-into-fast-into fast", which becomes "this SECTION is fast."

All the work you've done to improve your fundamentals is showing up in your runs. Which is great! The next step is to capitalize on those fundamentals by attacking longer sections of the course.
 
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We have a special night event this Saturday to raise money for one of our member’s medical bills. Looking forward to attacking the cones! Slaloms and sweepers is my jam!

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Best of all? My competition is a pair of SN chassis cars!! The orange car is my friend John, who recently join the forum. I’m looking forward to meeting the owner of the New Edge and taking some pictures with those cars.

@comp94

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Warhorse Racing

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If you focus on getting the car composed entering the sweepers, getting on the gas early in the sweepers, and linking elements together, you'll find a lot of speed. It's hard to judge from a course map, but try to be "fast-out" of the sweepers (where possible). That last big sweeper into the finish looks like a great area to be early on the throttle and aggressive! I'm looking forward to seeing your run videos!
 

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