Returning to the madness

[clyde]

I did my first ProSolo in six years this past weekend. It was also the first event I've done with all the parts on my car: shocks, rear bar and real tires (that are almost the right size).

I'd been really curious to see how I would do. Those are all the pieces that will help e car in meaningful ways. All that's left is the driver.

I finished third of three Focus STs (we didn't have enough cars to make a class, so we were bumped to run on index against a 911 GT3 and a Cayman GT4 with good drivers, but whatever, I'm just paying attention to my class competition). One of the FoST drivers is pretty decent, but this was his first national event ever. The other FoST driver I think is supposed to be okay and has some moderate success in other cars, but I don't really know him or "of him" too much.

So I finished third, about 0.6 seconds back on a 64ish second combined time. That didn't seem too bad, but I also wasn't really sure. The courses were very open and while I was happy enough with how I drove them, I wasn't sure if I chose to drive them close to the right way. What's annoying is that I gave up about 0.4 or 0.5 seconds to the 60 foot mark on each side. The other guys were cutting 2.4 second 60 foot times and I was doing 2.8 and 2.9s. If I launched well, I would have been two or three tenths in front. Sigh.

On the bright side, launching is a mechanical thing that's relatively easy to figure out and repeat. It's not like fixing driving with head up ass, which can be very hard. So, I'm looking forward to future events and like where I'm heading.

Where it got weird was when I saw the indexed ("PAX") results where they try to normalize times by car class potential. Its not really accurate, but can be a very rough marker and tool for comparison (especially on the Internet). Out of 204 drivers, I paxed 32nd. That suggests my driving was probably respectable. It also makes me think that either G Street has a really soft PAX and/or some of the top flight drivers I paxed ahead of didn't have their A games, fresh tires or other reasons that let me get ahead of them.

If I had cut 2.4 60 foot times like the other FoSTs (and like I expected), I would have paxed around 20th. For reference, John V paxed 25th. While I don't believe my driving is on par with him right now, I find these results encouraging. I'm looking forward to our next local event on Sunday and hoping the rain stays away so I can see what happens in a normal autocross.

[clyde]

Right side run

[clyde]

Left side run

[rumatt]

Originally Posted by clyde

we didn't have enough cars to make a class, so we were bumped to run on index against a 911 GT3 and a Cayman GT4 with good drivers, but whatever

That seems reasonable.

Was that a crazy long straight stretch at the start or is it just my imagination?

Every time I see you guys post these videos it makes me want to race again and reminds me how jealous I am of the courses you get at FedEx.

[bren]

Originally Posted by rumatt

That seems reasonable.

Was that a crazy long straight stretch at the start or is it just my imagination?

Every time I see you guys post these videos it makes me want to race again and reminds me how jealous I am of the courses you get at FedEx.

The start straight was abnormally long for a number of reasons.

Are you far from the NJ region? They have a decent lot at MetLife.

EDIT:
My 60 foot times (and a .498 red light) cost me a trophy spot - though it was the last spot and still a second away from the front of the pack.

[rumatt]

Originally Posted by bren

Are you far from the NJ region? They have a decent lot at MetLife.

30 mins away. I think I was there once at a Porsche event but they've probably repaved it 5 times since then.

[clyde]

Yeah, the straight was really, really long. One of the many reasons is the FedEx lot has deteriorated quite a bit in the last few years. It's easier to work around for regular courses, but options are getting very limited for a pro.

[kognito]

Excuse my ignorance, or stupidity, but on one of your runs you came to a stop next to a faulty cone. Is this a rule? Do you lose out on your run? how is that handled?

[clyde]

Originally Posted by kognito

Excuse my ignorance, or stupidity, but on one of your runs you came to a stop next to a faulty cone. Is this a rule? Do you lose out on your run? how is that handled?

If you come up to a cone that is down and/or misplaced, you have the option of stopping and pointing it out to the course workers, wait for acknowledgement and then proceed at a near-competition speed. If you stop, you are given a rerun. If you don't stop, the downed cone could be attributed to you. Even with video evidence that it was already down, you can still be penalized for it.

On this particular run, I didn't stop for one downed cone because I don't know why and when I encountered the second downed cone (well, not downed, but blown a few feet from where it should have been), I took it as a sign to stop. Plus, I didn't like my entry into the exit slalom and the cone had been blown a few feet out of place the hard way.

[kognito]

thanks