Post 5/9/15 TBD Event

[dbeng]

I had a great time at TBD yesterday. My first event outside of the runway at Brooksville and it was an eye opener how little grip was available in comparison! Definitely had to be a little more gentle with the inputs to avoid crazy understeer as I found out very quickly at the first left hand sweeper after the start
My second run was a great example of how not to drive a slalom! I was so far behind in the slalom I had to just about stop and get back into first gear entering the figure eight. I think the reason was that I took a much better line through the left sweeper after learning from my first run's error so arrived at the slalom considerably faster and overcooked the entry at which point it just got worse & worse! I'm really pleased with my third & best run of the day, everything came together for a respectable time. No idea what happened in the final run, it was a clean run & felt great, I expected it to be quicker but it was over a second slower

Great to catch up with Brian & Dave for the first time since last year's novice school, sorry we didn't have more time to chat, also great to see Dan Stewart a fellow novice school graduate back in action. Thanks to Chris & Matt for giving my sister a couple of memorable runs in the first run group. Also my brother in law took some good pictures to add to the album.

I enjoyed the change of scenery at the TBD venue (not to mention the 15 minute drive to & from the event), but found that one car on course at a time & therefore longer wait between runs didn't allow the event to "flow" as smoothly as some at Brooksville, but that doesn't take away from the fact it was a great day's autocross. I'm looking forward to coming back again in June.

Thanks again to everyone who made it happen.
Dan.

[dbeng]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/133057342 ... 546824552/
This link should work, please tell me if the pictures are "blocked" for some crazy reason.

Philip, I always look forward to your pictures, but for some reason I get the following error when clicking on the link:
Don't know if it's just me but wanted to let you know.

Thanks,
Dan

[tdinfl]

Thanks Doug, those three definitely schooled me. But, I was fairly happy with my time and learned a lot more about the gazillion things I need to fix to be faster.

Thanks Loren and Jamie for the feedback. I've been moving the camera around a lot to see where I'm positioned relative to the cones, and you're right I need to be a lot closer in most cases.

Still learning,
TD

[Carracer]

Still, even with a great run with no cones I can't see how I could have done better than that 41.5~

I was a little off my game yesterday, but I only ran a 41.3. I would expect your car on worn out Azenis to be a good half-second slower. In other words, I wouldn't have expected to do better than 41.5 in your car.

Watching your video, it's hard to tell from that angle, but you may be holding some distance from some of the cones. Particularly the skidpad turns.

There are places where you're over-driving, and place where you're under-driving. You may have been setting up too much for the first left sweeper. The entry apex was a false apex, but I feel you might have been taking your setup too far and just adding distance. On the exit of that turn, you often cranked the wheel too hard and initiated understeer... and then ended up with a foot or so of extra space to the cone wall on the outside. Why not just turn a little less and AIM for the cone wall on the outside? Use all of the course when you need to.

The exit of the figure 8, probably about 2/3 of the way around, you could start getting away from the cones and getting on the gas. Staying tight all the way around not only delayed throttle application, but put you on a bad line for the next sequence. Going a little wider out there gave you a better angle to late apex that next green cone.

Through the S turn, you seem tentative, and then you probably didn't set up enough to be able to carry max speed through the final turn.

I think you could have been in the low 42's or high 41's without too much trouble.

Some courses can be called "punish/reward" courses. You have to put up with some hard braking and/or tight maneuvers to get to the faster and looser stuff. (sometimes airstrip courses are this way in an effort to keep their top speed under control) This course was more of a "risk/reward" course. The course itself wasn't difficult, but there were cone walls to hit on the outside of most of the turns, and they were a little bit close this time. (I didn't even take the time to pace them off this time, I usually aim for a minimum of 20-25 feet, these may have been slightly closer than that) So, to be fast, you had to be willing to "risk" wiping out that wall of cones if you got loose. I think that's what made me slow on this course. I knew the grip was iffy, so I wasn't taking the risk.

Thank, I guess I decided to pull out all my bad habits yesterday On the 41.5 I coned I was pushing 110%. But I only had 1 run after that. On my last clean run I was giving the cones way to much room. I really just wanted a clean 42 anything. So I guess I was also having problems with the "risk/reward".

Philip, I always look forward to your pictures, but for some reason I get the following error when clicking on the link:
Don't know if it's just me but wanted to let you know.

Thanks,
Dan

OK, new link:
https://www.flickr.com/gp/133057342@N05/ui6Ah2

This should work correctly, I hope. If not I'm going back to dropbox

[Professional_Slacker]

As always, thank you for the pics, Phillip.

[Jamie]

...one car on course at a time & therefore longer wait between runs didn't allow the event to "flow" as smoothly as some at Brooksville....

The "wait" between individual runs keeps coming up (I'm not picking on Dan specifically...he just provided the quote)...what, exactly, is everyone so spun up about? I was there for half the morning and all afternoon. Yes, there were a few issues with timing -- quickly resolved. Yes, the interval was a bit longer because of the course design...but less obnoxiously so than people think. The biggest reason was that for the first time in several events, we had full-up 25+ car grids in each group, instead of 15-20. (The last time we had close to 100 cars show up was the January open event.) Really, it wasn't bad. QYB! Or drive faster...!

[Professional_Slacker]

...one car on course at a time & therefore longer wait between runs didn't allow the event to "flow" as smoothly as some at Brooksville....

The "wait" between individual runs keeps coming up (I'm not picking on Dan specifically...he just provided the quote)...what, exactly, is everyone so spun up about? I was there for half the morning and all afternoon. Yes, there were a few issues with timing -- quickly resolved. Yes, the interval was a bit longer because of the course design...but less obnoxiously so than people think. The biggest reason was that for the first time in several events, we had full-up 25+ car grids in each group, instead of 15-20. (The last time we had close to 100 cars show up was the January open event.) Really, it wasn't bad. QYB! Or drive faster...!

My only "complaint", if you can even call it that, was the timing SNAFUs. and that's a tech issue, it cant really be helped. these things happen. considering the sheer volume of people, and cars, the fact that this is an open venue where people can potentially just wonder in to the event area, parking shortages, and the logistics of trying to keep it all moving. I thought it actually went rather smoothly. the course was really fun. the venue was nice. As usual, everyone in attendance was there to drive and have a good time. All in all. I thought it was pretty uneventful and well run. good job.

[Jamie]

You guys need to get out and run with other clubs more often....

[Professional_Slacker]

I was having fits with that figure 8. might has well have parked the car and had a picnic out there for as much time as I just left out there.

[garage west]

You guys need to get out and run with other clubs more often....

So true. FAST events run super-smooth.

[Professional_Slacker]

Here is my fastest clean run of the day....it's soooo sloppy.

https://youtu.be/mDzHKT-WMpM

[Cool Rod]

I think I may have blacked out yesterday. No other reason to explain my first 1st place finish. I dont really remember anything other than Nathan's look of dejection. However, I do know that I would personally like to thank both Mikes (1LE and Shelby) and Waffle House for my first place finish.

[Native]

Thanks for the positive feedback and support yall. Loren and I knew it was gonna be a busy day, and the course that was put together was supposed to have a 30ish second overlap. Turned out for safety reasons the overlap was more like 50-55 seconds, and needless to say, that kinda dragged things out. As Loren said a few posts back, we're still learning the site. All things considered, it was a good day. As for the waiting, c'mon, autocross is 6 hours of standing around and socializing and 4 minutes or so of driving. Always has been. I actually really like that...

As for my driving, [insert autocross excuse here] .
Really talk about overdriving...and the suspension changes I made recently are better suited to Bville and grip than TBD and sand. I couldve made some adjustments but chose to make a learning experience of it. Of course, my 5 cones in 4 runs didn't help...coned away my best runs of 40.4x. Ah well, still great fun!

Thank you to all who contributed, it cant be done without you!

[Inspecta]

Hopefully the link works (thanks to Peas and Phil for lending me the gopro) you can point and laugh,critique or feel owned because a wee little s4 Miata whooped or nearly whooped you. Pointers are welcome https://www.dropbox.com/s/v9ynmp8kakuic ... 3.mp4?dl=0

[Professional_Slacker]

Thanks for the positive feedback and support yall. Loren and I knew it was gonna be a busy day, and the course that was put together was supposed to have a 30ish second overlap. Turned out for safety reasons the overlap was more like 50-55 seconds, and needless to say, that kinda dragged things out. As Loren said a few posts back, we're still learning the site. All things considered, it was a good day. As for the waiting, c'mon, autocross is 6 hours of standing around and socializing and 4 minutes or so of driving. Always has been. I actually really like that...

As for my driving, [insert autocross excuse here] .
Really talk about overdriving...and the suspension changes I made recently are better suited to Bville and grip than TBD and sand. I couldve made some adjustments but chose to make a learning experience of it. Of course, my 5 cones in 4 runs didn't help...coned away my best runs of 40.4x. Ah well, still great fun!

Thank you to all who contributed, it cant be done without you!

I had a 40.514 I blew by hitting a cone on my final run of the day. I feel your pain.

[Professional_Slacker]

why do the Miata videos always look like they are so much faster than mine, even when they aren't?

[nathanwilliams617]

I think I may have blacked out yesterday. No other reason to explain my first 1st place finish. I dont really remember anything other than Nathan's look of dejection. However, I do know that I would personally like to thank both Mikes (1LE and Shelby) and Waffle House for my first place finish.

Congrats dude! Your driving looked really good yesterday. Keep it up!

[garage west]

Hopefully the link works (thanks to Peas and Phil for lending me the gopro) you can point and laugh,critique or feel owned because a wee little s4 Miata whooped or nearly whooped you. Pointers are welcome [

Pointers are those cones that lay on the ground next to the ones I mow down.

[Inspecta]

why do the Miata videos always look like they are so much faster than mine, even when they aren't?

Dunno, maybe because I didn't hit any cones. Lol[emoji12]


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[Professional_Slacker]

why do the Miata videos always look like they are so much faster than mine, even when they aren't?

Dunno, maybe because I didn't hit any cones. Lol[emoji12]


hey, they shoulda moved
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