Da Groj

Results have been posted:
http://drivefast.org/results/results-archive/

Really didn't expect to make this event after a very terrible morning but glad I could make it out. Autocross makes even the worst days better.

8th overall and yet still only a half a second from 1st, tough crowd! Definitely a fun short course that with even 8 runs I stil think I ran it 8 different ways. Great people and great weather, doesn’t get much better. Have a safe and happy new year!

Thanks for posting the results, Philip. And, glad you got over whatever got you this morning!

Today was a great cap to another fantastic season of FAST. Thanks to everyone for being a part of it!

For some reason, I'm totally exhausted. It was a fairly short day as far as autocrosses go. But, I feel like I've been run over by a truck.

Ah, excuse me
Oh, will ya excuse me
I'm just trying to find 3rd gear
Has anybody seen 3rd gear?
Please
Have you seen 3rd gear?
I ain't seen 3rd gear!
WHERE'S THAT CONFOUNDED GEAR?

(thanks Led Zeppelin...)
(and thanks Ben for some Miata action)

B

Best I could muster today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKLnD783YNY

It was a beautiful day to spend with friends autocrossing. Here is my best run of the day:
https://www.facebook.com/joseph.vance.7 ... 381331340/

Loren wrote:Today was a great cap to another fantastic season of FAST. Thanks to everyone for being a part of it!

Um, season is not over yet, we are just getting started.

AScoda wrote:

Loren wrote:Today was a great cap to another fantastic season of FAST. Thanks to everyone for being a part of it!

Um, season is not over yet, we are just getting started.

I stand corrected. The end of a YEAR, not the end of the season.

It was a such a phenomenal day. I particularly liked the parting of the fog at just the right time.
I watched my video and I am a bit miffed with myself - I could have been on the gas sooner at the turnaround... there's where the 29 lied.
But like Philip said - a day of AX makes the world right.
Here's to pushing more and sucking less in 2018!

Looks like my recent turnaround ineptitude strikes again! Looks like I was simply taking too wide of a line. Oh well, at least I think I finally drove crossovers correctly.

I watched videos of my best two runs. 30.439 and 30.463 were back-to-back runs. I still think the car could have done a 29.9 or better.

After the first 30.4, I told myself that my line was pretty good, I just wasn't pushing the car hard enough. Being my usual conservative-driving self. So, I set out to make a more aggressive run and be a little quicker. And I did it! Made a solidly aggressive (but, not over-aggressive) run. You can see in the video that I was much more assertive about setting up for each turn and getting slighly better angles at each apex. Not significantly faster, but... better.

And then... the turn-around. I knew this turn-around was critical. Wanna know how much? I'd say this run would have been somewhere between 2 and 5 tenths faster overall. Just better setup and flow through everything. Slightly faster through each turn. But, the turn-around. I missed it. I turned in all of about 3 feet too late. That's the biggest difference between the two runs. Everything else is subtle. But, adding 3 feet of "depth" to the turn-around probably cost me a couple tenths. Net result... everything I gained everywhere else on the course was negated in what I lost in the turn-around.

And I kept trying to push harder, and never did get that turn-around right again. I forgot to suck less.

Oh, this is gold. I was telling Ben about this one. And, Soraya, this is how it's done.

The setup:
This is my final run. And it was going pretty well. I had the slightest little wiggle toward that cone wall before the turn-around. No biggie. But, focusing on not driving into that wall was enough for me to lose my mental focus on where the apex of the turn-around was, and how deep I needed to drive past the wall before turning in. Aaaaaand... where I had the camera (which was my phone, so pretty big) placed obscured my view of said apex. By the time I could see it, it was obvious that I'd turned in way too early, had to turn OUT to miss it, and almost ended up in the grass. The rest is verbal history, slightly masked by Steely Dan and tire squeal. Ended up with a 30.6 on this run. Could have easily been my fastest run if I hadn't mangled the turn-around.

Virgin ears may want to hit mute before the turn-around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahXr5LlUbjA

Great weather, well organized and executed event. Thanks everyone!

Course was fun and friendly to my car. Other than the transition before the turnaround, no crazy tail wagging to manage. Maybe my tire flip helped...or maybe I'm learning a little?

Steve put some observations to use for our turnaround strategy, which paid off. We did almost all of our runs together, which helped me a lot. In the end, Steve managed a 32.0xx, about as close as we've been to M4 leaders.

Edit:
It was a very fun year for me! Autocross bug has bitten and won't let go. Thanks to the helpful and nice people at FAST. Thanks to Steve, who surprised me when he accepted my invite to drive.

Great event to finish the year on and the short course really surprised me - lots of fun 'cept maybe for those pesky big green cones at the finish.

Happy new year - see everyone in January!

Loren wrote:Oh, this is gold. I was telling Ben about this one. And, Soraya, this is how it's done.

I'm not sharing the one video where I screwed the turn around, but let's say that my choice of words was exactly Loren's. From now on, I propose that this version of a turnaround be called the F*ck U-er

I am sharing my 8th run video, where you can hear me getting on the gas, hesitating, then on again WTF?!?!?!?!!!!

https://youtu.be/22gjCfDPjmU

Music in the cockpit - it's what the cool kids are doing

Soraya
PS- one of these days I'll remember to bring the new music compilations and not end up with the same ole song in the videos of latter runs

My music was added after the fact. I don't play music when I autocross.

My fastest run, although only a couple tenths faster than my first run. All my runs were within a few tenths. Made lots of mistakes. Never really got a feel for the course although it was fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Jg6vKF ... e=youtu.be

mymomswagon wrote:Great weather, well organized and executed event. Thanks everyone!

Course was fun and friendly to my car. Other than the transition before the turnaround, no crazy tail wagging to manage. Maybe my tire flip helped...or maybe I'm learning a little?

Steve put some observations to use for our turnaround strategy, which paid off. We did almost all of our runs together, which helped me a lot. In the end, Steve managed a 32.0xx, about as close as we've been to M4 leaders.

Edit:
It was a very fun year for me! Autocross bug has bitten and won't let go. Thanks to the helpful and nice people at FAST. Thanks to Steve, who surprised me when he accepted my invite to drive.

Bill, you were really on your game yesterday - well done! The slow-is-fast approach sure was the way to go, and/or distance over speed. The rotation you've set into your car with the suspension mods helps it turn, and the extra boost gives it just enough kick to manage the rotation. Now for some stickier tires...

I was so itching to break into 31s, and I flirted heavy on my last 3 runs, but didn't quite get it. No matter - Loren and Soroya are tough competition!

Thanks for all the videos, all, and Happy New Year everyone!

short and sweet. it tried different things at the turn around but non of it was too effective for me since the section before the final slalom choked up any speed.

here's my second fastest time, I forgot to turn on the camera for my last run.

https://youtu.be/mlzxGh6hbX8