Feb 17th Brooksville

[kickslop]

Have at it

[Loren]

Fun course!

[Charles]

This course made you look ahead, if you didn't you had to either go off course or come almost to a complete stop to make the next gate...

[d_rasp]

Charles is right. I think a lot of people had trouble looking ahead & it bit 'em in the @$$.

It was a shame we only had 4 runs - I think it was the right call, but the course forced us to wait quite a while before starting a second car & run groups took quite a while. On events with huge turnout like this, we're going to have to get back to reallying pushing for a nice early start (not possible this AM b/c of the C O L D) and keeping things moving as quickly as possible.

Gotta' have more than 4 runs for everybody next month and (fingers crossed) nobody going home without a time.

That said, I had a blast - thanks to everyone who helped!!!

[Native]

[affirmation]Well, so, this wasn't my best autocross, but, thats - OK. Because, well, I know how to read a course, I'm a good driver, and goshdarnit, people like me [/affirmation]

I don't know who said it first, but I do agree - you stood no chance without being ahead of yourself on this one. My 3 DNFs were in three different spots on the course. Why? I wasn't looking far enough ahead. Would I have coned it in differently if I designed it? Yes, but that's a matter of style - it was a challenging, fast, smooth-flowing course.

Aspects of this event were just so out of the ordinary - 50+ drivers out of 90 entries. The coldest day of the winter. Unusual (in a good way) course. Lots of DNFs. Only 4 runs. BUT, we had the first car out before 11. Everything ran very smoothly. It warmed up nicely. No snags or problems. Looks like we're getting a few new regulars. Overall it was a wonderful event, everyone did a great job, and thank you everybody!

[Dave-ROR]

You absolutely had to look ahead. Lining the course with chalk powder may have helped, but with all the wind I'm sure not it would have stayed where we wanted it anyways. Some more cones would have helped as well but since we used them all for the course that wasn't an option either.

I also got one DNF, and saw the gate I missed when I missed it, but most didn't notice when they missed a gate. Of course, setting up the cones in the morning and looking through it was drew, bill, etc probably helped quite a bit as well.

I have a feeling that there will be some discussion after today about this

Overall I loved the course, yes it was confusing and a bit strange (and didn't allow a secon car to start early enough) but it was a smooth, fairly fast, fun course and had a good flow to it. I think about 20 extra cones would have allowed a few more walls and pointers to make it a lot more obvious, but nothing could be done about it this morning.

Another good event :thumbup:

[CorradoVR6z]

I loved the course. Considering this was only my second Auto-X I think I did alright, even tho I didn't posted a fast time but managed to improve on every run and didn't hit any cones...

What I think helped me quite a bit was my first run... I just went slow to learn the course first... Just walking the course wasn't good enough to put things into perspective I suppose...

Thanks for everything everyone.

Cheers

Leo

[Loren]

I think Drew did a great job as a first-time event chairman. It's nearly impossible to put on an autocross without a few snags, and even more so when the event is held in a remote location. Big thanks to Drew and everyone who helped!

[Alizarin]

I'll go on record that my only dnf was caused by saving a very loose back end and missing a gate on the slalom.

And it wasn't that cold ya wussies!

Posting from my 770, still at the robotics meeting... more later

[Native]

Would I have coned it in differently if I designed it? Yes, but that's a matter of style

I think about 20 extra cones would have allowed a few more walls and pointers

Exactly my point, as I was thinking fewer cones, not more!

Considering this was only my second Auto-X I think I did alright, even tho I didn't posted a fast time but managed to improve on every run and didn't hit any cones...

What I think helped me quite a bit was my first run... I just went slow to learn the course first

Right on, man! Glad you enjoyed it!

[WAFlowers]

I walked the course ... once ... which wasn't enough. I should have walked it again, and again, at least! It was just one of those courses that needed to be walked multiple times to fix it in your head.

The length of the course combined with the many dramatic shifts from once side of the runway to the other made it nearly impossible to memorize from looking at the map and walking it a single time, IMO.

Does that make it a bad course? NO! It just means that drivers need to be more disciplined and focussed than they usually are at one of our events.

Maybe they need to attend a class which covers how to "read" and walk a course. (I hope that is on the curriculum for next month's school.)

I agree with CorradoVR6z: my first run was slow because I didn't know the handling of my new car. That gave me time to find my way on the course, which was valuable for my next runs.

You don't have to try for FTD on your first run. Use it to warm up the car and ensure you know the course. Then on your other runs you can burn up the track!

As always: do as I say; not as I do.

[Jamie]

I think we did alright. The weather certainly discouraged some people from coming out...too bad for them!

What went right:

Pre-registration. Having everyone pre-registered made it possible to pre-print all the registration sheets and conduct a speedy registration right at the gate. It also made working out run groups and work assignments much easier. Both of those made preparation much faster, and made it possible to rapidly adapt to the group that actually showed up. We really should consider making this our standard...how many of our entrants don't have access to a computer? Since we're not mandating pre-payment, it shouldn't discourage anyone from signing up.

Car numbers: No one missed the old numbers -- a few people needed to borrow tape, but almost everyone had easy-to-read numbers. We do need to remind people to put numbers on both sides of the car!

A dedicated early crew: Setup went very quickly. The course was set up, tech completed, run groups and work assignments finalized in time for a 10am drivers meeting. Thanks to the people who volunteered and showed up before the temperature rose above freezing!

Courseworkers: Lots of hustle today! Special kudos to the guy at Station 4 in the last group, who sprinted to recover and reset a dragged cone just in time for the next car on course to hit it again! Grid seemed to go pretty smoothly, too.

Hot chocolate: Yea, Flowers!

What didn't go quite right:

Using the small cones for gates: These make decent pointers or grid cones, but gates using the small cones were harder to see. That may have contributed to some of the DNFs. Although an amazing number of novices seemed to have little problem navigating the course....

Course overlap: Course design prevented much of an overlap, so our throughput went down to about one car every 45 seconds. That what's really drove us down to 4 runs. Easily fixed next time.

Giant voice: We needed a PA system of some sort. The delay at the start was difficulty in rounding people up. Could have used it a few other times as well. A bullhorn could work, but using the PA system we have would also enable us to announce times to the spectators.

I'm looking forward to the next event.

[CorradoVR6z]

Pre-registration. Having everyone pre-registered made it possible to pre-print all the registration sheets and conduct a speedy registration right at the gate. It also made working out run groups and work assignments much easier. Both of those made preparation much faster, and made it possible to rapidly adapt to the group that actually showed up. We really should consider making this our standard...how many of our entrants don't have access to a computer? Since we're not mandating pre-payment, it shouldn't discourage anyone from signing up.

X2. I think that went pretty well.

[Loren]

Regarding course walking, memorization and all... I walked the course once... and sort of walked it a second time as I was helping chalk cones. I did NOT memorize this course, and I *still* couldn't tell you accurately which way the gates went or where.

As someone else mentioned, this course was all about LOOKING AHEAD. Yes, the return stretch came at you fast, you just had to stay ahead of it.

The biggest thing I picked up from walking the course was that the course flowed pretty well and that there were only a few places that were "difficult". You don't have to remember an entire course, just the IMPORTANT parts! On this course, critical parts were the big left-right segment... lots of time to be lost there... and getting it right had a lot to do with NOT overcooking the end of the slalom. The other critical parts were the turnaround... always lots of time to be lost doing a turnaround... and the two tight gates as you headed back toward the finish. If you thought ahead and kept your car well under control for all of those elements, you turned a fast time.

[Alizarin]

If you thought ahead and kept your car well under control for all of those elements, you turned a fast time.

Hence why my times sucked. Although I did see some positive results while left foot braking through the turnaround. I just need to train my left foot to not be so strong on the brake... damn clutch

One thing to add to your list, Jamie, unless I missed something, is that there were no timer problems again. That was my biggest fear, to be honest. A timer problem could really have cut down on run efficiency.

It was a good course, Drew. I gave 3 rides, took a few with others to help get them through. Definately looking forward to next month's event! And folks, there's absolutly no shame in asking for somebody to ride and point out what you're missing. I heard of a few people who DNF'd all 4 runs, and didn't ask for any help. Nobody will make fun of you, you're no worse of a driver, sometimes it just helps to have somebody point and say "You're supposed to go to the left up here" to just make it all click.


BTW, Bay News 9 just said that the low tonight in Brooksville will be 22, and there's currently some rain in the area! 8)

[muddy]

Since I worked tech in the morning with Jeremy, I used my spare time to ride with some novices. The novices I rode with struggled because they weren't looking ahead far enough, however there were a few course setup mistakes that made it a bit difficult for them.

The first error was the crossover on the way out. There was a cone wall, a gap, then an apex cone with a pointer and another wall. The novices wanted to turn through the first gap, which should not have been there.

The second error was at the finish. There were four offset gates at the finish. They started on the left, then the first gate on the right was made using small cones. I saw at least 20 runs where drivers missed that gate.

Otherwise, I think it was a fun course. I had a good time, despite hitting so many cones.

[Dave-ROR]

Yes, and both of those were known before the first driver ran, however with no spare cones in sight.....

[Native]

Here's the results. Congrats to Justin Sims and his Stalker for their blazing FTD!!

[Loren]

Yo, Steve!

It seems that every time we run at Brooksville we run out of cones. Perhaps it's time to upgrade from our "starter set"? Can we afford to buy another 60-80 (or even 100) more standard cones? That would allow us to use the little red ones for what they were intended for... marking finish lanes and grid, and still have plenty of cones to build a kick-ass course.

[kickslop]

Total waste of a Saturday, capped with a foul mood for the rest of the night, for me.

1: Off course in first 30% of course, 40F tires out of control
2: Off course in first 35% of course, 50F tires out of control
3: Thought it was fine. No time nor "DNF" on board until I was at the start line for run 4.
4: Having no idea what I did wrong in run 3, I ran the same run.

Runs 3 and 4 below:

The first error was the crossover on the way out. There was a cone wall, a gap, then an apex cone with a pointer and another wall. The novices wanted to turn through the first gap, which should not have been there.