Autocross

[mpozzi]

Thats awsome Mary! Your not that far off for having a street car.

Thats exactly what I did and I consistantly turned quicker times. I didnt go any faster I just was way smoother than I have ever been. Also I started working on finding braking points which helped too.

My strategy (based on three timed runs) is to make my first run for education. I want to learn the track surface, the driving line, if it drives like it walked (always walk the course and have it memorized in your mind BEFORE you drive it), and any irregularities I didn't notice when I walked it. Remember, the pylons and corners come up a lot faster when you're behind the wheel.

My second run is much quicker and I take the information from my first run, process it, and go from there. If I need to apex a corner differently, I do it on this run. I join several parts of the course together as what I do on one corner can drastically affect the subsequent sections of the course. I hope to stay clean and not hit any cones.

For my last run, I only work on the sections of the course that need it. For instance, I will take a slalom and clean it up. Or work on car placement or braking so I can exit a corner under better power. I take the good from my second run and leave that parts of the course alone. Luckily, I don't hit many cones (rarely are my times "dirty") and since I typed this, I'll probably hit every cone from here on out . . . JINX!!

Again, smoothness is the key. I was at an event last weekend and there was a very cool '69 Camaro that could have turned some very good times. The guy driving left a lot on the table as he kept showboating with wheel spin and tire smoke, and just abused the hell out of the car. Those in the know just shook our heads and I wanted to take the car from him and give it a good home . . . yeah, I wish!! And his friend in a fourth-gen was even worse with the abuse. We won't even go there . . .

Cheers,
Mary Pozzi