Cold and windy. The 2016 Shenandoah Region PCA autocross school at Verona on April 16 was cold and windy. Everybody was bundled up except Chief Instructor Rick Ebinger, who didn’t get the memo and wore short pants! To see the photos from this event,
Snell 2005 helmets are no longer legal for DE or racing, so our collection of autocross helmets has been augmented by several new donations. Erik Boody brought his bright red salvaged 2006 Cayman S for the first time, which he repaired over the winter and is now street legal. Note his truth-in-advertizing SALVGE 1 license plate. The car came equipped with go-fast goodies such as a GT3 throttle body and aftermarket headers and exhaust system.
After setting out the course, Rick gathered an audience of autocross students ranging from beginners to experts, brought them to the leeward side of the pavillion to prevent freezing, and explained what to expect from autocrosses in general and from his courses in particular. Then he led a track walk around the course to point out the gate options, pavement hazards, and various cone tricks designed to fool the driver’s eye.
Then the drivers were divided into two groups that alternately worked on two parts of the course — one driving the keyhole and ending with a braking exercise, and the other concentrating on a slalom. Honda S2000 autocross expert Ray Schumin led one group while Rick led the other.
The day concluded with six timed but not scored autocross runs for each driver. Even in the afternoon, it was blustery enough that getting out of the wind and into a warm car felt good — just the opposite of driving on a hot midsummer’s day.
