To kick off the autocross season we started on April 12 with a school focusing on the rookies and first timers. We hope to attract new people and new cars to find out how much fun our Porsches are and how much fun it is to autocross. We had about a dozen new participants this spring, and it is always good to see the new enthusiasm.
After the course was set up we began by discussing the basics of autocross and what you could expect for the day. After a good driver’s meeting (chalk talk) we walked the course, explaining every part of the 60 second course and what the designer is trying to make you do. There are a lot of things going on in design that an untrained auto-crosser might not be looking for. The discussions are to help the new racer to understand what is going on and how do you quickly get through that section and move onto the next. In my opinion, a good track walk at the beginning can save you seconds and possibly a run or two if you figure things out first before you are on the clock. All these tricks that are taught in the school and help to build your skills to advance up the placement chart.
After discussions and a track walk, it was time to drive. We broke into two groups and tackled some specific areas of the track without the clock. One part is the technical slalom and skid pad, and the other is the full brake area, where you panic stop to feel what your car will do under extreme stopping. Everyone struggles with this, because no one likes to scrub speed so much and it is a little unnatural, although it feels like the only option sometimes in panic stops. I believe this is one of the biggest parts of the school, since you rarely get to do this. It is a tough lesson to master, but late braking can always gain you time when your engine can’t—a trick Porsche has mastered and has been a great secret to their success over the decades.
Once the two sessions were complete, we divided up into two groups and ran three runs each so everyone had a chance at the full course. After both groups completed their three (yes, some ran a few more than three passes), fun runs came on and everyone had all the runs they were willing to do. Erik’s equipment mastery made the day run smoothly and fun was had by all.
The next autocross is May 10th, the first points run of the season. Please come and give it a try, as I am going to find a way to raise the challenge again this year with different track layouts and challenges you don’t expect. I have no idea what I’m going to do, but with that theme it should be worth it to you to come and check out what crazy stuff we will come up with.
On a side note, I was planning on burning up some old road tires on the 914 this year and save the race tires, but the excessive donuts and drifting ended the rear tires, kind of, much quicker than I had planned. I did everything in second gear, never shifted, and ended up having some synchro issues. That was not planned, but with careful digging Erik found that a shifter rod had been repaired prior to my ownership and welded about 15 degrees off from where it should have been. Erik will have it back together this weekend and we will see if I can reassemble before Saturday. If not, the backup car is ready. It was sad and surprising to have that problem, but I am glad for the help of Erik for this hiccup. Looking forward to everyone coming out, see you there.
