Don't know how long you have been autocrossing, but I autoxed for 20 years
before trying a road course (Solo I). I was definitely intimidated at
first. It is one thing to drive at the limit (and sometimes exceed it) on an
autox course and another to do it where over the limit can mean going off
course. I share a car, and my co-driver has a few years more experience on
road courses. I was 4-5 seconds behind him most of the time, despite being
able to virtually always beat him in the same car on an autox course. It
took several events to get comfortable driving close to the limit, despite
very safe tracks with lots of runoff room, and the fact I was very familiar
with how the car feels at the limit and being on the exact same course. You
shouldn't expect to be as fast as experienced road racers right off the
bat. 2 1/2 yrs later he still beats me most of the time, but by very little
now. Just like anything else, it takes practice, practice, practice. We
also have a camera in the car and I learned a lot from watching my partner's
runs vs mine. It does take a bit different mind set to race with other cars
and potential off course excursions. It would be hard for me to imagine
going out on a race course for the first time without my autox background.
Rick Brown
GT2/AP 240Z
>Went out on a big track for some spirtited driving over the weekend. I
>was humbled as the competition crushed me for lap times. What I'm
>curious about is how does one take autoX experience to a fast pace
>track? I noticed that my autocrossing skills did not like speeds that
>required huge amounts of drift. Large amounts of drift on the autoX
>course always means added cones. I noticed that most of the time I was
>able to point myself at the next apex instead of pushing towards it.
>For those of you that do roadrace can you pass on words of wisdom that
>will allow me to perform better for the next future track day? The bang
>for your buck is more with track day, but I love the quick action of the
>autoX more. I kept finding myself needing to wait for that turn-in
>instead of that boom - boom - boom of steering wheel input from a nice
>autoX course. The idea of going off track at 90+ mph is not something I
>look forward to.
>
>Cheers
>
>JimZ #59 E/SP SFRSCCA Eagle Talon TSi AWD
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