> This being my third event, I don't have a lot to compare it to. I'm
> surprised, actually, to hear that the general consensus is
> that this course
> was better than, say, round 16's course. I felt like this
> course (and the
> one at Oakland) were much _less_ technical. Perhaps I'm a
> bit sadistic, but
> shouldn't the course hurt more? Someone said the extra width
> of the course
> was GOOD! :)
Well, 17 was definitely *different* than 16. I'm not sure if I'd say it
was easier, though... The extra width gave one a lot of chances to make
mistakes in choosing a line.
> The round 16 course had a similar first half, but the second
> half was much
> more interesting. There was a series of turns after that
> back straight
> leading into the first short slalom that felt great, and then
> another tight
> sequence after the slalom all the way to the finish that was
> more than my
> poor(ly suspended) little car could handle. THAT'S fun!
I liked the second half of 16 quite a bit as well; that series of turns
was a great example of "get lined up right at the beginning, and it's
basically a straight; get lined up wrong, and it's a series of hard
swerves left and right"
> So, experts, am I looking for the wrong thing on a course?
> I'm learning
> that it's MUCH harder to drive slow than it is to get through
> fast sections
> like the first half of the last course with a convincing
> time. Perhaps it's
> just that my underpowered little car doesn't have enough
> grunt to make the
> faster portions feel harrowing? Or am I just not able to
> drive it hard
> enough to make it feel harrowing?
I'm not sure you (or I) really *want* the faster sections of an autox
course to feel harrowing! I banged the rev limiter in 2nd (~71mph) down
that front straight before the slalom this past weekend, and the weight
transfer nearly made the back end step out. I'm all for harrowing at
30mph in autox, or harrowing at 100mph at Thunderhill, but backwards at
70mph at GGF I can do without. (Not a course complaint: I should have
known I was getting close to the limiter and made sure I was dead-on
straight).
> Oh.. And one more thing.. Running with my roof off in fun
> runs allowed me
> to get my seat adjusted right and bought me 1.47 seconds. Is
> it against
> stock rules to cut a hole in my roof for my helmet to stick
> out?
One word: Roll bar. Er, two words. One and a half? Anyways, a good
roll bar (welded in)will buy you a lot of structural rigidity, and you
can then ride with the top off.
Cheers!
-Brooks
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