#1: It is true that many "hardcore" people I've talked to like that site a
lot. Maybe that makes them more likely to go the extra distance? What's
even more depressing is that several of the top-flite regulars ran either
out of group or ran the same cars in stiffer-PAX'ed classes for time
reasons. Randy Noll, Teresa Neidel, Derek Butts, Andy McKee, and Ben
Martinez all did this and would have PAX'ed 1,3,4,6, and 21 respectively,
knocking my percentile score down by about a factor of 2!
#2: 318tii is a misnomer. There was never such a car, only the 318ti.
Someone probably got confused with the old 2002tii from the 70s. So, Mr.
Crawford may have been confused by that vague wording and made an honest
mistake. It's up to you and him to decide what to do about it, but as Pat
says each competitor is responsible for correctly classing his/her own car.
#3: PAX values are calculated well after nationals, just before the start
of the new year. No one will be surprised to see HS take a big jump this
year, but you have to be careful when attributing that to the Mini alone.
Yes the MINI is a stellar little car and has many things going for it. But
much more importantly, the MINI is creating a lot of excitement in a class
that previously wasn't the biggest draw at national events (HS at SD Tour
2001 was won by a rental Dodge Intrepid for example). Now many top-flite
national drivers are snapping up Minis, and that will influence the results
as much if not more than the car itself. As for the Focus, it has been
around for a couple years now but HS nationals were still won 2 years
running by a guy in a 200k+ mile '89 Civic with the mighty 108hp lump under
the hood.
Lastly, I would agree with Katie- you're doing pretty darned well
considering you're still on street tires. And you will continue to get
better, but learning often happens in fits and spurts rather than in one
continuous progression. It's important to not get discouraged, have fun,
and keep doing more events. Sign up for any schools you can get into, and
don't be afraid to seek the advice of those you want to eventually beat.
Mr. Guidero for example has shown to be pretty competitive whether he is
driving the Mini, the Insight, or any other car he has borrowed. I have
found that riding with really fast drivers and/or letting them drive your
car is very, very helpful.
Peter
-----Original Message-----
From: Jake Hodges [mailto:jake@codeworm.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 20, 2002 11:15 AM
To: ba-autox@autox.team.net
Subject: Three autocross related questions.
My Autocross Related Post for the Day
By Jake H.
6-20
So I just updated my stats spreadsheet, and I found some surprising numbers.
Question 1: When we run an event at an unusual site like Marina, is the
field generally faster because only hardcore regulars go? Or is it slower
because the fastest people don't go? Or is it the same and was I just
slower than usual?
While I seemed to place consistently with respect to my usual competitors
given that Stan's got the new HS super car, my percentages were way
down. Before Round 10, I was finishing in the top 58% of all cars in OT,
and in the top 29% in PAX on average. I came in at 72% in OT and 46% in
PAX at Marina.
That would suggest that the quality of the field in general was better, or
that my driving wasn't as "better than my average" as I thought it was.
If I was running Street Tire, I would have been .017 behind first place to
come up second. Before round 10, I was an average of .67 seconds off of
first place where my average finish for the season would be 2.83 place.
That would suggest that the Street Tire field was less fast than usual,
even though almost all the usual Street Tire suspects showed up. First
place, interestingly went to David Parker and his WRX who is the Street
Tire class leader, and one of the more consistent finishers.
For the record, I'm not complaining about Stan's Supercar even though he
would have placed second in GS by .1, second in FS, and 3rd in DS just .7
behind class leader and legend Peter Mottaz in his IS300. When Loran shows
up in his Focus, or when David in his BMW 318ti runs HS as he did in rounds
2 and 5, Alan and I see similar margins over our sad rolly Hondas. It
seems like the Focus and the Mini will be stiff competition for each other
in our humble little class.
Question 2: I'm not familiar with BMW's product line, so I'm going to
throw this out. David Crawford lists his car as a 318ti. Our car
classification web page says the 318tii should be in GS, and 318 NOC is
HS. Is David's 318ti a 318tii, or is it a 318ti which falls under
NOC? The reason I ask is that David has started running in GS! Should we
(or can we at this late date) move David Crawford's times for rounds 2 and
5 to GS? Now that I think about it, never mind. It would give Alan a
little more breathing space over me in the points.. :)
Question 3: When will we know what PAX will look like for next year? If
the Mini stays in HS, and it and the Focus dominate at Nationals like I
imagine they can, I figure my PAX may not be as favorable next season. If
that's the case, I should forget about competing in HS or ST and give in to
the urge to put springs and a rear sway bar on my car (neither of which it
seems to have now) so I can stop living in constant fear that it will fall
over in a corner due to it's terrific body roll.
CSP modified Miatas and and SM2 modified S2000s, watch out! The del Sol is
coming! Think a cushy set of Eibach's and a sway bar will take 7 seconds
of my times?
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