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Judging by the novices I rode with and my own 2 DNF day the boxes on the taxiway after the first slalom were one place. Mine was a spin in the offsets after the wiggle (I'll blame the corded tire ) and too fast in that last little slalom before the finish. I managed to stand the pointer cone up but not hit the standup cone

Maybe next time the people in the bus can keep track of where people dnf so we know for next time.

Well the audio worked well.
Darned camera shake.

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"Ruttin' is racing"

Chris Suich
Apex, NC
AutoX 2012 Nissan Leaf (Quietly changing the world)
AutoX 2003 Mini Cooper S (on sabbatical)
RallyX 1993 Nissan Sentra - "Le Tigre"
FunX 1970 Camaro LT1 ('95)

Well, for a while we DID have workers who were calling out what worker station they were at before they made a cone call. Needless to say, we asked them to stop doing that. The radios were a bit busy (especially on Karl's first run). There were some interesting calls. "Spin on FS68" was one. As if I'm supposed to write that down or something.

During my time in the bus, most of the DNF's seemed to be either at very end of the course or at the end of the taxiway.

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2012 MX-5 Sport SUV

Well I'm glad some people liked the course, apparently we made it too tight in spots to drive a Corvette though at speed without mowing cones. I really don't even know where I hit the 10 cones I did yesterday, didn't feel or hear any of them and not much of any cone marks on the car, must have blown them down with the exhaust.

It really sucks that my "safety" run was 3.4 seconds slower than my "at speed" run, didn't expect that. *sigh* Oh well, at least the weather was great and I thought the sweeper kicked ass. BTW, regardless of what the course map says, the course was a fully collaborative effort.

Also, my first run DNF was simply a matter of entering the first diagonal slalom on the runway way too hot. I couldn't quite get over enough to knock that middle cone down.

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'07, '08, '11 Autocross VP
'06, '10 Mike Dishman Cup
'21 MX5, '13 Corvette GS, '92 Corvette 383 c.i. 413whp/390wtq, '03 Expedition

Interesting contrasting video Keith-- thanks for posting that. You have a much more "textbook" technique with your hands on the wheel than I do. You are extremely good at keeping them in the same position during a run where I seem to be shuffling them like a mad man. It was wild to see your left hand palm-up 180 degrees from its starting position while you were in the sweeper. Very nice!

Eric mentioned that I tended to shuffle steer at the SoloPro school a few weeks ago and I must admit that I never really noticed it much before. After looking at a few more of my videos I noticed that while I initiate most of my wheel inputs predominantly with my left hand, I also seem to try and keep my right hand near the "2" position. After the car takes a set in a corner, I also tend to reset my left hand back to "10" for whatever reason. Odd.

Case in point: it looks like I'm swatting at a bunch of angry bees at 0:46 in this video. That is definitely *not* what I would call good technique.

I'm probably too far gone to change my approach much but it is definitely something I'll be keeping an eye on from now on. I guess it also goes to show that we need to find what works for us even if it isn't necessarily the preferred technique.

Jim

the chicane right after the first slalom.. i forgot it was there first run.. then my second, came in a totally different spot.. the back part of the course.. the slalom after a fast change, where i simply went in there far far too fast.. to haul the heavy subaru down enough. my fault completely. oh well.. my second and fourth runs were very good.. i dont autocross much anymore, and the subaru is new for me.. so all in all, good outing. I caught third gear at the exit every run.Rather fast course, i liked the back part alot.

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hey yall,watch this...

I agree completely! I'm a shuffle steer guy as well, probably from years of doing it (and teaching it) at track events. Watching Keith's video has created a project for me - I'm now trying to emulate that "palm-up" thing, and it's working for me. I'm even practicing it on the street.

I've got to get a video camera. Watching you two is very instructive for me.

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

It really helped my confidence making "offset" gates that you can drive a Mini straight through. Thanks!

I also found it interesting watching Keith's video that he went left in the first slalom when it seemed the obvious way to go right (and the way Jim went) Why?

Just curious

I was meaning to ask Keith the same thing.

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

I mentioned that to a couple of people I went down with; however, whatever works. :v

The way I'd describe yesterday's course would be deceptive. Initially, it looked really technical and slow. Then, I found out that the taxiway could be taken at some serious speed. Further down the line I realized that the runway was designed to encourage you to go fast to completely obliterate braking points. Definitely interesting and fun, but seriously enforces the "look ahead" mechanism of autocrossing.

I always told everyone that I was a shuffle steering guy as well. I think this video from the Finger Lakes Tour really shows it. - AB

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'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

Meghan just asked me what "oh fuck" means.

She was bound to hear it sometime, it might as well be from an autocross video rather than me...



Scott

When I walked the course I said I was going to enter it on the right side. When I got to it in the car it seemed to work to the left. I just continued my slalom to get back over at the exit and it allowed me to enter the slalom straight on. Was it faster or slower I am not sure, I never gave it a second thought during the day because it felt good and there were other places on the course where I felt like there was more time I could make up then there.

I have been working very hard at getting my hands to stay put on the steering wheel except when doing a true turn around or pivot cone. It allows me to make smoother inputs and keep my hand movements smoother. I still get a little rough sometimes with the wheel like I did in the last offset slalom when I started to fall behind. I gave a quick yank back to the left to make it through.

Now I just need the balls to flat foot it through a couple more sections so I can keep up with Jim on Pax.

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2010 Honda Fit Sport
Couple of bicycles

Sorry...

Tell her it's an endearing term.

_________________
"Ruttin' is racing"

Chris Suich
Apex, NC
AutoX 2012 Nissan Leaf (Quietly changing the world)
AutoX 2003 Mini Cooper S (on sabbatical)
RallyX 1993 Nissan Sentra - "Le Tigre"
FunX 1970 Camaro LT1 ('95)