Great AX today

[lrayner]

Congratulations on another great event. The new style layout (for us) was innovative and presented some challenges at first for more than a few drivers, but ultimately flowed very nicely and was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who made it happen.

[Robert Joe]

Best flowing traffic I have experienced with PCASDR.
Good Job Marcus and Andrew!

[terryb]

Awesome AX track. Thank you to Marcus, Andrew and the whole AX team. Well done! I vote to continue this format.

Also, thanks to Jerry B, Keith R and Gary B for their heroic efforts to repair what turned out to be 2 unfixable punctures in my right rear tire. I'm hugely grateful to Mark Curran for generously offering me the use a pair of his RE-71Rs to keep me running. What everyone has been telling me about these tires is true--they're fast Got me to 3rd place BRI (although the AX results page says I'm 2nd--ummm, I'll take it!)

[JayG]

Yes, another great course by Marcus and Andrew
It was a lot of fun.
Chad is disappointed that he did not beat me on his birthday
Maybe next time.........NOT!

[LUCKY DAVE]

I really liked the flowing feel of the track, and my car liked it too. Most tracks have at least one corner where I'm languishing in the off-boost doldrums just waiting for power to arrive or having to take strange super wide radius lines to preserve rpm and boost. On this track there weren't any spots like that and for once I could drive the lines I wanted instead of the lines I was forced to drive.
Super fun!

[jbrennen]

I really liked the flowing feel of the track, and my car liked it too.

Your performance marks the only front-engined Porsche to beat me since I got RE-71R tires... So I guess your car did like it.


I still can't figure something out though. When you look at the results, it looks like it was a horsepower track... Lots of GT3s that ran really well, and of course the Viper. But then we had some MX-5 Miatas that were crazy fast. I guess it's good that different varying types of car can run well.

It wasn't a Cayman track, that's for sure. Top Cayman was 8th fastest, but at the previous event, we had 7 Caymans in the top 10.

Thanks to all for putting it together!

[marcus981]

I'm happy to hear all of the positive feedback for our new hybrid AX course design.

I agree with Jack... I was a little surprised by the mix of cars in the top 10 this time too. It will be interesting to see what happens the next time that we run a similar setup.

For those that missed the event, here's a video so you can see what the course was like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G_i8YbAzg4

Any additional feedback is welcome.

[ttweed]

It was a fun, flowing course, without any really painful kinks, but I never got out of second gear. I kind of enjoy a 3rd-gear blast here and there, but that's just me. I realize the surface at the Q these days doesn't allow for much of a straightaway. There were a couple of faster sweepers than we've seen lately, and that was fun. The kinked slalom was different. Having fewer cones makes it easier on corner workers and in throwing/picking up the track, and the layout could have been much more sparse, actually. Each one of the straight chutes could have been replaced by a gate at each end, but I realize people are afraid drivers will get lost too easily, so it was a good compromise. One of the solutions SCCA uses for that is chalking rough course outlines between gates and using more barrier cones. Corner workers might need more education in what constitutes an "off-course" DNF. In an open section, you can easily spin completely and never even go "4 wheels off."

Congrats to Chris M. for a phenomenal drive, and Erik's BRI run was alien--over 3 seconds on indexed time is an otherworldly margin. Just incredible what he's getting out of that SC...

I don't even want to talk about James' Viper. It's not even broken in yet and his first time driving the car in anger. I can't wait to see the damage when he has it dialed in....

TT

[Robert Joe]

One of the solutions SCCA uses for that is chalking rough course outlines between gates and using more barrier cones.
TT

They have a machine for that like these. PCAOCR also use one.

http://www.hittmarking.com/category/dry ... e-markers/

[ttweed]

One of the solutions SCCA uses for that is chalking rough course outlines between gates and using more barrier cones.
TT

They have a machine for that like these. PCAOCR also use one.

http://www.hittmarking.com/category/dry ... e-markers/

Ya, it's the standard line chalking machine for athletic fields. The only downside is that to restore the lot to original condition after an event, you need a rainstorm to wash the chalk away, or a street sweeper, or a leafblower and some brooms, at the very least. That kind of defeats the "easy setup and teardown" aspect of the low-cone layout. I know they usually only chalk the tracks extensively at SCCA National Tour events at the Q, and I'm not sure what the stadium policy is on cleaning them up afterwards. The last 3 events I ran with OCR at El Toro last year they didn't use any chalk machine. They did draw some lines with drywall pieces one time when some people were getting lost in a long offset gate section, though. Do they still use it sometimes?

TT

[Steve Grosekemper]

I am really sorry I missed this AX.
I got a set up ride with Mark Curran before the drivers meeting to see the layout and it looked fast and fun.
I knew Erik was going to be a BRI problem when he and Mark started building that car in the shop.
I did the points math and knew I wasn't going to be able to hold on to that BRI trophy for long.

So many life decisions can be made from Mathew Broderick movie quotes...

[pecivil]

it looks like it was a horsepower track...

I agree with Jack here, there seemed to be so many straights in this track if you picked the right line. I cant remember being able to floor the pedal so many times in an AutoX. Another 50 hp would have been nice!
Regardless, this was one the the best tracks in recent memory. It was fast, challenging and flowing.

Well Done to the AutoX team!

[Robert Joe]

I know they usually only chalk the tracks extensively at SCCA National Tour events at the Q, and I'm not sure what the stadium policy is on cleaning them up afterwards. The last 3 events I ran with OCR at El Toro last year they didn't use any chalk machine. They did draw some lines with drywall pieces one time when some people were getting lost in a long offset gate section, though. Do they still use it sometimes?
TT

Once in a while they may chalk the beginning section, like yesterday. You are right though, it is only done extensively at SCCA National Tour events.

[jbrennen]

I knew Erik was going to be a BRI problem when he and Mark started building that car in the shop.

All together now -- in the spirit of the SDR awards ceremonies -- "Cheater car!"

[Steve Grosekemper]

I am hearing this a lot lately... and not finding it amusing.
Just because YOU are losing doesn't mean the other guy is cheating.
It means he designed a smarter build and drove it better than you did.

So next time I hear "cheater" come out of someone's mouth I expect them to be ready to put up their $50 protest fee.