Ax Photos

[Greg Phillips]

Congrats to Tom Tweed for TTOD and Mark Rondeau for top BRI.
Very fun track although sometime difficult for my student to follow.

Photos are up at:
https://goo.gl/photos/XAsKbrZo7QJKtZwX7

Also congrat to PCA raffle winner Jerry Bumpus
Greg

[EricMarc-Aurele]

Thanks for taking pictures Greg. I'm very pleased to have some action shots of my car.
What a fun day.

[mrondeau]

Great photos as usual and a fun day. Thanks!

[ttweed]

Thanks for the pics, Greg. Everyone appreciates your effort to document events visually like this, I'm sure, and it's not easy to fit in all the photog work along with instructing and driving during the event, not to mention processing and uploading the images on the same day!

It was definitely another "innovative" and challenging track. I can safely say I have never seen double, opposing Chicago boxes in a course design before. Of course, 6 more slightly offset and unevenly spaced slalom cones on the way up the hill would have dictated the same line and might have been less confusing, but it did force some folks into mistakes if they didn't look ahead far enough. Corner 2 was awful busy during the last timed runs, even with two guys working it. I did actually hit 3rd gear for a couple seconds for the first time in awhile coming back down past "garbage can row," and the swale crossing was not an issue, even though taken at speed, so that was nice.

Thanks to Erik K., Steve G. and Martin R. for not showing up, and Roland S. for leaving early. That made TTOD a little easier. I couldn't pull off the 1:26 I had in practice, but everyone seemed to be a second or so slower in timed runs for some reason, so that was a relief. I especially want to thank Mark R. for his timely advice about tire pressure before timed runs. I didn't know that the higher the pressure, the faster you can go, but I did look up "tire pressure for land speed record" when I got home, and sure enough, 50-70 psi is common for going really fast. I'll have to try that next time, Mark!

P.S.-- For sure, a big huzzah for Jerry on the raffle win! Couldn't happen to a nicer or more deserving guy.

TT

[mrondeau]

I especially want to thank Mark R. for his timely advice about tire pressure before timed runs. I didn't know that the higher the pressure, the faster you can go, but I did look up "tire pressure for land speed record" when I got home, and sure enough, 50-70 psi is common for going really fast. I'll have to try that next time, Mark!

TT

Tom,
Always happy to help! Assisting fellow drivers is really what this club is all about.

[jbrennen]

Also, congrats to Mark C. for career bests in TTOD (13th) and BRI (3rd).

And if you missed "newbie" Rob W. in his 2004 Boxster S... First time autoXing this car after years of autoXing BMWs, and he pulls off a #7 BRI performance running on Michelin Pilot Super Sports. Keith V. and I gave him lots of coaching during practice, and he seemed to figure things out pretty quickly.

[LUCKY DAVE]

Heartfelt congratulations to Jerry Bumpus, it couldn't happen to a more deserving guy
Once again an interesting track layout, I liked the long slalom disguised as box turns, and the downhill straight disguised as esses. In practice I ran decent times even though the track had quite a few slow sections where my car is not at it's best, and thought I had a good chance for a fun battle with Christopher.
Then Murphy showed up... in timed laps I suffered vanishing horsepower, getting worse with each lap. I gave up on the fourth lap and nursed it back to the pits. My mixture was going way rich, boost was wandering up and down, so I thought it was a computer problem or running out of gas (yeah, 951s go rich when you run out, a known quirk) but exploration this morning revealed it to be yet another in the long list of well known 951 Achilles heels, a failing intercooler (boost) hose.
My car will be better prepared next time.....just like I said last time

[rwalker]

And if you missed "newbie" Rob W. in his 2004 Boxster S... First time autoXing this car after years of autoXing BMWs, and he pulls off a #7 BRI performance running on Michelin Pilot Super Sports. Keith V. and I gave him lots of coaching during practice, and he seemed to figure things out pretty quickly.

Thanks to Jack and Keith for the super instruction. I'd still be sawing at the wheel, poking the brakes, and lamenting my times without their help.

I had a blast and learned a lot. Already looking forward to 8/7.

[Robert Joe]

Great track again.
Congrats to Tom for TTOD.
Congrats to my student Bryan Van Noy for getting 7th TTOD in only his 3rd AX.

Watch out for Bryan, he is only going to get faster. Dave Malmberg did a great job at the June event to tame down his naturally aggressive over driving style. I continued on with laying down the fundamentals of autocrossing and he absorbed it fast!

This was also my first time in a GT3 at speed and I am impressed. It can get a little pushy in the cornors but overall a really great car. The speed down any straight section was insane. That car was on Hankook RS3's. In the hands of a good driver, I think it could run a 1:26. RE-71's are you would be down to the 1:24 - 1:25 range. This is a fast car!

[Robert Joe]

I couldn't pull off the 1:26 I had in practice, but everyone seemed to be a second or so slower in timed runs for some reason, so that was a relief.

I ran 1:28.10 in practice with a 210lb passenger. 1:29.77 in timed runs. 1.67 seconds difference.

The two unavoidable track changes due to pot holes cost momentum cars about 0.5s each element. The first change was coming out of the last Chicago Box. In Practice, I was full throttle coming out of it and into the right hander. Timed runs, I had to slow way down, killing all my speed. The second change was the end of the straight where they had to move the wall in. You had to break a lot harder since the turn was now more pinched off and you could not set up your car early to have the nose of it ponted to the back side of the apex cone and floor it.

The other 0.5+ seconds was due to the track heating up. It was really a lot greasier and less grip. But that is autocross in the summer...

[ttweed]

Congrats to my student Bryan Van Noy for getting 7th TTOD in only his 3rd AX.

That is definitely quite an achievement for a novice in their 3rd AX, Robert! Made me look back at the results page, and I noticed that 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th place were separated by only .06 second! That is some close competition.

I also have to give a shout out to my old buddy, Andy Galecke, who took 4th overall in only his 4th AX after an 11-year layoff. He was fast in the past, and he's picking up right where he left off.

TT

[ttweed]

The two unavoidable track changes due to pot holes cost momentum cars about 0.5s each element...

Speaking of track changes, at some point during the event, a single green cone appeared after the straight coned chute that followed turn "R" about halfway to turn "S." I assume this was placed to mark a developing pot hole and help drivers avoid it? I don't remember hearing any announcement of this addition to the course but maybe I missed that? I do know that some drivers were confused by it's sudden appearance and wondered which side they were supposed to go around it. I was surprised to see it myself, but since there was no directional cone placed with it, I assumed it could be passed on either side and my chosen line dictated leaving it to the left as I approached the pivot cone at "S," so I ignored it, but I know that at least one driver thought they needed to leave it to the right for some reason and sacrificed time in that section needlessly. What I'm saying is that any mid-event addition or change to the course should be clearly announced to all drivers. Maybe I was warming my car up driving around the stadium when this happened, I don't know, but even an announcement over the loudspeaker is not sufficient for this kind of change. Many drivers might be out of earshot of the PA system at the time it's made, either working the course far away or getting lunch, gas, etc. Someone needs to tell/warn each driver explicitly about it after such a change is made as they stage for the beginning of each of the next six run groups.

Another thing that should be made clear to course workers in the driver's meeting is that all cones on the course count. This includes the directional barrier and pointer cones laying on their side as well as the upright cones. I saw some cars escape penalties for knocking horizontal directional barrier cones out of their box, and there was actually a discussion over the radio during my corner working session about whether they counted as a penalty or not. In addition, if the barrier cones represent a course limit or perimeter, and the incident involves all four wheels of the car exceeding the boundary of the course, it needs to be called in as a "DNF." It might also be useful to mention that cones in the staging area at the start and the runoff/brake zone after the finish are part of the course and can be included for penalty assessment during a run.

Just my $0.02,
TT

[jbrennen]

Another thing that should be made clear to course workers in the driver's meeting is that all cones on the course count. This includes the directional barrier and pointer cones laying on their side as well as the upright cones. I saw some cars escape penalties for knocking horizontal directional barrier cones out of their box, and there was actually a discussion over the radio during my corner working session about whether they counted as a penalty or not. In addition, if the barrier cones represent a course limit or perimeter, and the incident involves all four wheels of the car exceeding the boundary of the course, it needs to be called in as a "DNF."

Agreed, and especially because folks like me who come from SCCA events may have heard that directional and pointer cones do not count for penalties.

In the only case that I remember from Sunday where a DNF might have been contemplated, one driver took out a standing cone at the end of the first "slalom box" and then the following three pointer cones closest to the course. Since he took out the pointer cone closest to the course, part of his car did go inside that cone and was on course. Going by my understanding from my SCCA days, I called it as a single cone penalty, but after the radio discussion, we amended it to a four cone penalty and he stayed on course.

Since the three pointer cones were collected while the car was sideways, it's pretty much academic whether it was a one-cone penalty, a four-cone penalty, or a DNF. That run was a throwaway. But yes, there might be cases where calling it correctly would make a difference.

I would also note that I saw something happen while working timed runs that I can't remember seeing before... A car hit one standing cone, and that was all that the car hit. But the standing cone was deflected into another standing cone and knocked it out of its box. I called it as a two cone penalty, which I assume is the correct interpretation.

[ScandinavianFlick]

Since the three pointer cones were collected while the car was sideways,

See, I did that on purpose! To, um, prompt discussion!

[marcus981]

Tom,

Yes, we added that single green slalom cone between R and S to cover up a huge pothole. We weren't sure if that was going to suffice, since there was another huge new pothole opening up about 10' to the left of that one. So, Mark and I watched a few dozen cars come through after we placed that cone. We did notice hesitation from several drivers, but on their second lap, most people seemed to figure it out. Plus, this is the third time we've had a single-cone slalom on recent courses, so I wasn't expecting it to be too difficult for people to figure it out. We thought about making it directional, but decided that it was actually in a perfect spot for people to decide between a wide or tight approach to "S". Two events ago, we had a very similar situation, and that time I used orange cones to make a triangle around the huge new pothole. That seemed to confuse people even more, which is why we went with the slalom cone this time.

Announcing a change like that could have been possible, but as you mentioned, a PA announcement isn't going to alert everyone. Asking start/finish to inform every single driver also seems kind of burdensome on top of everything else they need to deal with. Another issue is: that single green-cone change may have been relatively easy to describe to drivers ("watch out for a new green slalom cone in the middle of the straight... pick whichever side you want"), but the three additional pothole changes that we had to make right before timed runs would have been very difficult to describe quickly to ~100 drivers.

I previously planned to use marker to edit the two large printed maps right before timed runs, which I forgot to do in the rush to finish the course adjustments and help get timed runs started. That still wouldn't have helped the first run group drivers who were already sitting in grid, since they probably wouldn't have gotten out of their cars to check the map updates.

I'm interested in hearing additional suggestions for handling this differently. Mark may want to add this to the agenda of his AX team meeting in two weeks. At least it was fair that we got the required changes made so everyone was driving the exact same course during all timed run groups.