Autocross newbie

[Amail]

Greetings all - first post!

My buddy Jerry Bumpus and I attended our maiden a/x on 10/13 at Qualcomm in his '86 944. We had an absolute blast! I had Jerry Mize as an instructor. I had no idea cars could do the things Jerry could make it do.

I improved steadily throughout the day, finally hitting a 1:25.xxx. I seemed to have most of my trouble at the beginning of the course (fast in, slow out, right?) but had it ironed out better by the tail end of the course. I managed to skid straight thru that right-hander at the end of the first 'straight', then one other time looped it in the same section after an incomplete blip for the heel-toe downshift.

I won't be around for the performance driving school, but I'll be at the next a/x.

Did anyone get some video? I'd like to show it to my wife.

[lrayner]

Welcome neighbor, and great job at your first AX. You will find this stuff is quite addictive. See you in November!

[harnishclan]

I've got video from inside my 944 on a 1:13.82 lap (among others). Didn't do any video from the wet sessions, all you would have seen anyway was the world sliding by sideways!

Will work on posting it up today.

[Amail]

Brian

I'm looking forward to your video. 1:13.anything beats my 1:25! I can still see the line in my mind, still see where I lost some time. Sure wish I could run the same course again now that I've had more time to think it thru.

Even though the event was not for points, were any times recorded? I'd be keen to see how others in the GSS class fared.

[harnishclan]

I uploaded the video to youtube. the tags are porsche, 944, autocross. Here is the URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DLJkjTifIw[/url]

[Amail]

Well, I've now got two of these under my belt, and the second was certainly better than the first!

Huge thanks to my instructors to date, first Jerry Mize, and now Jackie Corwin. I've learned a heck of a lot, and you've both made this so much fun!

I felt a lot more in control this time around. I have a much better handle on how to get the car to rotate, my heel-toes are smooth and consistent, and my times improved over the course of the day.

If anybody has some video, particularly video of a black 944, #1527, I would be very interested to see it.

And again, I apologize if Jerry Bumpus and I threw too many cones for this track. I understand we went over the top a bit on October's event, so we tried to dial it back a notch for this one.

Looking forward to seeing you all again in January!

[lrayner]

I think you and Jerry are ready to be promoted to official track throwers . Thanks for pitching in. Don't forget Decembers AX. While it is called the "other car" AX, many, maybe even most, run their regular car. so come on down!

[Amail]

Thanks for the vote of confidence!

I won't be attending the December a/x as that is prime Christmas shopping season. But, I will be ready for the first one in 2008.

This stuff kinda gets in your blood, doesn't it?