[cwebster]

Last weekend (4/5 March) I took my ZL1 to the first autocross event of the year for this region. It was fun but way too cold for the stock F1 G3 Summer-only rubber. Both days I left the house with frost on the windshield, temps in the low 30s.

See below for PDR and GoPro footage from a few of the best runs. At the bottom is a link to the playlist on my YouTube channel that contains all my videos from both days.

Drivers are randomly assigned to 1st or 2nd run group which determines whether they drive or work first. Unfortunately, I drew run group 1. That meant I'd have the coldest sessions - early morning and early afternoon. When not driving you work the course, resetting cones and calling in hits and misses. Everyone had to deal with the same cold temps but some were better prepared than others. Most of the fastest cars are light Miatas or similar with super-sticky specialty tires.

I gotta give cudos to the members of the SCCS NCR Cape Fear chapter for all the work they put into organizing and setting up this event. They drove all the way up from Wilmington to host this on the "Foxtrot" runway at Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station. Special thanks to the Marine Corps Community Services (MCCS) for working with the club to arrange it and provide Marine volunteers to help.

No one knows the layout of the course until they arrive. You are allowed to walk the course as many times as you can before they start. For me, with poor short-term memory, this is never enough.

["Pit In" Novice School]

Saturday was "Novice School" where they describe the rules and how things are done. Then they have an instructor ride-along with you in your car until you're comfortable running alone. Instructors will also drive your car if you want, to "show you how it's done". The morning session was a short course designed for novices. The afternoon session was the event course.

First run - Morning session:
(GoPro)


Third run - Afternoon session
(GoPro)


["The Carousel at Foxtrot" Main Event]

There was a huge turnout for the main event, over 100 entries I think. Staging lines were very long, waiting up to 30 min between runs. No hope of retaining any heat from a previous run. Tires finally warmed up a little bit, though, to offer more traction once the afternoon sun warmed the tarmac a bit - still not ideal.

I may try this later in Spring or Summer when I've got a better chance of getting competitive runs. I need to get a "clear bra" or other film coating too, to protect the paint from gravel chips and cone rubs.

Although my last run (6 of 6) was my best time, run 5 of 6 felt better controlled. The last 2 runs I was just starting to get enough traction to be able to maneuver. If I were going to run autocross regularly I'd get the softest stiff-walled rubber I could find. I have no intention of being a pro autocross racer so I'll just do this when I'm not running road courses or drag strip.

I came in 14th overall in my class with my best time on the last run of 61.164 sec. Best time for the novice class was a 2005 Acura RSX-S with 50.798 sec.


Run 5 of 6 (Afternoon):
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PDR Video:



GoPro Video:


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My best run of the day when air temps rose to mid/upper 50s.

Run 6 of 6 (Afternoon):
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PDR Video:



GoPro Video:

Sorry, my battery died in the middle of this run.

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See this playlist for all videos from this event:

20170304-05 SCCA NCR Autocross at Cherry Point Foxtrot Runway


Hey, you gotta try different things. Most important is to have fun with it. Don't be afraid to fail first!

--Cal