New to forum and Auto Cross

If you're new to autocross, new to the forum or need a hand with what class you should be in, ask for help here.

Moderators: Mike Simanyi, Leonard Cachola

Post Reply
Patrick Vigeant
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Sep 02, 2019 3:11 pm

New to forum and Auto Cross

Post by Patrick Vigeant »

I am new to the forum and new to Auto Cross.
I see that there is an upcoming event at Fontana and would like to give it a try.

What day do I go to - Saturday or Sunday or both.

Pat.
User avatar
Mike Simanyi
Former Club Chair
Posts: 2460
Joined: Thu May 15, 2008 11:26 am
Club: No$
Car#: 6

Re: New to forum and Auto Cross

Post by Mike Simanyi »

Hi Patrick - welcome to the forums and to autocross!

It's entirely up to you, but I'll put out some suggestions:

Do you have a lot of spare time on the weekend and you're less concerned about budget? Do them both.

Lots of spare time, but want to be a little careful with your budget? Sign up for Sunday, buy X runs, and come to Saturday practice with your helmet if you have one. If you show up around 10:00 am Saturday*, we'll be running and you can grab rides with people to learn about what we do. You'll learn a LOT from the right seat. And if you don't have a helmet, you can use one of our loaners. (Though if you have a helmet or even if a friend has a helmet, I think you'd prefer that.) Open face helmets are fine. There are safety requirements in the national rules, but basically if it's a 2010 or 2015 Snell-rated helmet, you're definitely ok.

* Alternatively, don't buy Saturday but arrive by 7:30 or so and get in a course walk or two. We'll have a number of experienced people there who can take you around with them and point out what to look for. We probably will have our Novice Coordinator - Leonard Cachola - there, but if not there are other great alternatives. Look me up if you want. I'll probably be the Safety Steward for the event.

Not a lot of spare time and just want to see if it's for you? Sign up for Sunday, skip the X runs and see if we do Fun Runs in the afternoon. If it's a particularly hot day, they probably won't happen, but if it's not too bad you'll get an extra 4-6 runs in during fun runs, all for just sticking around and helping pack up the event. (It's about 30 minutes worth of work.)

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Edited to add: before you can do this well, you need to know the right driving line. (And there isn't just one, but there are lots of bad driving lines too. Missing them is a step in the right direction.)

Before you can do the right driving line, you have to know how to *see* the course.

If you've never done this before, getting in couple really good course walks Saturday morning then seeing how people drive it will give you a great foundation for doing the same on Sunday. I recommend you walk the course 2 or 3 times, figure out the important areas and figure out what to look for. This applies even if you're just hanging out on Saturday vs signing up for the practice.

Mike
Patrick Vigeant
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Sep 02, 2019 3:11 pm

Re: New to forum and Auto Cross

Post by Patrick Vigeant »

Ok
I will try to make it out on Saturday to get ready for Sunday
User avatar
Randy Gonzalez
Current Solo Director
Posts: 709
Joined: Sun May 26, 2013 8:12 pm
Club: CASOC
Car#: 436
Location: Orange County, CA
Contact:

Re: New to forum and Auto Cross

Post by Randy Gonzalez »

IMHO, if you're going to come out Saturday at all, sign up, bring your car and drive! :thumbup:

Saturday is our "test n tune" practice day. Plenty of opportunities to get rides with other drivers, and get instruction (we have a crew of awesome drivers that are more than happy to help "newbies" out). A little less structured and more laid back on Saturday, lots of hanging out and bench racing....you'll make friends for sure.

Sunday is our competition day. But don't let that intimidate you, the only real difference is we keep score on Sunday...it's still the same fun autocross driving. On Sunday's we have dedicated instructor lines and scheduled novice course walks (take advantage of those). Also, if you've run Saturday practice, you'll have a few laps under your belt, so gridding and running will be old hat for you....you can just focus on driving. I wouldn't worry about keep score or competing for at least a few events....it takes a few events to build up your skills and get some pace at this game.

If you want a few extra laps, buy some X-Runs on Sunday, or if we have enough interest, we'll run a free fun run session after the competition runs are over (all we ask is that you hang out and help us pack up when we're done). If you have a friend, family member, or significant other that might want to come out, we do allow passengers so feel free to bring them (no charge to be a passenger, just sign our passenger waiver book). We also have free loaner helmets if you want to come out and give it a try before investing in a helmet.

Either way, let the event staff (or just about anybody out there) know it's your first time, and they'll bend over backwards to hook you up with the right instruction, introduce you to other drivers of similar cars and get you off on the right foot. The most important first step is to just sign up and come on out! I guarantee you'll have a blast!.
SCCA Certifications: Solo Safety Steward, Flagging and Communications
http://CorvetteNews.com/
Post Reply