Well, I just sent off the entry form for my first autocross. It's to be held next Saturday night at the San Bernardino fairgrounds by the PCA. I'm kinda (really) nervous. I'm afraid I'm gonna make all kinds of newb mistakes. I mean, the driving part is the least of my worries. I'm having trouble finding info on track work and staging and the like. Is there usually pretty good communication at the events to where I'll know where I'm supposed to be, and when? Do they tell idiots like me what I need to know to do the job I'm assigned? Any suggestions from any of you veterans (especially anyone who's gonna be there) would be great.
Mark D.

There should be good communication about what is expected of you for working, and where the car needs to go and when.

Don't wander too far from the car while you're on grid. Sometimes your turn to run comes up before you realize it could!

Working: Corner work is the easiest to pick up. Your first responsibility is your own safety: You'll see that the cars are just barely under control (and some not even that!), so you always need to know where they are in relation to you. Don't turn your back on a car that is heading toward you!! And be prepared to move out of the way if a car needs to slide through the area you happen to be in--so no sitting down!!!

Your second responsibility is the safety of the cars on the course. If you see an unsafe situation (dog on the course, someone spins out and stalls, two cars headed for each other, whatever) wave your red flag. Do not roll up the flag, it takes too long and too many mental cycles to unroll it if you need it NOW. If you don't have a red flag, yell at those who have them and wave your arms to attract attention.

Your third responsibility is re-setting the course when some car re-arranges it. Cars tend to spit cones they knock over out the back, so watch the back of the car for cones that have moved. If one is knocked over or moved out of its box, RUN to set it up again. Make sure someone with a radio calls it in, or wave the cone over your head before you put it back. MAKE SURE YOU CAN DO THIS ALL SAFELY!!! The cars can be coming at quick intervals (~20 seconds at times) and if you can't get the cone up safely then wait to reset it until you can.

Working the course is also a good way to see how people are driving the part where you are. So if you can, choose something you're having difficulty with. Watch how the fast drivers go through, where they put their car, when they get on the throttle (listen for the sound), and so on. That may give you some insight into how to improve your line there.


And remember, HAVE FUN!

--DD

Mark,
No worries. I am going to tell you what I tell my students. Everyone has a first day. Heck some people have a whole bunch of first days in a row...
The general conduct of an autocross event is that the organizers get there very early and set up. It isn't a bad idea for you to get there early too as you can get an idea of how the course works. Some courses are designed with little tricks like slolams and even loops. If I was doing a night event, I probably would not get too tricky with my course design. But hey! Who knows? The lights might be very good.
As soon as the course is set up, find out which direction the course will be run and walk the course... Preferably with some experienced autocrosser so you can get an idea of how they plan on taking the turns... I know nothing of your 914 but in most cases it is not how fast you go into a turn with a 914 it is how fast you come out that makes you fast... It is a momentum car. Keep going fast because mashing the pedal to the far right does almost nothing for you...
Sooner or later they will announce the drivers meeting. Attend and listen. They will tell you how many runs, how many laps, how many seconds per cone hit etc... In many cases, they will ask if there are any first time autocrossers, 'fess up dude. You will more than likely be assigned an instructor who will answer the questions you think are too dumb to voice aloud.
Have fun...

As far as the car preparation is concerned. Get everything loose out of it. Grab your wheels and pull out and push in. Hear a clunk? Loose wheel bearings. Tighten them. Check your lug nuts. Any missing? Properly torqued? People tend to turn on the windshield wipers or turn signals when they are sawing the wheel... Some remove the relay and or the fuses to avoid the distraction.
Check your battery to make sure it is securely mounted. Set your tire pressures cold at 34 - 36 PSI all the way around and then don't think about it. You have more to work on just thinking about yourself for a while... Helmet? Snell rating must be current or just one generation off current in most cases.
Good luck and forget your nervousness...

Thanks guys. This was really helpful. I think the biggest thing is that I have to do is accept that there WILL be at least a little stress with it being my first AX, and kinda roll with it. As far as momentum goes, as I understand it, that applies to all forms of road racing. No matter how powerful the class, the drivers that understand how to MAINTAIN their speed are usually the ones that place highest. However, as I said before, the driving part is the least of my worries. I'm not even going to fret being super fast, but I want to work on being in the right place at the right time, and do the track work with some level of competence.
I hope the instructors don't want to ride along, because there's only a driver's seat in my car right now. I can change that this week if it's going to be a problem. New front wheel bearings are going in this week (it needed it anyway), and I'm making a checklist of how to set up my car. Thanks again guys. I really appreciate it.
Mark D.

Driving = have fun!
Some of my best, recent runs were during the "fun runs" after timed runs stopped. I need to take this experience with me to the next race, because being loose and not feeling like "doh!" when something didn't click seemed to allow my line to flow much better!

Working = why not pick something easy?
With some prior planning, you could work the front register desk, time slip runner, start/stop assistant, event gate keeper (boring), or pre-post race cone collector. Let the organizer know you want something to do early, and you will have the best chance of picking your work assignment. Course worker is kinda stressful, but allows you to study how others attack the course.

I had a newb course worker with me recently. Getting the cone up before the next car is NOT as important as worker safety and/or staying out of the next driver's line of sight so they DON'T FEEL like there is a dangerous situation ahead....I've never heard anyone complain that they have to do a re-run because of a downed cone in their run

I also recently learned that if you see a downed cone in your run and don't slam on the brakes, raise your hand, and signalling the course worker when you see a downed cone in your run, you probably WON'T get the re-run that you want

This will be my 3rd autocross... I'm still not trying to worry about being fast yet, (or at least that is the excuse I give myself). My first autocross was with the Riverside group some months ago. I was off course more runs than I was on course simply because I didn't know the course. I walked the course with the group before the event, but it apparently wasn't enough. This time I printed out a diagram of the track (which is on their web site) and I'm going to look at it every day and go through a run in my mind. This _might_ help...

The last event I did was the Lone Pine time trial. I pretty much got the route good that time. So I think its an incremental thing. Each time you will learn something new or what to pay attention to.

-Tony

A couple things that may help you find your way.

Walk the course at least twice.....and by yourself or maybe one quiet friend.
You're there to conecentrate on learning the thing.....gabbing don't help unless you're talking to your self about the course....don't laugh, maybe the best AXer I know talks himself around the course while he is driving and when he's instructing.
Don't worry about lines, worry bout gettin' around. Lines are for later when "things"slow down.....when you can act rather than react.
Group walking becomes a social thing.

Get an instructor to ride along with you to help show you the way....work out some sorta quick hand signal thing with him/her or find someone like the above.

The first thing I tell folks that I'm instructing is "ya gotta learn where you're going before you can go there fast."

HTH

The drivel Master pretty much nailed it.
As far as nerves? HELL YEA. I was sweating so hard sitting in grid that I could hardly stand it.
Now that I am closing in on 500 runs I am usually pretty stoked but I know where I am going (most of the time).
I still am guilty of over driving my car which gets me in trouble alot.
Used to be 10 seconds behind my Mentors now I am either crushing them or really keeping them on thier game.

Well, it's over, and all the advice did help. Thanks a bunch. Unfortunately I couldn't do the official runs. I was just too damn tired, and they were supposed to run 'til 2 a.m. So I decided to cut out early, and driving home, I realized what a good decision that was.
Talking to myself is something that I've always done, but I made it work for me when I started riding BMX full time. It's a good technique. I only walked the course once, but I did it alone. I didn't even have to ask my brother to let me do it alone, either. He knew that I had to concentrate. The lines I set up when I walked the course didn't end up changing all that much through the night, except the parts where I was like, "I have no idea how to take this, so I'll drive it and see what happens." Unfortunately, my lap times didn't change much either.
I didn't ask for an instructor because I've only got a driver's seat in my car right now. So I was prettymuch on my own. That was fine, though, because I have trouble watching and learning. I kinda just gotta do it. So first couple runs I got a feel for the course. I Found out which lines that I had set up worked, and which ones didn't. The next few runs, I tried tweaking my lines in my slow areas to see what else I could get out of them, but I was kinda sloppy in the stuff that I thought I 'knew'. The nerves were bothering me a bit, and I was also working harder physically than I had expected. By the end of the session, however, I thought I had a pretty solid run set up. On the final run of the session, I tried to rip through it, and I blew the horseshoe. My tail came around, and I saved it while keeping it between the cones, but it killed my time. I was running between 75.5 and 78 seconds that session.... rather inconsistent.
In second practice I knew what to expect. I made sure to keep myself breathing, and realized that I would be working hard. The nerves were gone and I knew my line would be fast if I could put it together. Once my mind was in the right spot, I took a solid run 1 and put in a low 75. I started looking for fine adjustments to my line and was dropping 1 to 2 tenths a lap in the second session. My times were very consistent. The second to last lap was my fastest of the night at 74.377, but last lap blew the horseshoe again.... worse this time. I got the thing TOTALLY sideways and in full right lock before bringing it back, so that was the end of that. I think part of that is the tire pressures that I was running. I set them at 34 cold, and that's WAY less total grip than I'm used to, but I just left them as they were and worried about my driving. Next time, I'll fiddle with tired pressures more.
Since Saturday night I've figured out a few things that I could've done differently. My starts need some serious work. Also, I'm now working on heel-toeing into 1st. I've got 2nd-5th dialed, but 1st is a whole different ballgame. Overall, I'm very pleased with how I drove. PCA posted the results of the official runs, and if I could've run officially and matched my best time, I would've finished 15th out of 22. Seeing how I had the slowest car out there (1970 1.7 with a tired engine and suspension, and no swaybars), I'm very happy with that.
Still, for next time, I think I need to push my lines a little harder. I didn't hit a single cone all night, even when I completely lost it. That tells me I'm not pushing hard enough. Not that I want to be out of control, but I need to be using up more of the track. Combine that with some better car setup, better starts, and my new heel-toe technique, my times should come down quite a bit next time.... as long as I can keep my head in it. That's where it all starts. Thanks again guys for all the help. You're awesome!
Mark D.

Do yourself a BIG favor and install a passenger seat for an instructor before your next event. An experienced instructor is the best way (actually, the ONLY way) to learn where you're leaving time all over the course and to avoid developing bad habits as you learn the limits of your car. And have him/her drive your car through the course with you as a passenger -- that will be a real eye opener. You'll be amazed at just how fast your car will go.