Season opener race report - Siltech widetrack front suspension.

[Richard (OldStager)]

it sounds like what we call single venue tarmac rallying, where you drive on the same tarmac but the course gets changed various times during the event., great video.

[Andrzej]

The course sometimes is changed the same day but max once. 5 to 8 courses plus 1-2 training. But on the same location next event different course. But we have not much driving events, and just few tracks in country,not like thousands in UK,  short twist mostly,  so in my case is mixed and compromise - this autocross type events and next  week/month timeattack. I attempt mostly short "tracks" so think car needs similar settings as Dave's. So his experience is precious!

[Davemk1]

American "autocross" is more formally known as SCCA Solo. The SCCA is the Sports car Club of America and they are the sanctioning body for 'Solo' events - more commonly known as autocross.

 

Autocross events are typically held in parking lots and they don't have to be huge for there to be a fun course. Our little city of Bozeman has few large parking lots (and no race tracks) and our local SCCA club hosts events in a church parking lot on Saturday when the church isn't in use.

 

Courses are not in any way permanent. They are designed to fit the lot being used and they are designated with orange traffic cones. The cone location is marked with chalk on the pavement so if a cone is hit it can be put back in the same spot so that the course doesn't change during the day. There are very few straight sections in any given course and the car is nearly always turning to a degree so the emphasis is on handling and not straight line speed or acceleration. Smaller courses will usually have a top speed (for the fastest cars) of about 65 mph and an average course will be about 60 seconds long. I've raced courses as short as 35 seconds and as long as 95 seconds. If the driver hits a cone they are penalized 2 seconds....and since races are won by fractions of a second it is very, very rare that a driver can hit a cone and win with a run where they hit a cone.

 

Each driver will make multiple runs during a day of competition. There is no practice driving. The drivers walk the course and many times and study the line they want to take and pick out braking points and areas where the grip is good/bad and come up with a plan. The first run is typically not very quick for obvious reasons. As the day goes on most drivers will lower their times substantially. The important thing to remember is that only the fastest run counts. So a driver can have 9 crappy runs and one fast one and still do well.

 

When a driver is done taking their allotment of runs they work the course and pick up cones that other drivers hit. Hitting cones is common....if you want a good time you need to drive the shortest course which means placing the car a foot or less from the cone. So inevitably some are hit and the course workers radio those into timing and set them back into the chalk box for the next driver.

 

All types of cars can run. An average event with see mostly street driven cars with minimal preparation....Honda Civics and VW Golfs and the like are very popular. Each car will fit into a class and the driver will compete against other drivers in similar cars prepared to a similar level so most drivers have a chance to win their class.

 

The fastest cars are the modifieds. I run my Westie in "D Mod" and the most basic rules are that it can't be under 1420 lbs with the driver and it can have an engine no larger than 2.0L. I built my Mega S2000 with this class in mind and I'm 5 lbs over the min weight.

 

All drivers want to take the coveted "Fast Time of Day" award which is just what it sounds like....the fastest run made that day regardless of the class. I built my car to compete for FTD awards and so far I've taken about 70 FTD awards in it. When the Vettes, 911's, and Atoms see my car roll off the trailer they aren't usually smiling

 

American autocross is apparently has the largest number or participants of any motorsport in the world. The SCCA has over 90,000 members and most have autocrossed at some point. The largest autoX event in the USA is the national championships and they limit the number of participants to about 1300 and the registration fills in just a few days. Poeple come from all four corners of the USA to race each other on two courses set up on an old WWII air base. It has hundreds of acres over perfectly flat and featureless concrete and the competition is very serious.

 

So....that's the basics of American Autocross. It's way too much fun. I raced last weekend and I'll be racing again this coming weekend. I usually get about 18-20 days a year in.

 

Let me know if you have any questions....obviously I'm in love with this goofy sport and not afraid to write about it!

 

dave

 

 

P.S. - the photos show an event held at our local venue....a church parking lot. The lot is about 500' x 300' and that is about as small a lot that will work well. My car will hit the rev limiter in 2nd gear on these courses which means I'm making turns at 63 mph in that small lot.

 

You can see the cones obviously. many cones are lying down and they indicate the direction of the course so that the driver can know what to expect. The lying down cones are "leaners" - the only cones that incur a penalty are the standing ones. But frankly if you hit a leaner your run sucked anyway.

 

 

[IainCameron]

3 hours ago, Davemk1 said:

American Autocross. It's way too much fun.

I think you hit the nail on the head!  And I'm fairly certain we don't have an equivalent over here, but I wish we did.  Thanks for the write-up, and I hope we get to see some video of your racing before long🙂

[Kingster]

4 hours ago, Davemk1 said:

All drivers want to take the coveted "Fast Time of Day" award which is just what it sounds like....the fastest run made that day regardless of the class. I built my car to compete for FTD awards and so far I've taken about 70 FTD awards in it. When the Vettes, 911's, and Atoms see my car roll off the trailer they aren't usually smiling

 

Sweet 😁👍

[Mole]

On 16/05/2022 at 17:17, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman said:

Fantastic.

 

Incidentally, given your other thread, Siltech do some beautifully engineered Wilwood big brake conversions for the Westfield. I would absolutely be speaking to them rather than Rally Design, (given your way more specialist Westfield than the average one RD will encounter)

Yes..have you looked at these brakes..I was speaking with Dennis recently and they sound pretty good.. using the Wildwood caliper..

In fact had a really good informative chat with Dennis and no doubt will pay him a visit soon as he is not far away..

[SootySport]

18 hours ago, Davemk1 said:

American "autocross" is more formally known as SCCA Solo. The SCCA is the Sports car Club of America and they are the sanctioning body for 'Solo' events - more commonly known as autocross.

 

Autocross events are typically held in parking lots and they don't have to be huge for there to be a fun course. Our little city of Bozeman has few large parking lots (and no race tracks) and our local SCCA club hosts events in a church parking lot on Saturday when the church isn't in use.

 

Courses are not in any way permanent. They are designed to fit the lot being used and they are designated with orange traffic cones. The cone location is marked with chalk on the pavement so if a cone is hit it can be put back in the same spot so that the course doesn't change during the day. There are very few straight sections in any given course and the car is nearly always turning to a degree so the emphasis is on handling and not straight line speed or acceleration. Smaller courses will usually have a top speed (for the fastest cars) of about 65 mph and an average course will be about 60 seconds long. I've raced courses as short as 35 seconds and as long as 95 seconds. If the driver hits a cone they are penalized 2 seconds....and since races are won by fractions of a second it is very, very rare that a driver can hit a cone and win with a run where they hit a cone.

 

Each driver will make multiple runs during a day of competition. There is no practice driving. The drivers walk the course and many times and study the line they want to take and pick out braking points and areas where the grip is good/bad and come up with a plan. The first run is typically not very quick for obvious reasons. As the day goes on most drivers will lower their times substantially. The important thing to remember is that only the fastest run counts. So a driver can have 9 crappy runs and one fast one and still do well.

 

When a driver is done taking their allotment of runs they work the course and pick up cones that other drivers hit. Hitting cones is common....if you want a good time you need to drive the shortest course which means placing the car a foot or less from the cone. So inevitably some are hit and the course workers radio those into timing and set them back into the chalk box for the next driver.

 

All types of cars can run. An average event with see mostly street driven cars with minimal preparation....Honda Civics and VW Golfs and the like are very popular. Each car will fit into a class and the driver will compete against other drivers in similar cars prepared to a similar level so most drivers have a chance to win their class.

 

The fastest cars are the modifieds. I run my Westie in "D Mod" and the most basic rules are that it can't be under 1420 lbs with the driver and it can have an engine no larger than 2.0L. I built my Mega S2000 with this class in mind and I'm 5 lbs over the min weight.

 

All drivers want to take the coveted "Fast Time of Day" award which is just what it sounds like....the fastest run made that day regardless of the class. I built my car to compete for FTD awards and so far I've taken about 70 FTD awards in it. When the Vettes, 911's, and Atoms see my car roll off the trailer they aren't usually smiling

 

American autocross is apparently has the largest number or participants of any motorsport in the world. The SCCA has over 90,000 members and most have autocrossed at some point. The largest autoX event in the USA is the national championships and they limit the number of participants to about 1300 and the registration fills in just a few days. Poeple come from all four corners of the USA to race each other on two courses set up on an old WWII air base. It has hundreds of acres over perfectly flat and featureless concrete and the competition is very serious.

 

So....that's the basics of American Autocross. It's way too much fun. I raced last weekend and I'll be racing again this coming weekend. I usually get about 18-20 days a year in.

 

Let me know if you have any questions....obviously I'm in love with this goofy sport and not afraid to write about it!

 

dave

 

 

P.S. - the photos show an event held at our local venue....a church parking lot. The lot is about 500' x 300' and that is about as small a lot that will work well. My car will hit the rev limiter in 2nd gear on these courses which means I'm making turns at 63 mph in that small lot.

 

You can see the cones obviously. many cones are lying down and they indicate the direction of the course so that the driver can know what to expect. The lying down cones are "leaners" - the only cones that incur a penalty are the standing ones. But frankly if you hit a leaner your run sucked anyway.

 

 

How about this sport Dave, Autotest, makes me dizzy just watching.

 

[Richard (OldStager)]

i have to write lists just to buy shopping, how on earth do you remember what the course is ?. stunning car control though.

before it came to me this is what my car was built for - the poor thing ....

[Andrzej]

No doubt You in UK have a lot of Motorsport acivities to choose from ! I have discovered this autotest recently. Wow ! Awesome! Not for all age but anyway afdordable and lot of fun and car control training.

 

As for USA autocross

 It seems to be also afdordable way of timeattack. I thought that what counts is sum laptime of all laps .  Anyway as Dave described seems to be lot of fun and well organized with clear rules competition.

[SootySport]

20 hours ago, Andrzej said:

No doubt You in UK have a lot of Motorsport acivities to choose from ! I have discovered this autotest recently. Wow ! Awesome! Not for all age but anyway afdordable and lot of fun and car control training.

 

As for USA autocross

 It seems to be also afdordable way of timeattack. I thought that what counts is sum laptime of all laps .  Anyway as Dave described seems to be lot of fun and well organized with clear rules competition.

Yes, from lawn mower racing to F1, we have it all but there again we invented motor racing.

[SootySport]

Rally'ing in Ireland,  they do have fun over there

 

[Davemk1]

Here's a video from yesterday's local event hosted at a church parking lot in Bozeman, Montana. This is about as small a parking lot that one can effectively run an autocross in.

 

From the camera's perspective it could be hard to follow the course....in effect the course is run counter-clockwise for 1 1/2 laps and then there is a cross over that puts the driver on the same course but going clockwise. My fastest time (51.870 seconds) set FTD over the Atom by 2.7 seconds.

 

Despite the small size of the lot the speeds are still quick. My top speed was set at 58 mph. This course is run in 2nd gear but many will go back and forth between 2nd and 3rd. You can see the cars running on the road adjacent to the parking lot and the speed limit on this road is 50 mph.

 

This course is very dense with many driver inputs and there's not a second of breathing room. The car is in nearly constant transition. I enjoy this type of course.

 

The rear brake picked up a piece of gravel at the beginning of the run and made a nice skreech every time I hit the brake. You can certainly tell when I'm braking.

 

I hope this video link works as it should. It's my first ever time putting a video on You Tube....fingers crossed!

 

dave

 

 

 

[jeff oakley]

I am old enough to remember when World Of Sport on ITV used to feature Autotesting in the late 60's and 70's.

 

There is a huge amount of skill to drive like that and you need the right equipment. They usually have just two gears forward and no blocks on engaing reverse gear at speed.

 

It is relatively cheap as well for motorsport

[Andrzej]

You mean no blocks on gearlever desig which blocks engaging reverse? Was wondering how they change to reverse so fast. And with no harm to gearbox?

 

Davekm1 looks like You can drive really smooth but just just on the grip limit and that pays off, not aggressively loosing grip etc, just just and with prediction what will be next, for sure looking forward far. That I think is main factor. And really soft tyres , lightweight car... as for aero not sure , for such speeds it needs to be huge like on formula student cars, to make effects like 2-3 seconds on one minute course. 

 

Next video on Your channel put some onboards pls ! 

 

[jeff oakley]

They do harm the box, it is a consumable for many of these guy's. Most will get a season out of them from what I have read