So, those "more details" about the autocross...

I drove up to Fort Worth Friday. I managed to arrive in time to get the car tech inspected and get a few "test and tune" runs in. I didn't really properly tune the car on the test and tune runs - that's still an area where I have a great deal to learn - but I still appreciated the chance to drive on the surface and get at least a bit of a feel for the lot. By the time I was heading off for the tech inspection, my codriver (greengalnblack) had arrived. She introduced me to some of her friends, we checked in with registration, etc., etc. Friday evening was Friday evening, hanging out with the Spokes group. As the sun set, greengalnblack and I realized we were going to have to head out if we expected to go to bed at a decent hour, and since we ran first heat, we wanted to go to bed at a decent hour. She brought me to my grandmother's and headed off to her place to stay.

In the morning, greengalnblack was running late. Me being me, however, I had planned in some extra time for "just in case," so this wasn't a huge negative. We made it to the site and found everything pretty much as we left it, which left us plenty of time. We walked the course one final time, checked grid spots, and brought the car around to grid. I actually managed to put the car in the wrong place, but the grid workers preferred where I put the car, so we left it there. It was cold - the temps weren't all that low, but the constant strong breeze meant any heat was blown away. greengalnblack made her first run and came back with tires only barely warm. It wasn't long before I was out for my first run. Though things were slick, the car was well behaved, and I instantly vaulted myself into the lead. I had a second over Iain Peebles in Chris's MX-5. But, as far as I knew, that was Iain's first drive in that car, ever, so there was potential for him to gain a lot of time through the three runs. Iain essentially matched the time of my first run in his second, but I knocked .8 off for my second run, putting myself back into the lead. On Iain's third run, a cone got in the way, so I found myself going into my third run already in the lead. With the pressure off and my third run just a "widen the gap for tomorrow" run, I knocked another .8 seconds off, and gave myself a 1.67 second lead going into day two.

Through all of this, greengalnblack, Iain, and I traded teasing and good-natured insults. We gathered for lunch with a few of their friends, and then made our way back to the site to work third heat. I spent third heat in the sun, having forgotten to apply sunblock, and got myself a bit of a burn on my face. The rest of the day went well enough, with event-provided BBQ for dinner, and chances to walk the course after.

greengalnblack had me drive her S2000 on the way to my grandmother's this evening. That car is a blast. It definitely needs to rev to find its power, but once you reach around 6500rpm, it's a kick in the pants. As an S2000, it revs up to 9000rpm, so there's still plenty of room to play. It handled well, and it was easy to control that power through corners, even on the bumpy streets leading up to my grandmother's. That car definitely needs to find its way into an autocross, even if it'll be stuck in a class where it's not competitive.

Sunday morning, remembering the chills of Saturday morning, I put on every clean shirt I had left. That meant three fairly small shirts and a sweatshirt. The breeze, however, was gone, so it didn't feel nearly as cold. I ended up shedding layers quickly and early, shedding one or two before any cars even started running! My performance this morning was... Less than stellar. On my first run, my brain just hadn't engaged yet and I wasn't looking ahead. I got lost on course TWICE! I didn't hit any cones or DNF, but I did end up with some rather boneheaded slam-on-the-brakes moments. Iain's raw time on his first run this morning was faster than mine by a second, but he hit a cone. My second run would have made up just over two seconds (not getting lost is GOOD!), but I had hit an early cone, adding two seconds to the run! Iain had hit a cone on his second run, as well, though so I was still in the lead. But on Iain's third run, he ran clean. That time left him with a 107.mumble over the two days, which matched the 107.mumble that I'd had. Neither of us were sure what our .mumbles were, so I went into my third run not sure if I was winning or not. I knew "a clean run" would win it for me, though, even if it was fairly slow, so I took a nice little Sunday drive around the course. "Don't hit anything and don't get lost" were my goals, and I managed that. The raw time was about a third of a second slower than my coned run, but since a cone adds two seconds, it was a great improvement in my standing. I ended up winning my class by over 1.9 seconds.

After everyone else got to run that day, awards were presented. Spokes had done rather well, so many of us ended up walking up to get trophies. I tore out of there quickly after the presentation was over, eager to get home, unload the trailer, and find a few minutes to relax.

Overall, it was a great weekend spent with fun people, driving a wonderful car. I'm eager for the H2R autocross this weekend, and I need to get my tires and contingency money!

Ouch. Next time, don't forget the sunblock.

It was an absolutely wonderful experience. I'm glad to have "done that" now. I had a wonderful time hanging out with the Spokes group. I won CSP.

More details to come later. Probably.

This weekend is the Fort Worth National Tour (yes, that'd be autocross/SCCA Solo II). I'm heading up for my first National Tour event. I'm nervous, but not for any real reason. I've driven to Fort Worth countless times, I've hauled trailers thousands of miles, I've been to plenty of autocrosses. Still, it's my first Tour, my first event with contingencies, and I'm enjoying being nervous about it.

I'll be heading up to Fort Worth Friday morning, and I'll hopefully manage to get the car tech'd that day. My class (CSP) is in the first run group and third work group, so I'll be racing in the morning. There'll be a lot of tire changing, as I need the street tires on the car overnight, but the racing tires for, well, the racing (duh). There's two days of racing - Saturday and Sunday - and then it's back home to Austin for work on Monday. Weeeee.

Nugget will be with the Driver's Edge at Motorsports Ranch this weekend, instead of the National Tour. The track is more his car's style, while mine's more at home mashing through cones.

Maybe I need to rename my journal, "All MX-5, all the time!"

My car has a Tire Rack sticker plastered across the windshield. It has this because it needs the sticker for the divisional and national tour, and the divisional was last weekend, and national tour is next (not this, next - 3rd and 4th), and I decided to leave the sticker on for two weeks. Last night, I went for a drive up Lime Creek Road. I'd catch up to a car, and the car would pull over and let me pass. Catch up to another car, it pulls over. Another... it pulls over. I wasn't even going all that fast! I was just "having fun" not "pushing." Of course, me having fun in the MX-5 on Lime Creek is a good deal faster than a Saturn wagon just putting along, but I wasn't tire squealing or tailgating or anything.

It was a wonderful drive that really brightened my evening.

If that subject made any sense to you, you should have been there! That was "Southwest Divisional #1", an autocross event. It was this past weekend in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I went - Dan and I drove my car - and a few other people from Spokes were there, as well. I was second in CSP and Dan first, which was basically what we'd expected. Dan was gonna be first, because my car ain't slow and, well, it's Dan. Dan had told me some of the guys there would actually be competition for me - that I could take second, but I'd have to work for it. We borrowed 18" wheels with 285 width rubber for the back tires, so my car was running 285/30R18 on the back and 245/45R16 on the front. While this should be an understeer-inducing setup, we put a stiff sway bar on the back to balance things back out. The surface was grippy and the car very well behaved. The rubber was a bit too much in the back and was rubbing oh-so-slightly, so after day 1, Dan raised the ride height of the car just a bit. The car still has the stiff rear sway and the height increase, and I'm driving it around on the street tires now (which need neither), so the car's oversteery. And with my driving... Well, the car's a lot of fun! We'll get it put back together the "correct" way for both my street tires and my normal autocrossing setup soon enough.

As a female serious about autocrossing, codriving with a guy, I get a unique perspective of the events. I showed up at this Central Louisiana hosted event knowing very few of the people who would be there. But, hey, it's autocrossing, everybody's friendly, right? Well, not so much. Before my runs on the first day, I was pretty much ignored. If I struck up a conversation with someone, they'd talk politely enough, but people walking by didn't tend to say hi, or whatever. After I did a few runs, everyone was talking to me. All of a sudden, they figured out I might actually be interested in this stuff, and might actually have intelligent things to say about the course or the surface! Silly boys.

My runs on Saturday were rather bad, though. On my first run, I punted two cones in the slalom. Why? I dunno. I slammed into them quite solidly with the middle of the tire each time. I felt like my car was wider than I expected. After some advice from Vitek I went around again, and the slalom was fine. However, I managed a major "duh." I left traction control on. And because of how paranoid traction control is on the MX-5, and the shape of the course, the traction control kept trying to keep the car from sliding for a fairly significant portion of the course. AS long as the traction control was active (as in, adjusting the car), I couldn't turn it off. So I drove at least a quarter of the course with one hand on the wheel and one hand mashing the traction control desperately trying to get it OFF! And my third time around, I knew I could take the sweeper in corner 4 faster... So I did... A bit too fast. There was wonderful tire squealing as the car slipped to sideways, came to a stop, and stalled right in front of the next cone. Thankfully, we had four runs per day, and I relaxed a bit and took my fourth run slowly, which catapulted me into second place. Gotta love it. So frequently, in autocross, when you try to go fast you're slow, and when you try to slow it down, you end up going faster. It's about car control and smoothness, not flat out speed.

Saturday evening came around, and the group gathered in the host hotel, like they do, with booze and food. Being the evil non-drinker I am, I encouraged guys to drink more, drink more! The more your head hurts tomorrow, the slower you'll be... Mwhahahahaha! I don't think my plan worked, but I don't think it really needed to, anyway, as none of the guys I encouraged were in my class, anyway. ;)

My runs Sunday were improved, but I still wasn't driving my best. My first run was slow - I decided to take a relatively easy look around the course. On my third run, I completely botched the shift into third (yes, this was a third gear course for my car). After this run, a 46.49, Dan told me I could make it into the 45s... If I'd toss the car there, and if I'd give it just a bit more gas in the slalom, I could take off that half second. I responded, "Well, I totally botched the shift into third..." "You did? I heard it bounce off the rev limiter in second and then go in..." "No, that was it grinding going into third." "Oh, well there's your half second." So I went 'round again, and still managed to screw up the shift to third, though not as badly. I figured out how I was screwing it up, too, so at least I know for the next third-gear-using event. I tried to toss the car where Dan said I could, and over did it, so I lost some time there, and I took the 180° turn too tight (do not ask me how I did that... I have no clue) and punted a cone there. The raw time was a 46.0mumble - so close.

If I'm remembering the results correctly (I haven't managed to find them online yet), I was about 6 tenths ahead of third on the combined time. I'm content enough, but I feel like I should have been faster, and like I still have so very much more to learn and skill to gain. The National Tour in Fort Worth is but two weekends away, and there's a potential for money and/or tires at stake, here. Fort Worth is so much closer and so much more familiar to me - the drive out, etc. will be less stressful, at least.

Today, nugget and I went out to Harris Hill Road in his Carrera. It was an absolute blast.

First things first: Carrera on the track: Wow. Oh, man, that's a fun car. We left PSM on the entire time, but in sport mode, which meant it let me have a little fun and only interfered when I was risking a spin. Unlike DSC (at least in my MX-5), which seems like the nun with the yardstick waiting to slap a stray hand, PSM feels more like a guiding teacher, pulling you back a bit when you try to let the back hang out a bit too much. And the car itself was a real joy. Feedback is great, it's responsive to all my inputs, the understeer I experience in autocross is entirely gone, and I can really control the amount of oversteer I get with the throttle. The Carrera on the track gives me the same grin my MX-5 does at autocross.

So, the day: We drive up and Bo and Eric are just finishing talking with another couple. The other couple leave and we introduce ourselves. Right away, it's, "Let's get out on the track!" Eric was driving a Mini S, and Nugget was driving the Carrera. I suggest Bo ride with Nugget and I with Eric, so each of us could have an "experienced" person in the car with us. So Nugget drove off with Bo and I hopped in the Mini. Eric and I talked about Minis and autocross and my Miata and... I realized I might want to hear about, ya know, the track, so coming around corner 4 I asked him to talk through the track with me. We got through corner 5, and were back on another subject already. Oh well. Nugget pitted, Eric followed him, and we swapped spots. Now it was me driving the Carrera with Nugget for a passenger, and Eric driving the Mini with Bo riding. We go out on track and I do about half a lap "slow" before I give into temptation and play a bit. I certainly wasn't trying to go as fast as I can, but I was trying to go at a fun pace, rather than a slow, "have a look around" pace. I did a few laps and found myself letting the car slide a bit through some of the corners. I definitely found myself wanting to push harder than I should on a "get to know things" run, so I pitted. Bo was grinning at me. Apparently, Nugget hadn't mentioned my enthusiasm for driving or my experience autocrossing to him, so he wasn't expecting the girlfriend to go play with the car that much. We went for a few more laps, with video running now, and then came back up. They asked if we'd gone around counterclockwise yet... We hadn't. They suggested we go, and gave some advice about going up the hill. As we walked back to the Carrera, Bo yelled to Nugget, "Don't listen to a thing Monica says until she's driven it!" Oh, THANKS! :-P

So we went around it clockwise a few times. I found I really felt familiar with corners 2 and 3 somehow, CW and CCW (I'm not re-numbering the corners for CCW). I also felt really comfortable with 6 and 7 CW. The hairpin (10) was great in the Carrera, as well, while corner 1 and I didn't seem to get along at all. Corner 4 seems like a very interesting, entertaining corner, both CW and CCW, presenting a different set of challenges each way. Bo and Eric were great to chat with, too.

Hopefully Nugget got some good video of the track.

Well, instead of the autocross today *stabs AT&T* we went on a Tejas Miata Club drive. Around 18 cars made it, including an S2000, a 911, and a CLS55 AMG (that'd be a Mercedes). My instructor from my last track day, AC, was there, and I'm actually managing to recognize some of the regular Tejas Miata people now (I'm so horrible at recognizing people... I know those cars have gone on runs before, but which people belong to them?!?!). We had a great time driving down Texas roads of various sizes and states-of-repair, and more than once I was worried a rock had damaged something. That plastic lower lip on the front of my car makes a lot of noise when a good sized rock hits it. But I haven't been able to find any damage on the car.

My brakes are heavily worn, and that combined with the low water crossings made my left front brake just stop working for a bit. A few good presses on the brake pedal dried it out and got it working, but today's drive was definitely hard on the car in a way autocross and track time isn't. Low water crossings, cattle guards, and potholes definitely put different stresses on the car than relatively smooth pavement driven really really hard.

My mother made it out, too, with my old '94 Miata that's now hers. She seemed to have a wonderful time. She's always loved driving, and I'm so very pleased she gets to drive a car that's so fun to drive, now.

This time it's a SASCA autocross. It's at the AT&T Center in San Antonio (used to be SBC Center). Registration closes at 8:30 (with late registration, for an extra $10, until 9). It's a nice site, and SASCA is a fun group to run with. Time to get there isn't much worse than the Spokes San Antonio Raceway events, and it's an easy drive down I-35. You'll see a sign for the AT&T center at the appropriate exit, turn left onto AT&T Center Parkway (or drive or whatever it is), make another right to go in font of the center, and turn into the parking lot at the very last possible entrance. Make your way to the back, behind the trailers, and we'll be back there with cones and cars waiting.

Vroom.

Oh, if you decide to come race, bring a copy of your insurancce. They want proof of your (street) insurance on record. Some AT&T center thing. *shrug*

Nevermind. AT&T canceled it.