It is REALLY hard to learn left-foot braking

[Jennshark]

@mixdenny

I’m happy you let us know how it went. That Miata driver seems like one of those guys who think drifting is racing. Generally, the fastest cars in autocrossing are so smooth that their run isn’t exciting to watch until you know what to look for.

I remember one lady who was driving a Lotus Elan. It backfired and started burning under the bonnet. She panicked and although she did slow down, she jumped out without stopping the car. We were all chasing the damn Lotus as it slowly cruised through the course, knocking down all the cones and headed for the spectators.

One thing I forgot to mention before your race, and hopefully your instructors are saying, is walk the course. Picture yourself in the car and how each turn is going to look as you approach. Check your line through each corner - do you just go fast or do you need to be setting up for the next turn? We called them type A and type B turns. One is a turn leading to another turn, and the other is a turn leading to a straight. I’m sure this comes up in your road course training. You should know the course before you drive it so there are no surprises.

I was looking up the SCCA Solo II rules last year and was shocked to see my Scion xB is banned. What the heck? I love tossing it around but maybe it does turn over too easy. Sure doesn’t feel like it would.

Dennis

I overheard some guys bitching about Miata guy and two others driving tuner boy cars. They called them the “drift idiots.” (Nothing wrong with modding cars, but I’m beginning to perceive a certain type of driver who loves Hoosier stickers. These three also put tire warmers on their cars whilst in grid – seemed overkill to me). My pal scored better than these guys in her stock '02 Mini.

Funny Lotus story! I’m picturing it in my head . . .

I got lost and was late so only had time for a quick course look before I drove, thusly my first run was a stately lookover of 65 seconds. Next Sunday I’m going to get in early so I can learn the course.

I’m finding varied bans. One club allows X3s(!) I can’t conceive of doing AX in my X3; XBs are much lower, I can’t see the issue with them. My wife’s stock Mini convertible is okay’d by the Sunday group, but I wouldn’t drive it without roll protection.

Thanks for the discussion and great tips. I’m aiming to be 111th place, up from 112th, on Sunday.