This was the third Autocross event of the year for the Peachtree Chapter of the BMW CCA and my second try at AutoX. This was also my first opportunity to have a passenger. My Turkish daughter and wife joined me at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the morning runs. My daughter loved it and did great, my wife on the other hand got a bit car sick and bailed after her third ride.
Another first, was my first DNF for missing a gate. I ended the day with a DNF in the first and third runs of the day. In the third run, I also managed to take out a cone. By the end of the morning, I was feeling pretty good with the course and laid down a final lap that put me in 2nd place in my class. It is always a fun day running AutoX and a great way to safely explore the limits of your car.
https://go2thetrack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Autocross-Passenger-1.jpeg14401920GOhttps://go2thetrack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GO-2-The-Track-Logo-Black-500x178.pngGO2021-08-29 17:07:282021-09-19 10:35:27BMW CCA Autocross 3
After hard rain most of the night the track had mostly dried out by the time we ran the first novice session on Sunday. The only point of caution was the potential for pooling water in the curbing. The first session of the day was really a warm up for me and the car. I got right back into the groove with the first monkey wrench of setting the car up in Sport+ instead of Sport mode. I had been hesitant to reduce the nannies but it turns out I had no need to worry.
After the first monkey wrench of switching the car to Sport+ in session 1, I threw another one in the mix. During the morning classroom session I talked with the instructor about shift points in 3 of the tricker places on the track (turns 1&2, 7&8 and 11&12). Most of this session was spent getting used to the new downshift points so I could apply what I learned in the classroom on the track.
The last monkey wrench thrown at my Sunday session was moving from Novice to Intermediate 1 so we could run with some faster cars. I was certainly nervous that I couldn’t hang but quickly realized I would be just fine. This session really helped with my track awareness as I was having to give a few point-by’s instead of waiting to receive one.
With all the monkey wrenches out of the way I was finally able to get my lap times below 1:50 and did my best lap of the weekend at 1:47.186. It felt good to be able to shave 3 seconds off my lap time with a few minor changes from my instructors.
The final session of the weekend confirmed that I could consistently put down some nice laps in the 1:47-1:48 range. Instead of pushing too hard after a long weekend, I was satisfied that the work on and off the track paid off this weekend and look forward to my next weekend at Barber.
https://go2thetrack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/HPDE-at-BMP.jpeg5621080GOhttps://go2thetrack.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GO-2-The-Track-Logo-Black-500x178.pngGO2021-08-22 17:00:232021-08-31 18:38:06Monkey Wrenches On Day 2 At Barber Motorsports Park
