Daffy
Enthusiast
Well I finally did my first solo II autoX event on Sunday. I was set for group B in heat 2, but got there 3 hours early to check things out. I was the only viper, several ZO6's (with numbers & slicks, etc), plenty of really intense cars - I was intimidated.
In the AM, everyone seemed kind of stand-offish, I was alone & felt it.
My first run was not bad, I ended it with a full 360 degree spin right through the timing lights. (note to self, roll onto throttle next time). Well, then several people were coming up to me and talking. I checked tire pressure & it was 32psi - oops, major newbie error - but too late for air now.
My second run was a blur, one cone victimized, oops. Then, with my luck, the rain started, had to put my top on fast. I decided to stay & try - mostly because I hadn't caught my times on the first two runs - to giddy to remember to look at the board at the end. Well my helmet & the roof got to know each other quite well but the rain persisted so I was cramped up but good.
Last two runs were clean, felt very loose, the rain got bad enough on my last run that I had to put my wipers on constant. My results, well I don't know how, but they were good I think.
In the AM the ZO6's ran a couple of 50 sec's & they were cheering when they broke into the 49's & 48's. A Ferrari was running about 51's, a regular C5 ran 51-52, a porsche was in the 51 range: this was before the RAIN though. The two runs I got times on, in the RAIN, were 48.7 and a 48.4 - that's not bad for my very first time, in the rain, right?
I wanted to accomplish a few things:
- learn to drive the viper better; this is a safe & fun way to do it, I must get into a driving school sometime, I learned a ton in those 4 runs & can't wait for more.
- not embarrass myself or the viper nation, based on my times & folks asking to ride with me, I feel like I didn't hold the snake back too much & came out respectably for a novice (novice viper owner & novice autocrosser)
- have fun; I've been to many drag racing events, but nothing has been as much fun as this, I am totally hooked, I can't believe I've never tried autoX before - if you've never done it, do it! I had an absolute blast.
Well that's the blow by blow, sorry for the length, but I had such a great time I wanted to share the story, and again if you haven't autoX'ed, go for it!
Dave.
In the AM, everyone seemed kind of stand-offish, I was alone & felt it.
My first run was not bad, I ended it with a full 360 degree spin right through the timing lights. (note to self, roll onto throttle next time). Well, then several people were coming up to me and talking. I checked tire pressure & it was 32psi - oops, major newbie error - but too late for air now.
My second run was a blur, one cone victimized, oops. Then, with my luck, the rain started, had to put my top on fast. I decided to stay & try - mostly because I hadn't caught my times on the first two runs - to giddy to remember to look at the board at the end. Well my helmet & the roof got to know each other quite well but the rain persisted so I was cramped up but good.
Last two runs were clean, felt very loose, the rain got bad enough on my last run that I had to put my wipers on constant. My results, well I don't know how, but they were good I think.
In the AM the ZO6's ran a couple of 50 sec's & they were cheering when they broke into the 49's & 48's. A Ferrari was running about 51's, a regular C5 ran 51-52, a porsche was in the 51 range: this was before the RAIN though. The two runs I got times on, in the RAIN, were 48.7 and a 48.4 - that's not bad for my very first time, in the rain, right?
I wanted to accomplish a few things:
- learn to drive the viper better; this is a safe & fun way to do it, I must get into a driving school sometime, I learned a ton in those 4 runs & can't wait for more.
- not embarrass myself or the viper nation, based on my times & folks asking to ride with me, I feel like I didn't hold the snake back too much & came out respectably for a novice (novice viper owner & novice autocrosser)
- have fun; I've been to many drag racing events, but nothing has been as much fun as this, I am totally hooked, I can't believe I've never tried autoX before - if you've never done it, do it! I had an absolute blast.
Well that's the blow by blow, sorry for the length, but I had such a great time I wanted to share the story, and again if you haven't autoX'ed, go for it!
Dave.
