Road to National Solo2
 

As an autox neophyte, let me just say that I'm constantly in awe of the greatness shown by those of you who have attained the National status :worship: The name recognition does wonder to one's ego, though the quest to the pinnacle of grassroots motorsport is the ultimate motivation, for me at least.

With that in mind, I'm hoping that National autoxers can share your own personal journey on how you made it to the top (competitively), ie: year you started, Evo school phase level, number of runs, and etc.

I realized that seatime and patience are the main requisites. Without making autocrossing to be a full-time job instead of part-time hobby, the road seems to be precarious with no structure/plan in place. I tend to pick up some tidbits here and there, though feel that my main weakness lies in course-reading and having the lines down to the T on most common elements. Expert guidance on breaking point and driving line is not always possible, outside of Evo environment and instructor ride-along.

So how can I supplement lack of experience besides reading/once-twice-a-month autox/Evo school?

Ideally, I would like to get to National before 1)getting old 2)being tied down with family 3)RX-8 loses its dominance.

Thanks for sharing in advance!

Drive better. :) Figuring out the line to take (95% it is the shortest line) is not that hard. It's the other 5% knowing when the short line may not be faster.

Seat time really is king.

I started in '97, went to more and more events and not only ran with as many good drivers as I could, I asked them to come along also to critque. The biggest moment for me was when Nick Leverone walked up to me after a run, told me a few pointers he saw just after he saw me gaffe out on the course in a turn around... and said "Hey, if you slowed way the hell down for the pivot and just ran over the base of it, you'll be a few seconds faster."

It was right then and there where I found out that shorter line in slow sections wins.

Running with fast people really helps. Going to divisionals& tours and running against the best in the area also helps one to realize just how much work you have to do.

Other than that... not much can be done other than to remember a few courses you ran over the year and thinking what you could have done different.

I can remember most courses I've run on for the past couple years. I remember some of the mistakes I've made. After a while, elements on the course start to look similar and you can recognize them wile walking the course and know what you need to do before you get there, and how you need to exit before the next section of the course.

It really is all about seat time. Seat time is king. EVO schools will help, but sometimes it takes a few events afterwards to really 'get it'.

--kC

I agree with KC... Seat time. However make sure it is productive time. For me the thing that did it was going to all the big events I could afford, tours and pros where the best drivers were. If you just play with your local crowd you wont get pushed as hard.
I have never been to an EVO school, when I started in 93' I had a 3 time natl champ in my region and class he taught me a lot, btw he is now an EVO instructor. I just did every local event I could, practice days, local schools etc. To this day I still try to run as many events as I can. Keep in mind at your local level you can get as much bad info as good. Always consider the source when you get a tip.

:scratchhe


:D: :wavey:

Even I can help you with this part. Make your Topeka reservations now for the last week of September 2006. If you had to be good to go, do you really think it would be such a big event?

TeamRX8, how about throwing us a bone by feeding some info too?

Keep all the suggestions/words of wisdom comings! I knew that I really sucked when I'm 1sec behind Ron Bistrais ('05 FS 2nd) with me in RX8 and him in Camro, and 1.5sec behind KC at ZoomZoomLive, both driving Miata. I know that patience/speed control is something I have to learn (coming from Ron & Dave Newman at EVO 1). Just wanting to get past that learning curve much sooner rather than later, seeing how long the road really is with KC's 6yr for STX crown and 12yr for ULLLOSE on BS champ.

learn to be lucky, skill is just being able to position yourself for taking advantage of luck

You got a point there! Already saw 9/23-9/26/06 for National next year. I will definitely make it out to divisional to get a taste of National-level talent before driving halfway across the country to pad the list of bottom-feeders.

I've been doing this off 'n on since 1987 and I still suck at it... :(
So take my advice with a truckload of salt... :)

But to echo the other replies, seat time is where it's at.

Take an Evolution Phase 1 school and take notes. Spend the rest
of the year practicing what they teach you there.

Go to the big events: divisionals, National Tours, Pro Solo, Nationals.
Don't worry about how you finish, just learn something new to make
you go faster.

After you put adjustable shocks & front swaybar on the car, take the Evo Car
Setup school. It will teach you how to adjust your car when it doesn't do what
you want it to do.

Ride with good drivers to see what they are doing. Ask them to ride with you
and point out what you can do better.

Don't ask for advice on anonymous bulletin boards! :nono: :mdrmed:

LOL, but you guys rock. I feel like this is where I belong all along :grouphug:

Looking on SCCA reveals:
1. The Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships
2. The eleven-event SCCA Solo National Tour
3. The seven-event SCCA ProSolo National Series

How does Divisional fit into the grand scheme of things? Are there requirements for joining National Tour/Divisional?

if you have a pulse and a driver's licence you qualify

don't forget the SCCA card and a borrowed copy of the rulebook...

And a car that passes tech....

and a helmet, which btw SA95 helmets will be illegal for SCCA use by the end of the year due to the new 2005 spec helmet debuting at the end of this month

I have not had the safety steward actually checking the SA rating on my helmet ever to this day. Is the checking something more customary on National Tours? As for car set-up, can edj chime in what wheels you are running? I saw from Nat'l photos that most people are running SSR Competition, John V/clyde on stock, and not sure about edj.

You sure about that?

SoloHelmetBulletin.pdf

D'oh :spank: , I questioned that and our local safety steward swore up and down, asked an SEB memeber and they said it was true, go figure

They are Motoforge wheels, company apparently went belly up this year and I
think they auctioned off the assets 'cause a lot of wheels became available
during the summer for relatively cheap prices. They weigh a couple of pounds
more than the SSRs but for $1000 less, I can live with that! :)

Re: Snell 95 helmets. They are still good for Solo events. Solo uses current
Snell rating plus the 2 previous ratings. So Snell 95 are good of another 5 years.

Here's a tip.

:p

If your helmet isn't being checked at tech for the rating sticker or an annual tech sticker, someone isn't doing his job.

We're not running OE wheels next year. Unless it rains.

and another


:o:

I questioned that because I swore my helmet was good through another rating and they made such a stink about it at our last event, that's what I get for following along this once :o: :rolleyes: :wallbash:

We had the same misinformation circulating amongst the SSS community here in the SE in spite of what the rulebook clearly states. Wasn't until I dug up that Tech Bulletin that I was able to shut them up. :nono:

Helmets: M or SA 95+ will be legal until 2010 when the next spec comes out (after 2005).

Not that I'm someon you should be asking, but seat time is definitely king. Do as many of the National events as you can. Divisionals are good too, but since there's less contingency money the big dogs often skip divisional events.

I learned a lot about driving, but I learned even more about competing by doing Tours this past season.

JV