Slipstream - July 2007

Photos by Charlie Davis
Running the Loops
by James Milton
Iwas really looking forward to AX#4 at
Pennington Field. My first Autocross in 14
years was at Pennington Field last year. This
year with a few events under my belt and plenty of
good advice from fellow members, with whom I've
become acquainted, I looked forward to the event even
more. In the days leading up to the event, I was a bit
concerned about the possibility of rain over the weekend
and what the effect would be on the course. When
Bryan Bell posted on the mailing list “The course is
called “Loop-E” come on down and find out why that
is!” I was a little concerned. A technical course in the
rain had me thinking the worst. I wouldn't be able to
see, the glass would fog up, I won't be able to remember
the course and on and on. When the hyperventilating
stopped, I remembered that my very first run in
an autocross was in the rain and it wasn't so bad. It was
a lot of fun. That was 20 years ago.
It was cool and very cloudy on Sunday and like a kid on
Christmas Eve, I couldn't wait to see what kind of track layout
Bryan had in store for us. What I found was a course that was very
cleverly laid out with many interesting loops especially the first
set. I walked the course twice hoping to find that perfect line and
I thought I
had a good
idea of what
to do
I decided
to take my
first run slowly
to get better
sense of the
layout and see
just how tight
those turns
were. During
Clint Blackman is all smiles!
that slow
casual run, I
knocked over a cone. Little did I know, this would be a recurring
theme throughout the day. After I finished the first run, having
assaulted a cone for good measure, I figured that was going to be
about as bad as it would get so I was ready to dial it up a bit for
the second run. Watching the 914's doing their thing out on the
course between my runs was great. I couldn't believe how folks
like Kevin Hardison could get through the first element, the
“Inverted Treble Clef”, and be in perfect position to get back on
the straight. Seeing the 944's taking the large “Big Hoop” loop so
smoothly on the second half of the course was an inspiration, too;
a testament to the drivers' skill. But I drive a 911 so I was keen to
see what the Shoffits and Bob Kuykendall were doing in their
respective 911's. I remembered the wisdom imparted to me by
Wendy at the previous event. Slow in, fast out, be smooth and
look ahead. On my second run, I cut 6 seconds off and didn't hit
any cones. I'm feeling kinda good at this point so I decide to “go
James giving a wide berth to that cone!
for it” some more on run #3. I started strong from the line and
turned in aggressively like Fernando Alonso, finessed it carefully
through the first half of the course and managed to successfully
navigate the “E-Loops” on the backside. Making good time heading
into the “Big Hoop” loop, I turned in. The car took a set and
proceeded to travel along the prescribed arc. Problem is, it was
the wrong arc and I clipped another cone!! Ugh, two in one
day.What is this? Concentration shot. Must focus and get the lap
done. Bingo, I got a 64.73 plus that darn cone. Yes, a respectable
time but I knew there was still more left…That would have to
wait until the next session.
We switched to working and I had an excellent time hanging
out with James Shoffit at station two, watching our fellow
racers. I love working the course almost as much as driving it
because you get to see how others do it up close. That black 911
Turbo was amazing to watch as it gobbled up the track warping
from element to element. Michael Vasey, extremely fast in the
STI, defied at least one of Newton's laws of motion and missed
cones we thought were goners and Jeff Hermann in the 912 was
driving so smoothly he made it look easy. The ladies class was
populated with some great talent too. Tannia Dobbins and
Lisa Steele giving pointers to Denise Sanchez
Photos by Charlie Davis
Photos by Charlie Davis
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