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Originally Posted by Bavarian Motorist
986girl - Thanks for the vids!!! I'll watch them in the morning since I am tired, but I am genuinely interested in watching them.
Perfectlap - Thanks. The site says the instructors will make sure your hands are at 10 and 2, though, not 9 and 3.
I practice using bends on highways to give me a feel for when to accelerate in the apex. Not sure if it does me any good.
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10 and 2 or 9 and 3. I don't know about the 987 but the 986 three spoke has a perfect notch for your thumbs at 9 and 3. I guess the point is not to shuffle the steering wheel by keeping your hands planted as much as possible.
I myself asked for instructors allot, but I tried to seek out the instructors who seem to be faster drivers than most. I guess you won't know that right away but once you do get a sense of who is quick and who has just been doing it a long time (not always the same) ask them to drive your car one time while you sit in as the passenger. You will see and feel what its like to put down a fast lap with few errors. The first time out I did this with one of the quicker guys and I was blown away at how much more effort he was putting into it and how abrupt everthing was, makes driving a road course look easy in comparison. Obviously you won't be doing any of that instructor level driving for a while but you'll have a good mental reference of where you are and where you will be one day. The thing that stuck in my mind was how confident the experienced driver was with the brakes. If you spin the car get on dem brakes hard and push down the clutch at the same time. Both feet in is cardinal rule when you lose control. I like doing one lap on my own and one lap with instructor, it's easy to get used to making mistakes that become bad habits.
There is no practicing of what you will do on an Autocross on the real world streets. Its night and day. Come back to this thread after the autocross(s) and the points people are making will make sense with more time in the cockpit.
Go to home depot and buy a small roll of blue painter's tape for your numbers. Don't put shoe polish on your paint or windows if you can avoid it. That's stuff is terrible for your paint. I made my own numbers at Kinkos on a big printer and they laminated it for me. I glued these magnetic business card squares from Office depot to the back of the numbers. Whole thing cost $10. But I still use the blue painters tape between the magnetic and the bare paint.
p.s.
bring sun block and a yankee cap. I also like to use batting gloves when I drive, keeps the sweat off the wheel.
p.s.s.
try to avoid using your real last name on the results sheet when you sign up if they will allow it. I would go buy Rickky Bobby or something...I'm not sure but if the club posts the lap times on their website a quick google search will pull up your name. At your age you don't need your insurance company looking to screw you into higher rates. I would use that painters tape to cover up your license plates.