>>My understanding of the course (as it has been explained here on team.net) is
>this: It was fast and fun, and culminated in a flat out finish section that
>had many (most?) cars exceeding highway speeds for a measurable period of
>time, with little steering input. (woo hoo!)<<
Here are some of my (rookie) impressions of the courses...
The finish lights on Saturday were at the exit of a 5 cone slalom (I think it
was 5), with each cone a little further from the last. I may not remember this
quite right, but I think the first couple of cones were about 25 paces, and the
last two were about 35 paces, with the lights being about 30 paces beyond the
last slalom cone. It was a flat out finish for me because my car has 106 HP
and weighs 2200 lbs. If I'm not going flat out, I'm parked. ;-) However, I
could hear some of the high HP cars getting out of the gas in order to make the
lights. The entrance to the slalom was out of a tricky 180, so it was possible
to be under full acceleration the whole way and still not be going very fast.
It was fast, but not easy IMO. I thought it was just the right type of finish
to give the ole adrenal gland one last squeeze because it allowed you to go
flat out if you did it just right. To me that's what autocross is all about:
the opportunity to push my driving 110% without worrying about consequences
(within reason of course).
Sunday's finish ended in one of the nastiest 4 or 5 cone slaloms I've driven.
They couldn't have been more than about 20-22 paces apart. I much preferred
Saturday's finish because my brain lacks the capacity to deal with all those
inputs at the end of long run.
The "Janco Straight", which IMO was the only truely straight portion of the
course was pretty darned slow because it was surrounded on either end by about
a 130 degree turn and a 200 degree turn. My work assignment happened to be
right there and I never saw any car look like it was exceeding 45 mph or so.
The fastest portion of the course for me was a remote section on the back
stretch. It was fairly open, but by no means straight either. I think it was
entitled "serious curves". In fact, it was a major gut check for me. If a car
was going to lose it, it seemed to be in this area, so driving skill and
throttle control came into play big-time through that section.
Even for such a large, complex course. I found it very easy to read and
remember for Saturday's runs. The Sunday course was nearly identical, though
backwards. It was amazing how it changed the character of the course. I never
could get it figured out. It was definitely slower and more technical, to me
anyway. Not getting into speed or safety or any of that, from a pure driving
standpoint they were about the best courses I've ever driven. Maybe a tie with
Roger's masterpieces from last year, but IMO both of those course designers are
in a league of their own.
-brad
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