Novice Handbook
for the
Minnesota AutoSports Club
and the
Metropolitan Council of Sports Car Clubs
Revision 1.0
By C. Clark Piepho Minnesota Autosports Club
Copyright 2010 by Minnesota Autosports Club
With Thanks To:
Steve Garnjobst, Minnesota AutoSports Club
Don Gettinger, Corvettes of Minnesota
Dave Parsons, Minnesota AutoSports Club
Dave Kral, Minnesota Autosports Club
Phil Ethier, Minnesota Autosports Club
~DISCLAIMER~
Motorsports and autocrossing are inherently dangerous.
The level of risk is directly dependent on the actions of the individual participant. The author and associated clubs of the Metropolitan Council of Sports Car Clubs disclaim any liability for actions taken as a result of reading this document. Persons participating in motorsports need to use common sense and display prudent behavior. When in doubt, err on the side of caution.
Table of Contents
1. What is Autocross?
2. Who Puts On Autocross Events?
3. Signing Up For an Event
4. Day Before the Event
...Prepare the Vehicle
...Pack for the event – what to bring to an event.
5. Day of the Event
...Arrival
...Checking In
...Final Vehicle Preparation
...Technical Inspection
...Course Walks
...Driver’s Meeting
...Working
...Driving
...Buck Runs
...Cleanup
6. Technical Inspection Requirements
7. Course Walking
8. Work Assignments
...Gate
...Grid
...Starter
...Course Worker
......Corner Captain
......Flag
......Cone Shagging
......Finish
...Timing & Scoring
......Radio
......Computer
......Auditor
...Announcer
9. Driving
10. Further Reading
Appendix A. Glossary
Appendix B. Example Registration for MAC Events
Appendix C. Numbers And Classing
Appendix D. Grids And Conga Lines
1. What is Autocross?
Autocross is a form of motorsport where drivers are judged by the time it takes to go through a defined course. There is no wheel-to-wheel racing, drivers are sent through the course individually.
The courses are usually temporary courses on large parking lots defined by traffic cones and sand-lines. Time penalties are assessed if a driver hits and displaces any of the cones.
It is a sport of precision driving and finesse rather brute force and horsepower.
Vehicle speeds rarely exceed normal highway speeds due to the way the courses are designed. Autocross courses do not have long straights or sweeping curves, which necessitate high speeds. Instead, they have many tight curves following one another that put a premium on a driver’s vehicle handling skills. The courses are also designed with safety in mind, with no barriers or obstacles near the driving line. If a driver has an “off” or a spin, there is plenty of space to stop the vehicle safely.
Time on course varies depending on the course design but is usually between forty and seventy seconds. The time may seem short but it is a very busy time. People who are familiar with racing road tracks (such as Brainerd International, Road America, or those used in F1) will find an autocross course contains about four times the number of course elements for a given distance. There is never a place for a driver to relax on an autocross course.
Autocross sometimes goes by other names. The Sports Car Club ofAmerica ([b]SCCA[b]) uses the name “Solo” for its autocross events. Gymkhana is another name that is sometimes used, although the rules for Gymkhana vary from depending on what part of the world you are in.
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2. Who Puts On Autocross Events?
There are several organizations in the region that stage autocross events.
Minnesota Autosports Club (MAC) stages the MOWOG autocross series and hosts novice, intermediate and advanced autocross schools throughout the year. MAC events generally take place in the Minneapolis/St.Paul area. Information about the club and its event schedule can be found on the web site:
http://www.mnautox.com.
Corvettes of Minnesota (COM) stages a couple of autocross events in the Minneapolis/St.Paul area. Information about the club and its event schedule can be found on the web site:
http://www.mwregion.com/CorvettesofMinnesota.
Chippewa Valley Sports Car Club (CVSCC) stages a few auto events and a novice school in the Eau Claire area. Information about the club and its event schedule can be found on the web site:
http://www.cvscc.org.
Sports Car Club of La Crosse (SCCLaC) stages a few auto events in the Winona/La Crosse area. Information about the club and its event schedule can be found on the web site:
http://www.scclac.org.
SCCLaC is affiliated with the
SCCA Land-o-Lakes region (
LOL). The
LOL website is:
http://www.scca-lol.org.
Nord Stern Region - Porsche Club of America (NordStern) occasionally stages an autocross event in the Minneapolis/St.Paul area. Information about the club and its event schedule can be found on the web site:
http://www.nordstern.org.
All the regional clubs that regularly stage autocross events are members of the
Metropolitan Council of Sports Car Clubs events otherwise known as the
Met Council. The Met Council was established in the 1960’s to promote amateur autosports in general and to centralize certain activities common to all clubs such vehicle numbering, classing, etc. Today the Met Council, with input from member clubs, maintains the basic set of rules governing autocross events in the region as the “permanent numbers” assigned to the competitor’s vehicles. The web site for the Met Council is:
http://www.met-council.org.
The rest of this document will guide you through how Autocrossing is done in the local region.
Back To Table Of Contents
3. Signing Up For an Event
Almost all the clubs utilize on-line pre-registration at MyAutoEvents.com for their events.
SCCLaC is the exception, which uses on-site day of event registration. Some clubs, such as
MAC, also allow preregistration to be done via the U.S. Postal service if necessary. The preferred method of pre-registration is through MyAutoEvents.com.
Most of the clubs have links from their web site to the appropriate pages at MyAutoEvents.com. This is the easiest and preferred way of accessing information at MyAutoevents.com. For those clubs that don’t have links or if you can’t find the link, the URL is
http://www.myautoevents.com. Going the home page of MyAutoEvents.com can be rather daunting. MyAutoEvents.com provides services to clubs from all over the country and has hundreds of event listings.
To find a regional event use the advanced search tool found on the upper left corner of the home page. Search using a club’s initials and the state the event is in. You should get a display listing matching events.
Each event listed on MyAutoEvents.com has associated three web pages:
- Event Details: This is the home page for the event. It contains all the relevant information about the event such as the location, schedule, contact information, and maximum number of entries. The page is accessible by everyone with no restrictions.
- Event Registration: This page contains the form you need to fill out to register for the event. It is accessed via the Event Details page. It is a restricted page – you need to have an account on MyAutoEvents.com and be signed in. If you don’t have an account on MyAutoEvents.com, use the tool on the home page to create one. User accounts on MyAutoEvents.com are free. Registration usually opens 30 days before the event and closes whenever the entry list is filled.
- Entry List: This page lists the people and vehicles that have registered for the event. The page is also accessed from the Event Details page and has the same restrictions as the Event Registration page.
See
Appendix B for examples of registering for a
MAC event.
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