Small and Big autocross courses

I autocrossed for the first time in two years part weekend with the Martin Sports Car Club at Lake County Technical Center (LCTC) this past weekend. The lot is much smaller than what I was used to in San Diego. At San Diego, the Qualcomm stadium (the Q)P lots were almost 0.5 miles long. At LCTC, the lot was 0.1 miles long. That is a much smaller lot. Basically, at Qualcomm you needed binoculars (very good ones) if you wanted to see a car's number on the other side of the course, and Before I went, I was trying to decide if 30 dollars, gas, and hours of driving is worth it. I got a speeding ticket in an "unconstitutional" speed trap on the way back, so it turns out it was not worth it. But that is a different story.

Smaller courses
LCTC course was much narrower, shorter, and trickier. And there were only 4 major corners and the rests were "autocross straights." The courses at the Q would have over six major corners and at least as much "straights." But most importantly, the course at LCTC was a lot simpler. Much like a nationals course. More technical and more simple.

Effect
I found that the smaller course was better to learn on. I was able to spend much less time trying to remember the course and more on working on the elements I wanted to work on; braking zones, turn-in points, acceleration points and most importantly, looking ahead. It was very refreshing to autocross again. Also, for the novices out there. Lower speed does not in any means mean less fun!

Conclusion
So the next time you are split on whether to go to an autocross event with a small course or not, go ahead and give it a shot! If you are like me, you may enjoy it very much.

Photo credit: Stephen Yeoh's STS Civic at the Q and a MSCC course at LCTC. His blog follows his autocross campaign. Check it out! http://yeohbaby.blogspot.com. Small lot picture is from the said MSCC event. Photo by Kevin "Kabel41" more cool photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/kabelphoto.

Copyright 2009, 2010 (c) by Jerry Lee.