PCA Club Racing never fails to provide fantastic driving performances. That’s exactly what the 2023 CVR Racing Into Spring club race did. No better example could be found than in the ultra-competitive Spec Boxster class. It’s as close to the famed IROC racing of old, where the cars are virtually identical and it’s the driver that makes the difference.

CVR AutoX alumni Alex Au was arguably THE very best driver at the 31^st running of CVR’s Lime Rock club race. Alex won all three of his Spec Boxster races in dominant fashion. What a treat to watch his precise, smooth, on-the-edge driving, lap after lap from my perch at Flag Station 3. If a lipstick cam was placed in the rumble strip at the apex of the Left-Hander, it would have registered both his left side tires as many times as there were laps. Very few racers could claim such a feat the whole two days, all while setting fastest laps and leading the races. He had many worthy competitors chasing him the whole way but they must have wondered how he did it.   

Alex and I briefly caught up in the paddock. He was quick to point out that his secret was the foundational training from CVR’s AutoX-University program. This earned him AutoX Rookie of The Year honors in 2013 and quickly led him to earn CVR AutoX Instructor status just two years later. Here’s how Alex put it.

 “To be honest, winning the three sprints still hasn’t really sunk in yet!  But, when I think back on the entire weekend, I can say that a lot of the things that contributed to a fun, fast weekend, were lessons I learned in autocross.

Starting from the very basics of driver position.  It’s funny because the shop that provides track support for me often jokes about how close to the steering wheel I sit, but that’s because that’s the position where my elbows are slightly flexed, I have the ability to provide the necessary torque on the steering wheel, and my arms don’t tire out.  A race weekend is often several 30+ minute sessions split between practice, qualifying, and races.  To save energy by simply sitting in the correct position is a no-brainer!

The second AutoX-U lesson that stood out this weekend was “keep your eyes up”.   For each of the races, I was able to get out ahead and I had to keep repeating “keep your eyes up” to myself.  This kept me from worrying about what was going on behind me, but it also kept me focused on hitting my marks and keeping each lap as fast as possible.

I could keep going on and on about how CVR AutoX-U contributes to racing.  Instead, I’ll just add that AutoX is absolutely the best way to build the skills you need to drive on track, and I am incredibly thankful for the lessons that I learned from CVR AutoX-U!” – Alex Au

While we were all saddened when Alex finished his residency at Yale and moved from CVR, he will always remain a CVR AutoX Rock Star. Congratulations Alex on your wins!     

That’s where you come in. No matter how advanced your driving skills currently are, CVR’s AutoX-U will instill Better Driving…Faster! Start your journey by signing up for the May 13^th CVR AutoX in Hartford. Registration and other helpful info is found on our CVR AutoX web page (https://cvrpca.com/autox/ ).

I can attest that CVR is the only PCA Region that provides you with a scale map of the actual course ahead of time (scroll down on the AutoX web page) so you can arrive with the confidence of already knowing it. We are also the only Region that includes AutoX-University lessons and a course that was specifically designed to master the featured skills. May 13th was designed to help you refine “Weight Transfer” and “Vision” skills. Subsequent events will feature different skills, so you’ll want to attend each AutoX. Rock on!