“Fast, Flowing, and Open” was promised and the August 2nd Lime Rock Park AutoX delivered. This was the same approach I used for the Oklahoma Parade AutoX course design, and we likely set a B-paddock speed record because of it. A straight, nearly the length of the B-Paddock, led into a fast skid-pad sweeper, then another long straight in front of the Maintenance Building. Combined with the 25-40-foot-wide gates throughout the course, we saw some serious right pedal action. Naturally, some serious braking was also required, but the wide gates gave you an endless choice of lines to maximize momentum as you scooted off to the “1,2,3” sequence of corners and the flying finish. I often describe AutoX like driving your favorite twisty backroad, but at highway speeds, and this AutoX proved the point. Carefully designed in “spin zones” also proved why AutoX is the best place to learn real car control skills.
You may have guessed by now that the AutoX-U driving skill theme of this course was how to be “Aggressive”. Who better to give tips about this than CVR AutoX Instructor Jeff Fournier? Those who have seen Jeff drive need no further explanation. What made Jeff the perfect choice was not only his fantastic skill set in this area but also his ability to dial it back as needed to set blisteringly fast times in any car he drives. Co-driving his dad’s Cayman this year, Jeff has been the one collecting trophy towels. Considering Brian’s flowing brilliance driving style and proven skills, that says a lot.
Our 70-driver cap was reached more than a week before the action-packed Porsches@TheRock day and we ended up with a waiting list. To make sure everyone had a full day of driving, the course was designed to not only be fast, flowing, and open, but also long. This added another design challenge, making it capable of having a safe overlap. The next car in line started as the previous car was finishing. Success! A new all-time record of 381 runs was reached for the day, besting the previous best of 358 two years prior. Thank you goes to the timing workers who kept up with the rapid-fire scoring that made that many runs possible. Luckily, it helped timing that the wide gates resulted in only 8 runs with cones hit. That may also be a record (low), but for comparison the OKC Parade had even less. Maybe CVR AutoX drivers are too aggressive?
More remarkable, this run level was reached despite the action-packed schedule many AutoXers signed up for as part of TheRock activities, like Parade Laps and FCP Euro AutoX lapping sessions. Since CVR AutoX events only require each driver to “work” one hour, our Registrar, Rob Bosco, was able to make schedules that freed up those drivers to enjoy those events. Amazingly, for such a busy day, we were still able to get a normal six AutoX runs in for the day and were able to finish right on schedule. What a great day of adrenaline-infused motorsport fun and camaraderie.
Two more things were equally impressive. First, all of this was achieved with a record 16 Novice class drivers! Congratulations to each of them for handling the busy day and driving so well, and to the busy CVR AutoX instructors. Judging by their smiles and the warm feedback, it looks like we’ll have many new AutoXers joining our ranks. Second, many of the new drivers were women. This built on the already strong core group of women driving in CVR AutoX events and rivaled hay day numbers back in the 1980’s.
If you were on the wait list or couldn’t make this event, don’t miss registering for the next CVR AutoX on Sept 13th, at the same location. A different AutoX-U topic will be featured and a new course designed to help everyone advance their driving skills, while having a blast doing it. CVR’s AutoX web page will have all of the details and links to register. You’ll also find detailed results for the August 2nd AutoX on the “Member’s Log-In” page. At CVR AutoX, Better Driving…Faster! is more than a slogan.
