I went to my first autocross this weekend with the Texas A&M Sports Car Club in College Station, TX.

I have a new favorite hobby now. That was, by far, the most fun I have had with my car since I bought it.

I had the club's autocross chairman ride with me for all of my timed runs to glean as much advice as I could.

What a blast. I can't wait to do it again.

Welcome to the party. We've all been there at some point.

Hold on to your wallet! Hahahaha.

Another addict.

Welcome aboard.

TAMSCC has been around for years and years and years ... I think Costas invented autocross as TAMU.

Welcome to other side ...

HAHAHAHHAhahahah...
Nah, I didn't invent it, but I dang sure have supported it for a LONG time!

Now I live 2.5 hours away so I don't make all the events anymore (and the 7 mile drive to TWS is gone too - sniff).

ANYway, glad you had a great time and enjoyed it. TAMU events are very down-to-earth and great. MAKE SURE YOU GO TO OD102 in Jan/Feb (whenever) and get as many runs as possible with as many instructors as possible and learn-learn-learn.

Amazon.com = 'Secrets of SOLO Racing' by Watts. Order it, read it, read it again, read it again, live it. I read that book at least twice a year along with various other motorcycle and automobile roadracing books.

Welcome to the sport!!!

Costas
cars and such...

While you are new to the sport and devoid of bad habits, sign yourself up for the next Evolution school in your area. These schools are the hot ticket to making you faster in a hurry. I think there's a sticky in the autocross forum about them. I've done 3 of them and plan to jump into the next one to come to my area in '07. They are also a lot of fun in their own right because you get a lot of seat time and instruction.

You let Pranav give you advice!?!?!? No wonder you weren't faster!!

LOL, just kidding. We will be having a free auto-x practice/school the begining of next semester, either late January or early Feburary (date to be set at the end of this semester). It is a great chance to get a bunch of practice runs in and really improve your driving.

Glad you could make it out!

BTW: I was driving the Blue Formula with the white stripe, and was the guy running registration.

I hate you Texans.

Glad you found a new hobby Toby!

No, I think it was Jay Bittle. :-)

Probably goes back farther than that, though.



And if Houston isn't too far, there are the BMW club events at the Houston Police Academy on the north side and the Porsche and SCCA events on the south side. The next SCCA event is the first Sunday of December. My wife and I designed the course. C'mon down and have some fun!

Actually, I think Toby lives in NW Houston (at least that is what he posted on the Tamscc forum).

You are designing the course for the PCA event @ GGP? Please tell me you will make it f-body friendly. The last course I ran with PCA @ GGP, I ran entirely in first gear (shifted to 2nd going thru the lights). It might have been fun in a Miata, but in an f-body, it was brutal.

Yeah, I do live in NW Houston and I rode with... crap, I'm so bad with names... he's the cochair for auto-x. Sam? Not Pranav. Long, curley haired guy. This guy drives a white Nissan 240. KoukiKA240sx is his TAMSCC name.

Is Mojave the 3rd gen that made all the other cars in SSM look slow? Or the 4th gen Formula that had motor troubles?

And, if my tires and wallet will support it, I'm planning on doing the next one in December here in Houston. What are the fees for that one? And is there a class for newbies or a class for cars with street tires?

Yeam, Sam is the guy with the 240sx. I was driving the 4th gen Formula that had problems. Apprently, my battery was on its last leg, and it died last night.

The black 3rd gen is Matt Miller. He is an old Tamscc club member, and, as you noticed, is pretty darn fast.

No, just the SCCA. Because of tire expense and time constraints, we usually don't do the PCA events, although it would be more seat time. If we were serious contenders for Nationals (although Barbara did well in CPL the year we went), we probably would do that. As it is, with the current setup, we're mid-pack, at best.

Next month's course is a slightly modified version of the course we did for 2003. We had several drivers tell us they liked the course, from Mitata drivers to the CP folks, and all in between. It is a challenge. The start is a little tighter than last time, but after the first turn, you should be able to stick it in 2 and go!