Maple Grove Raceway AutoX

[SwedeSport]

April 25th. 8.am. Blue Mountain Region is putting it on. Im gonna take the 86 900 out for a shakedown. Hope to see a few Saab's there.

[hutch]

Thats a sunday, right?

I can probably make it as it can't be more than 40 minutes away. I doubt I'll auto-x the SPG though I guess theres nothing stopping me, how much would it cost to do a few runs? Either way as long as I remember a few days before that would be a fun little trip.

[SwedeSport]

Yep its on Sunday.

45.00 for pre registered entrants.

Hutch, let me know if you are coming, Ill bring that window gasket if you still want it.

[hutch]

Its a bit too early to be 100% sure I'll be there, I know I'm gonna be busy fri&sat but since its so close theres little reason not to. $45 isn't too bad but I may just spectate since I've never done an autocross. And yeah that gasket would be great, I was hoping to make it up to your place again now that the weathers nice but earlier is always nice since I'm finally ready to put the windshield back back in.

[SwedeSport]

Ill bring it to Carlisle if the Autox falls apart.

The registration process for this autox is like filing an F'in tax return though!

[hutch]

Ha I wouldn't even know where to begin with registering for the right class, the PO of my car used to autocross it a decent amount and its got a nice enough assortment of goodies on it that I'm sure it would be in a ridiculously competitive class, or at least way more competitive than its driver. Not that I'm too concerned with how I'd do chasing some cones in a parking lot but I think I'd rather learn how to drive in an autocross situation in my cousins 8 valve n/a.

I might tell my friend about this one, he's got an s2000 with a giant turbo on it that would be hilarious to see flying around a track like that.

[SwedeSport]

Im not too worried about the class, I just want the seat time. Same for the hillclimb. Im pretty sure Im too new at this stuff to worry about being competetive with anyone but myself and the car vs the track. I usually just let the officials tell me what class Im in and then just run it. Once they put me in SM and I was running against a Lotus 7 replicar with a RX7 rotary and a huge turbo. Cant beat him. The only thing I was trying to accomplish was to improve my times from the first run to the last. Just come out and have fun.

[hutch]

What time do you think I should get there if I'm not racing but just watching?

I was actually getting excited to run the course if I could still sign up but I just got some new tires put on in the rear and something feels off. If I can sign up at the event I may still try to do so if things feel better.

[SwedeSport]

As far as I can tell, runs begin at 9. You can register at the event. But the fee is higher. You also need an scca membership. Registration is 7 am if you are running.

[SwedeSport]

It was a rainy Sunday morning as Maple Grove Raceway saw the arrival of about 30 die-hard autocrossers. The pits were set up near the bathrooms at the top of the hill by the staging lanes. The course was set up below the concrete retaining wall in the lower half of the pits. The drift event the day before ensured that even with a wet surface with some standing water, there was still enough grip. It was a fairly good size track, with some tight turns, a few sweepers, a slalom, and a nice straight section.

Being my first "real" autocross (the Steel Yard at Carlisle doesn't really count, right?) I just took the first few runs conservatively. Once I felt I knew where the track was, I attempted to pick up the pace a little. After a few brake lock ups, and nearly missed gates, and a dragged cone, I felt maybe I tried to be too fast too soon. We got 3 runs and then had to pull cone duty. I quickly grabbed the corner that I felt I needed improvement in. I watched the second group go thru that section and learned alot.

The cone that I dragged, must have come up and whacked into my header and cracked the joint between the secondaries and the collector. After a little Jury Riggin, I got the ok from one of the officials to continue. I was bent on going for broke, literally! It might be a long 25 miles home with an open header, but I wasn't gonna let it spoil my fun. I gathered a piece of chain and a zip tie from another driver, and created a makeshift forward hanger in the event that it broke off.

Went out for my second session. Due to the low turnout, everyone got a few extra runs. I got one too many runs in the second session, for a total of 5. I thought they were going to continue to run so I got back in line, and nobody stopped me, so yay for me! It didn't count toward my times though, but no biggie. I didn't realize that there was a digital display showing our times until someone pointed to the clock, then at me, and gave me a thumbs up. I was running 55 seconds and change. Now that I was paying attention to the times, and had the course layout in my head, I was trying to better my times a little. I ended up besting out at a 53.8. A guy with a red Sentra, who ended up with FTD, (the guy who pointed out the clock) was apparently gunning for me. The second session ended, and the organizers offered fun laps for practice. I decided to take 2 of them. The guy in the Sentra turns to me and with the pointed finger says I better not run faster than him. So I proceed to go out and run a 52.8. That would have knocked him out of top spot, had I not taken 2 cone penalties in the process.

It was an absolute blast, and I hope some more Saab Heads show up next time.

[Jordan]

NICE! Sounds like a fun day of cone mashing It's always more fun when you have some competition.

[SwedeSport]

Seriously, since it was my first real autocross, I didn't expect to be competitive with anyone, much less being classed in SM. To find myself going toe to toe with a FSP Sentra with a driver having a ton of seat time, was a hoot. I ended up 3rd fastest overall, beat out by a BMW by a fraction of a second. The funniest thing was about half way thru the event, I'm coming back thru the pit to stage for another run, wondering what everyone was looking at. I thought I had something hanging off my car, but it was apparently because I was one of the top cars. The best part about it was the WRX guy that was pissed that he got beat by a SAAB turbo. It was even better when I saw the look on his face when his buddy told him it was a N/A 8valve car.

[airsweden]

I've always set my fastest auto-x times in N/A 8v cars. True, nobody likes to get beat by a SAAB and that does make it a little more fun.

JT

[Jordan]

Nobody likes getting beat by somebody else driving their SAAB either.

[airsweden]