After tasting how much fun you can get at a slalom event, when I saw information about an SCCA event being held at Miami’s Metro Zoo, I decided to give it a shot. It was the season opener for the local SCCA Club, Equipe Rapide, which also run events in West Palm Beach. Since my E-type was fresh out of the shop and ready to head out to the New England rally a few days later, I decided not to push the car and to take the XKR.  This event was actually a double event, with an Autocross on Saturday and Speedtrial on Sunday.

I have participated in a few JCNA slalom before but always thought the course is a little short. Yes I know, it’s not about speed but agility, but it’s fun to get a little more speed. This autocross course was about 3/4 mile long with a few not so tight corners but the straights were cut by cones you had to slalom around. Since it was my first time, I got there early so that I could get plenty of time to register, walk the course, talk to people to get tips and info.

This was the first time E.R. was running an event at the Metro Zoo parking lot, a very large and empty lot, in South Miami. When I got there the course was already set, and some people were there preparing their cars.

SCCA rules are pretty complex regarding classes and modifications which are permitted to the car. Many people run in modified classes on special racing tires, with special shocks and other modifications. Obviously, unlike JCNA events, these SCCA sessions attract a very wide variety of cars, from race prepared Datsun 280 and Cobras to the latest Corvettes, Vipers and ... Neons.

After registering and getting my car number which I painted on the rear windows with borrowed white shoe polish, I did like everybody else and check the air in my tires. As expected it was just a under the regular pressure and I added a little bit more pressure. The low profile P Zero tires don’t require a lot of extra air unlike higher profile tires. One tip I heard is to mark the shoulder of the time with white shoe polish ( yes shoe polish again) in three locations and to check after a run. Is it all gone, the tire is under inflated and you use too much of the shoulder and sidewall. If it’s intact, your tire is probably over inflated.

Tech inspection was done quickly, there was obviously few things that could be wrong on an 6 month old car. No leaks, a well secured battery, completely empty interior and boot, etc… are checked. The empty interior is especially important, you don’t want loose objects flying around when you brake hard… or if you spin...

The most important thing to do when preparing for an autocross is to walk the course. Granted, walking close to a mile in the Florida sun isn’t that much fun but you’d better do it if you want to know where you’re going. While the course is well marked, some slalom sections can be tricky and it also pays to study the corners to know how you’re going to handle them.

Then around 9:30, time came for the driver’s meeting where we were told how the day was going to go, when to move into the staging area and some basic safety rules.

About 50 cars participated in this first event of the year, all split in classes based not just on power or speed but also on modifications and type or tires. I was entered in the F stock class, along with Camaros, Mustangs and similar cars, all unmodified.

Each competitor got a total of 4 runs, and of course, at the end of each run I had a big smile on my face.

Like other high performance cars, the XKR is not the best car for such events as you can’t really use the power. On the other hand, the grip and sports suspension is a good asset so it can certainly be a good performer… with some experience.

My first 2 or 3 runs were pretty sloppy, using too much power I wasted time sliding the rear of the car and then fighting to keep it facing the right way. On the plus side, I never spun unlike many others, often more experienced, competitors. Hey, I had to say that...

My problem was that 3 of my for runs were marked Off Course because somehow I managed to miss a cone in a tricky slalom section. One clean run landed me 5 out of 6th in class… nothing to write home about…. Why am I writing this then ? Keep reading, it gets better.

What did I learn that day ? Autocross isn’t about power, it’s about being smooth.. And not missing a gate.

 It’s time for School...

After the autocross, as a novice first timer, I had signed up for the mandatory school session where I learned a few useful things including that previously mentioned trick about marking the tires with white shoe polish. The instructor also gave us general advice on what to bring, what to do and some basic car control techniques that would come in handy the next day for the Speedtrial session.

The icing on the cake for that first day was the Speedtrial practice session. During the class, the course had been cleaned up of all its obstacle and turned into a road course with a variety of corners and a 700’ straight where you could reach a speed of about 50 to 60 mph.

Practice session were run by class, with 9 cars in my group, the novice group. Cars are spaced on the course and there is no passing allowed. If you catch up the car ahead, he will get a blue flag at the start/finish line to direct him to the passing lane where he will wait for the faster car to pass by on the track.

With the track free of the slalom sections, the power of the XKR was finally useful. Many drivers were actually surprised to see how quick the car was once I cleaned up my act and started driving more smoothly. I caught up with a few cars ahead including a Mustang GT and a Corvette, which felt good considering my poor performance in the autocross.

While there is no passing allowed and this is not a real race course, it comes pretty close and it was a lot fun to gain ground on the car ahead. We were told to stay a few car length behind which is sometimes not so easy to do…. especially if you want to make sure the flagman understand that you are being held up and that he needs to blue flag the car ahead.

Smoother is faster

A dozen fast laps can teach you a lot about driving, and it is even better when you are running your own car. I quickly understood what I had been taught and started improving. Smoother application of power on the exit of a turn will keep the rear of the car in the rear where it belongs… Hard braking before the turn and not in the turn will allow your tire to give more grip to turn… Play with the throttle in the turn to get the best exit speed and use the most of the road…

One other thing I learned is that the brakes do a lot of work on such a course and get hot. If you are not careful, and especially if you rely too much on the ABS, they will quickly overheat to the point of boiling the fluid which would give you a spongy pedal and leave you with no brakes at all. Halfway thru the practice, I started to smell my brakes and started paying more attention to brake more effectively.

Plenty to sleep on that night in anticipation for the next day…

The next day…

...started basically the same way, except that there was fewer car because that Sunday was mother’s day.

Again, prep the car, walk the course and go to the driver’s meeting for the final instructions. Each car would get 2 timed sessions of 3 hot laps plus a warm up and a cool down lap. Each hot lap would be timed and the best lap would win. 3 cars would be on track at same time, properly spaced which should prevent a faster car to catch up with a slower car because of the small number of laps.

Being my first event, I was eligible to run in the Novice class for the entire year which I did. Our class included a couple of Corvette ( C5 and an 82 ), a rather quick Camaro Z28 and other street cars.

Before the timed sessions, we got another 10 minute practice session, again an excellent opportunity to find the best braking points, see how much power you can safely apply exiting the corners. And of course another opportunity to see if I could catch up with the car ahead . See the “ego shot” (left) where a Corvette is blue flagged into the passing lane to let the Cat go by…

Let’s do it for real

After all the groups get their practice and after the timed run of the unlimited group, our group is next.

After a warm up lap where I let the car ahead go as far as possible to keep enough space, I get the green flag and start the 3 timed laps. They would turned out to be pretty consistent, within half a second, the best one being good enough for second place, 3/10 of a second behind a Z28. Not bad but not done yet with a second and last session to run later.

In the mean time, all drivers are expected to help out and I take over duties at the start / finish line. With good advice from the timing station by radio, I learn the tricks of displaying the proper race flags when needed. Fun…

A couple of hours later, we get to run our second timed session and this is moment of truth. Second so far isn’t bad but chances are that others will improve… Warm up lap, green flag and the cat starts roaring… I do my best, keeps it real smooth for the first two laps before pushing a bit harder in the third and final lap. Nothing too loose… It pays as this third lap is just over 3/10 faster than my best previous time, good enough for first , by only 6/100 of second, as the Z28 fails to improve

In the end, the entire week end was not just fun but also a real good and educating experience. I learned a lot about car control and driving despite the fact that this was not a racing school but just a fun event.

Equipe Rapide, the SCCA club who organized the event, will be holding monthly events, the next one being June 10 and 11 again at Miami Metrozoo. We will be putting a group of our members together to gather there, most likely for the Speedtrial event on Sunday which is more fun and less stress on the cars. Can you imagine a group of E-types roaring around the track together ?

I sure can