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During the second and consecutive walks, I tried to walk the “line” that I would be taking through the course. Finding the best line is actually one of the challenges of autocross. Since turns are not outlined, it’s a little hard to figure out where the apexes of individual turns are. I think I walked the course a total of four or five times!
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| Working the course helps you learn the course and lets you take sweet action pictures. These Shelby Cobra replicas (there were four of them total) set some of the fastest times of the day. |
Competitors are divided into heats. Everyone in a particular heat pulls their vehicle into two lines behind the starting point. While one group is competing, the drivers from the other group “work the course.” Course workers are responsible for determining when cars are off-course, moving cones back when they are knocked over, and making sure everything is safe. Although I wasn’t participating until heat number four, I worked the course for the previous three heats, anyway. First of all, it let me take some pretty good pictures right in the middle of the action, and secondly, watching car after car going around the course helped me learn it (or so I thought).
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| You would expect a car like the Lotus Elise to do well on the autocross course,and this white example didn’t disappoint. It seemed to effortlessly glide through the course. It also set some of the fastest times. |
Another reason I spent so much time working the course was that I was trying to see the line that other competitors were taking. Unfortunately, what makes for a good spot to take pictures does not necessarily make for a good spot to view racing lines. I should have sat with the rest of the spectators up on the hillside next to the parking lot.
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| I was surprised by the variety of cars at the event. This Merkur XR4Ti did quite well on the course, and the hopped-up turbo motor sounded amazing! |
