How to go from Autocross Beginner to TTOD Competitor

by Dean & Laura Thomas

This column explores the development plateaus that, as an autocross driver, you are likely to encounter as you go from rank beginner to TTOD competitor. While each individual driver has his or her own strengths or weaknesses, there are some common points along the learning curve where many drivers tend to stall.

The first plateau, one where as a beginner you might park yourself, occurs once you get a couple events under your belt. You're driving the car as fast as you can, but you're still way off the pace (8- 10 seconds or more) of experienced drivers in similar cars. Drivers in this category, looking to try and get a little competitive, can probably find a lot of time in the pedals — that is the throttle and the brake.

This may seem like trite advice, but stick with me. If you have a lot of time to gain, you probably need to be much more aggressive with the throttle and hold it long enough so that you have to be aggressive with the brakes to slow enough to the proper corner entry speed. And I'm talking about FULL throttle. Between every turn — even if only for a second — you have to use absolutely full throttle. Learn to get the on throttle earlier out of turns — well before you're pointed straight again. Once you are getting a good drive out of the turns and are at full throttle between turns, you have to develop the discipline not to make the most common rookie mistake — coasting into turns. Resist the urge to see the turn ahead, lift off the throttle and just lose speed by coasting. When you do this, you're also less likely to use your brakes aggressively, compounding the problem, resulting in an entry speed too high for the turn. The likely result is a spin. Instead, hold the throttle just a tick longer and get on those brakes hard to get your speed down for the next turn. Now, repeat that drill 10-15 times and you'll be faster on the autocross course.

If you're relatively fast in your class but feel like there is no way you're ever going to find those last 2-3 seconds that the class leader found, you probably need to look not at your feet, but inside your head and at your hands. What I mean is, you need to find the right line and then drive it accurately to complement the aggressive footwork you developed last season. For you to progress to the next level, your work starts early in the morning — with the course walk. The course walks (you should do at LEAST two) are your opportunity to find the fast line through the course. How to do that can fill a book (see Hank's Secrets of Solo Racing: Expert Techniques for Autocrossing and Time Trials or for a more abbreviated version, next month's column. When it comes time to learn to drive the line, you have to park your aggression in the pits and use your first few runs to really learn the line at partial throttle. And when I say line, I'm not talking just about where the course goes, but exactly (to within 6-8 inches) where the car should be within the boundaries of the course to make the fastest line through each turn. You really have to explore the edges of the course to be on the "right" line through many turns. Driving down the middle will get you a mid pack finish, but it won't bring home the gold.

That type of analysis, and then that type of execution, is what is required to move from the middle of the pack to the head of the class. I'll say it again, driving through the middle of the course will not get you TTOD. You need to spend time analyzing the course in the morning, and then again with each run. Also, reign in your enthusiasm to just "go faster" and "push harder" and drive the line you worked so hard to figure out so precisely. If you want to improve your results, you need to take the time and effort to find out what habits are holding you back and then work with some experienced autocrossers to figure out how to get past those hurdles. Make a New Year's resolution today to improve your driving this coming season. If we all do that, it should be an interesting year!

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GGR members Dean & Laura Thomas are avid autocross and time trial participants at our events. They were named "Enthusiast of the Year" in 2003, and ran the Zone autocross series in 2004. They have numerous top time of day records in their class for our yearly time trial competition.