Photo credit Grant C.
Welcome to my point of view on how one can get started on amateur Motorsports!
In Part 1 I will discuss the basic things you will need, and what you need to know before you head out racing.
I will also explain (especially for people local to Alberta, Canada) how to find information regarding local events and what costs are associated with Autocross (a.k.a. Solo II).
What is Autocorss/Solo II
Autocross, or more accurately Solo II is a form of solo auto sport where there is only one car (or cars spaced out enough to never come in contact) at the track at a time.
You can find more information in Google, but one thing I would love to throw in this section (especially since it's intended to be somewhat educational) is this:
Anyone who says Autocorss is not "real racing", or that you have to be "good at parking", is full of it! It's an extremely technical, precision based, motorsport - and I challenge anyone who thinks otherwise to a race!
Moving on...
How to get stared (what you will need)
There are very few things you will need for your first event.
- a car that's not a pickup truck or an SUV
- a valid drivers license
- a helmet (usually at AutoX motorcycle rated helmets are sufficient)
- the will to try, and awareness that you will probably majorly suck at it the first few times
- some common knowledge
The car.
Solo II is probably the least demanding autosport, on your wallet and on your vehicle.
You need a car that is in good mechanical shape (a legitimate AutoX event will require a filling in a self-inspection form that will take you through the things you need to check).
Essentially you need a car that is road worthy (unless of course you have a purpose build race car, but then you wouldn't be reading this article), things like secure battery, no cords showing on tires, and suspension components not falling off.
Don't worry about anything technical for starts (you will get there when you get there) just bring your car and drive. It will be a while before you need to worry about performance; at first get familiar with the sport.
A few things I would suggest staying away from, however:
Fully Automatic transmission (at least try to bring something that will let you change gears at will, but manual transmission is best).
Probably don't go on winter tires to a summer event. It will work, if you must, but summer or at least all-season tires would be better.
FYI this is the car I started in (2009 Lancer GTS, manual transmission):
Photo credit Grant C.
The helmet.
This is up to the event organizers and the insurance requirements, but this is what commonly happens:
In most cases a 5-10 year old helmet is ok to use (generally 10 year old helmets are ok; helmets have a production date that changes about every 5 years - i.e. 2005,2010,2015 etc.).
For Autocross you will very likely not be required to have anything higher than M rated (i.e. Motorcycle) which you can buy/borrow some inexpensive helmets.
In some extreme case there may be an SA (i.e. Sports Application) helmet requirement, but I highly doubt it (even those can be found on the cheap, maybe 160-200$ CAD).
Open or closed face helmets are usually both fine (some clubs will require closed face helmets for open top vehicles, or vehicles with no windscreen).
I have personally used an M rated RCI helmet for most of my years, only recently (2016) I bought a G-Force SA rated helmet due to the requirements of different events I'm doing.
The skill development.
A very common thing I have seen over the years is people show up to an Autocross event thinking they will destroy everyone cause they "raced" on the streets of their hometown when they first got their license (I was one of those, so I'm completely making a point how foolish I was as well); somehow that equating to being a great driver. I guess in a much less aggressive example: people show up with the expectation to do amazing things at their first event, they don't do very well and they never come back again.
You WILL SUCK at it, probably for a while; unless you have above average retention to information gathering and a natural sense of learning new things incredibly fast (I have also seen those, but I'm definitely not one of those people).
Autocross is a very technical sport which requires (like anything else) tons of practice. Considering the short amount of seat time you get per event (i.e. your only racing for about 5-10 minutes during one event) it can take years to develop your skills.
Be aware of that and you will be just fine.
First come and make it through the course without getting lost, if you do you're past stage 1!
Then make it thorough the course without hitting cones, boom you're onto the next stage!
And on and on it goes, each time you can learn something new and believe me the deeper you go the more you will realize how interesting and extremely difficult this sport gets!
Most of all - have fun, set personal goals, be realistic, and just F*ing drive!
Just for fun, here is an old video from when I used to drive the Lancer. This is the first video I uploaded from an AutoX event (but it was definitely not my first ever event) - notice how aggressive and choppy my driving is.
This is definitely not a good way to do it - but you probably will ;)
You can compare the difference to the last (to date of this article) video I uploaded years later from the Evo (this is 7 years later):
Some basic pre-event knowledge.
- Did I already mention how much you will suck the very first time? I did... but if you missed it: you will probably suck the very first time, and likely multiple times thereafter.
- Most (if not all) autocross events will require you to marshal on your "free" time (i.e. when you're not driving). This is what keeps the costs of these events down. When you're new partner up with someone who has done it before and learn how marshaling works.
- During the drivers meeting the question will come up "who is here for their very first time", raise your hand. This will indicate to the experienced participants, and the organizers, that you might need some help.
- Generally (depending on time schedule) there will be a rookie drivers meeting right after the general meeting where you will be instructed on some more details about the event - or you can ask questions.
- Don't be afraid to ask questions (even if it's not at the drivers meeting, or the rookie meeting). Autocross people are normally very friendly and will not have a problem with helping you out!
- Do your course walks, as many times as you can!
- If available, grab an experienced driver for your first few runs and ask them to hop in as a passenger to help you navigate through the course (again, just ask - usually the person who spoke at the drivers meeting will also know who's who and who might go for a run with you).
- Pay attention at the drivers meeting, you will hear things that you need to know! That's what the meeting is for after all. Note anything that you don't understand and ask after the meeting.
Now a couple "negative" things, or your "don'ts"
- Don't bother people when they are already doing their course walk, they're trying to focus and figure out their driving line. If you need help talk to someone BEFORE the course walk and ask if you can join them and if they can explain things to you.
- Don't bother the timing people during the event, unless something is going horribly wrong and you noticed. They are very busy releasing cars, making sure the timing gear is functioning, entering cone counts and doing a bunch of other stuff on the computer/timing system, making sure they don't release cars if there is an incident, and so on. Leave them alone.
This is just to get you started. There are plenty of amazing articles out there (much coming from folks in the US) that you can read.
I suggest googling "autocross etiquette", or "my first autocross".
Do your reading before you go - you will make it easier for yourself and for everyone else around you when you're a bit more educated about the community and how to act!
Past that... some very simple yet powerful wisdom that has been embedded in me over the years (I know I repeated this multiple times through this article): shut the F*** up and drive (thanks Fernando).
Where to go racing or how to find information
Google is a very powerful thing. But without having to do that your best sources (right now) for finding some AutoX events are the following websites:
WCMA for Western Canada; contains a list of affiliated clubs which you can then follow the websites to the more specific clubs
SCCA for North America (and more specifically USA events); the holy grail of Autocross for this side of the world that contains all documentation on rules and regulations
Specifically for Edmonton, AB I suggest hitting up the Mr.HeavyFoot forum where you can find out information about not just the local Autocross but lots of other Autocross related (or even other motorsport) events.
Generic cost breakdown
Again please consider this is based on my experience and research at or around the time I'm posting this article; things change.
These are the bare minimum costs you need to consider.
Helmet: $160-$300 (if you need to buy one, some clubs have loaner helmets, or you can borrow one from a friend)
Event entry fee: $25-$75
Gas: $20 (depends on the car, and how far you have to drive to the event of course, you usually probably won't even go through 1/4 tank at the event though)
In conclusion, you can seriously do this for under $50 bucks all in!
So what are you waiting for? Go out there and drive.
Photo credit Ian - 2015 Canadian Autocross Championship in Fort MacLeod, AB
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