Well, it was an interesting day filled with a lot of cool looking cars and a few new faces. A Corvette and WRX STI were out to drive on a hot day that turned a bit cloudy during noon.

Hats off to Stephen who made his debut as a novice (much like me) in his black 2001 S2000. Late to show up just as heat #2 started (which Stephen drove) was Mr. Miyagi also known as Colin Sato. With the S-Master riding shotgun, the new novice ran a best time of just a hair over 60 seconds which is amazing for a first timer. I would've liked having close instruction during my first time out but I opted not to during April's event. The 2 most noticeable things about Stephen's driving was that he had the motor rev'd up high in many parts of the course and his awesome single-outlet exhaust sounded like a beast as he went WOT near the end of the course. His times of course improved significantly from one run to the next. Great driving Stephen!

The course was layed out in a very fast configuration with some sections allowing you to build speeds not normal for events held at HRP SCCA events. This gave the torquey/boosted/AWD cars an edge with delivering quick bursts to speed with maximum traction at the exit of each slalom and gate. The best time of the day was by none other than Curtis Lee the club President of Hawaii SCCA in his BSP 240ZX with a time a bit over 48 seconds (that run was incredible to watch to say the least!)

I drove (for my second time out) in the other S2000 for the day in my stock 2001 running in B-Stock and I had a lot of mixed results which still has me scratching my head. During one run, my back end started to get loose but it was loose though 2 cones which built up a swinging-like momentum and my butt swung around beyond what I could deal with so I clutched in and came to a stop (yes I slid out) with a full opposite lock without hitting a cone and facing the center of the next gate, no DNF but it costed me 2-3 seconds to my total time. My best time was a nose-hair more than 59 seconds plus 1 cone which IMO isn't too good since I've made the same mistakes over and over (even though I kept reminding myself to watch for them after each run).

After thinking and rethinking about how I ran this day, it comes down to a few simple things that reflects on the basics.

1. Minimize the mistakes. (I've made some poor decisions at the entry of a few slaloms)
2. Slow in, fast out.
3. Learn the speeds in which to take the sections.

I know there's a lot more than this but I'm keeping it simple for now and if I can nail #1-#3 well, I'm certain that it can cut several seconds off my total time. The rest I'm going to have to rely on experience and more information as I learn how to drive this car well at the autocross.

 

Damn, all you Oahu guys have all the fun!
Congratulations Stephen, you managed to make it. Sounds like you did very well. I'll make it up there one day for one of the upcoming events hopefully. It would be better if I could ship my car just to attend.

Good luck in the next one Stephen and to everyone else that will be there as well. For now, I'll just imagine the Autocross until we can actually do one here. Aloha and Happy Driving!

-Stephen Y.

 

Oh by the way, did anyone else attend with their s2000? Colin? Fran?

 

I hear you on the pointers you have there, Jimmy. Even with Colin pointing out the places I could cut a little time, I only caught some of them. I was making the same mistakes at the same places (entering the first cone of a slalom, when you can go straight around it and start later), and even let off the gas and started braking before the end of the timing box on one run
Rookie mistakes, for sure. I'll do better next time.

Colin and Fran didn't run, but Colin did look like he was longing to run again (time to come out of retirement!!)

 

I'm going to go back and jump on Colin's site and re-read some of his experiences and see if I can learn something from it. Man, the dude is hardcore with a very professional looking tire pressure gauge and pyrometer.

It'd be nice to see Colin or Fran come out and drive and any others that would like to join in the fun. Hey Spanky, it'd be cool to have you here with or without your car. Normally I'd stick around for the fun laps toward the end of the day where I try and ride shotgun with other more experienced drivers and I'd let others ride with me just so they can see how much of a novice I am.

I know that there's an IS300 and a G35 that come out on rare occasions and I'd like to see those run too. (wink, wink)

For those who'd like to run SCCA but are too shy to come out or need more information, please feel free to PM me and I'll try and fill you in with the details the best I can. The most common remark I hear from first timers are "I'm afraid I won't do well." If that's the case, don't worry. Here's some facts about autocrossing...

1. No amount of street driving in Hawaii can prepare you for hard driving at the autocross. You just don't encounter that kind of situations at those speeds.

2. Driving the autocross IMHO is like learning how to shoot a basketball from the freethrow line. If you've never done it, it's going to take a while. The more you do it, the more comfortable you'll get at it and will eventually develop your own style.

3. For a novice, the car isn't the limiting factor, it's the driver. It's no surprise to see an experienced driver push a stock car far beyond what a novice would do in their modded car.

4. Don't feel bad to have one of the slowest times of the day. You aren't driving against other people yet, so drive against yourself.

5. If you drive an S2000, make friends with the Miata guys. Although the cars are different, the concept of both cars are similar.

6. Have fun and smile. Nobody likes looking at a driver who looks all pissed off at themselves or doesn't appear to enjoy being out at HRP.

 

Ah man, i wish i could have been to see you rippin' that shit up Steve! Catch it on video for me next time bro. Peace.