Mentors for new autocrossers

by **TEAMN0KTURNAL** Tue Jun 16, 2009 7:16 pm

Lately there's been a lot of discussion about
how to make autocrosses more friendly to new racers. Most of us that
have been autocrossing for a while are eager to help out new people and
help show them the way that things work. It occured to me that we
really have no way of pairing up new people with a mentor to show them
the ropes except for at an actual event. Since most of us are usually
busy with our own race day and don't seek out new folks to show them
the ropes, hopefully this the209forums.com can help to facilitate this.

Veterans:
If you are willing to take a new autocrosser under your wing and show
them around, please reply to this thread and give people an idea of how
often and where you autocross, what type of car you race, what class
you run and any other details that will help people find you. Please
put an email address in your profile that you check regularly. The
forum will send you an email when someone sends you a private message.
Thanks in advance for showing new folks around our sport!

New Racers:
If you would like to meet up with someone at an event and have them
show you how things work, please send a private message (PM) to one of
the people that have replied to this thread offering to help. A couple
things to consider when you choose someone... If you drive a front
wheel drive car, it might be valuable for you to pair up with someone
that drives a front wheel drive car. They likely can share some
techniques with you that will help you to learn your car more quickly.
Typically, autocrosses are split into two sessions with 4 or more run
groups. There is typically a "morning session" that finishes around
12:00 or 1:00PM. The "afternoon session" begins somewhere around 1:00
or 2:00PM. The run groups are scheduled so that you run and work in the
same session, so if you run in the moning, you will also work in the
morning. This means that people running in the morning may not be
around in the afternoon and likewise for people running in the
afternoon. If you would like the person to ride with you or if you
would like to ride with them, this will probably not be possible if you
are both running in the same run group or the same class. For example,
say you have a Honda Civic with springs, swaybars and regular street
tires. Most likely, you will want to run in STS. If you have an STS
competitor show you around, you will both be racing at the same time,
so it will be difficult for that person to ride with you or for you to
ride with them.
Please don't be afraid to PM any of the people that replied to this thread. All of us replied because we are offering to help!