[DeTomaso] Autocross size

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

Charlie, with a stock-geared early Pantera, we usually ran the whole event 
in 2nd gear except for the start. Length of the course wasn't much of a 
concern. We set up courses to yield at least a 50-second lap from open-wheel 
F-Atlantic real-racers (who also ran events in 2nd). Panteras, Corvettes and 
modified sportscar times were around 10 seconds per lap slower. Inevitably, 
regardless of how much time we spent trying to give everyone a chance, courses 
would be labelled 'Vette courses' (fast & long)   or 'Mini courses' (short 
and twisty). But with 12 events per year in our series, all cars eventually 
got one or more 'optimized' for them. 

Because affordable places to run were few, we made-do with what space was 
available, including one  lot with a giant bump where two paving jobs came 
together imperfectly, places with failing pavement or concrete light 
stanchions scattered around. Courses were laid out to stay as far away from such 
things as possible. Once, we numbered, crow-barred up and piled at the edge a 
series of those big concrete 'dragon-teeth' that are about 50 lbs ea and were 
nailed down with 2' long rebar pins. After the event we put them back in 
their exact spots. Worked out OK but a LOT of effort.

Be sure to leave enough space somewhere for your staging/pre-grid. If you 
set pregrid up outside the lot to maximize course length and enter thru a 
typically narrow gate, you may not be able to safely overlap cars on course, 
which can be a real time-saver. Finally, 4 different Grid groups with no more 
than 35 cars in each group was the optimum size; more cars than that ran the 
last group too far into the evening and it cost us extra if we had to get 
the lot owner to turn on overhead arc lights. 

Note that while SCCA is the biggest org in the U.S to currently run 
autocrosses (their counter-intuitive term is 'Solo 2' with a single driver and a 
single lap that counts), the Northern CA area ran such events 15 years before 
SCCA noticed that they could make a buck out of such things. So there are 
many rules packages and event-org methods, most of which work equally well. If 
you're serious, I still have event outlines of how to set up an event and a 
rule book that served us well for 40 years. Good luck- J Deryke
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