[Pferdestärke]

Quick Screen Grabs from some videos; when I did have a camera for a bit..
Merry Christmas to all ...


While the Cars were still coming in.. (too many entries even after 1PM)


Recce Lap with the "Stewards"


Cars Lining up, slowly.. In the Parc Ferme



A Walk on the track is like a walk in a park? BTW, that's the last I remember of the event also!



Will post more pics from the official photographers; SOON! Along with the results!

[scooby05]

Good Event. I only hoped the participants got to drive a second lap. Next time for sure this will happen. As Rehaan suggested its better to do 2 or 3 laps of the same smaller course than do 1 lap of a Big course.
Hope next time the Participants come in on Time and with Complete paperwork. I guess it was the Christmas Eve blues that caused many of them to come late.
I am Sure the Organisers will also keep this in Mind for the next event.

[Pferdestärke]

You're right Scooby05 Uncle.. Infact, all of us at the AutoMission Team requested the Stewards / Marshals to let the participants go on for another run.. But they were also correct in not allowing that, as the light faded off too quickly (considering it was one of the shortest days in the year).. We do not have flood lights to have an official "night time" competition permit.. But I had a go in the Swift and in the Baleno later on (when it was pitch dark); with the Chief Steward Rupesh and He admitted the experience was EPIC (with the reflectors on the Cones through-out).. Still, NOT officially allowed by the FMSCI.. :(
Technically we do need to have practice runs a day prior to the event (when we should do the paperwork and also have a final list of entrants ready) and then start the event fairly early, to let 60 entries go out for more than 1 lap (specially if the event is in december)..

Although, we are soon planning a Track day on the half-course SOON, where people are more than welcome to drive as many laps through the day, no competition / no paper work, just plain practice and a learning experience.. Keeps people more relaxed and is surely more fun..

[Pferdestärke]

Final Results -









(sorry for image-shacking, earlier post)..

[scooby05]

Originally Posted by Pferdestärke

You're right Scooby05 Uncle.. Infact, all of us at the AutoMission Team requested the Stewards / Marshals to let the participants go on for another run.. But they were also correct in not allowing that, as the light faded off too quickly (considering it was one of the shortest days in the year).. We do not have flood lights to have an official "night time" competition permit.. But I had a go in the Swift and in the Baleno later on (when it was pitch dark); with the Chief Steward Rupesh and He admitted the experience was EPIC (with the reflectors on the Cones through-out).. Still, NOT officially allowed by the FMSCI.. :(
Technically we do need to have practice runs a day prior to the event (when we should do the paperwork and also have a final list of entrants ready) and then start the event fairly early, to let 60 entries go out for more than 1 lap (specially if the event is in december)..

Although, we are soon planning a Track day on the half-course SOON, where people are more than welcome to drive as many laps through the day, no competition / no paper work, just plain practice and a learning experience.. Keeps people more relaxed and is surely more fun..

Wish You the Very Best!! Make the Track Day happen fast, its perfect weather!
Practice run the previous day gives unfair advantage to people who have availed of it visavis the guys who cant make it the previous day due to the distance from Mumbai or Pune. So its better, if at all to have a practice lap in the morning from 8 to 11, and then the event from noon to 5pm.
The gap between starts also needs to be reconsidered by the stewards, as the dust does settle down to a big extent with a 1 minute gap giving you 40 rounds to an hour considering the gap between classes etc!
All in all we need an event at 15 day intervals Please till march end!

[Crazy4Power]

I really enjoyed the last afternoon @ automission track; It was reasonably organized event considering huge number of entries till 1 pm. The track was nicely laid; it was a pretty fast track with mix of challenging tight turns, long left & right hander's.

The trophies are really top class; it's an amazing crystal cup.

The best was 4x4 Open class as the cars were, Thar, Pajero, Safari, Scorpio & gypsy. And guess what Gypsy again proved its metal by winning both Winner as well as Runner-up trophies.

Cheers!
Alok

[Rehaan]

Here's a view from the hill :


Liked :

• Met Scooby05, Pferdestärke, SuperBee, Aniket - and other auto enthusiasts and participants.
• Track was clearly marked out with cones and painted tyres, very little room for confusion.
• Participants were taken for a walk of the track before the round began.
• Plenty of helpful marshals. Very well organised from the time i arrived onwards.
• Once up and running things went really smoothly. No time wasted between laps, no trafffic jams at the entry/exit etc.
• A perfect number of participants and vehicles. Not too many, not too few.
• Super view of the entire course from up on the "hill"
• The two security guards at the "Parc Ferme" gate did a good job of mediating traffic

Disliked :

• 6 hours of traveling for just 60 seconds of driving
• ^ Thats pretty much the main dislike. It was very anti-climatic... :(
• Pricey for just that 1 minute of fun (though i really would not have complained about this if we got 2 or 3 laps).
• Prize ceremony is a bit unnecessary in my opinion (but maybe others differ?). I would rather have the timing sheets put up, and use the saved time on track instead!

Fiesta :



My (short) Experience :
I'm glad we got to walk the track - it gave me a good idea of what to expect and keep an eye out for -- notably 3 or 4 sharp left handers. What the walk did NOT prepare me for was just how loose the track surface was. I noticed a lot of cars spinning up their front tyres at the start, and at various slow corners too. What i didn't realise was that this was despite them running rally tyres made especially for dirt. The cars with street tyres were noticeably worse off. Watching the 2WD cars and the 4x4 gypsies/pajeros etc was a night and day difference in terms of behavior and handling around the track too. However, the gypsies kept the drivers very busy due to the lack of power steering!

It takes about a lap to get used to what the track is like and how the car behaves. I had a much better idea of the way the Fiesta behaved (especially when getting back on the power) and I was fairly sure that participants would get to run a second lap, since things were moving along quickly.... but alas, bummer in that department. :(

Kaushik Shinde put out the fastest lap of the day in his Baleno. His car was stock, except the tyres :



Suggestions :

• MOST IMPORTANTLY - give the participants more seat time / more laps.
• Create a larger covered viewing area up on the hill. It can be very basic, all we need is shade. This would keep viewers and drivers involved with the action. At the moment you cant really see anything from the existing shamiana, and staying up on the hill gets scorching hot after a few minutes.
• Alternatively, provide a Live video feed on a screen in the existing shamiana (from your camera up on the hill) - though this isn't quite as involving.
• If we can squeeze in multiple laps, then live timing announcement will be helpful for the drivers to know how they're doing.

Thanks again to Pferdestärke, Pradeep, Hansel and everyone else for running around all day (and week) to make this happen. Pferdestärke, too bad we did not get to chat more - i tried looking for you before leaving but couldn't find you. I'm sure you had a lot of stuff going on - perhaps next time. (Will you be putting up some action shots of the TBHPian cars that participated?)

I have 2 videos, one of my in-car footage, and the other of the 1.4-1.6 winner Hrishikesh's lap in their INRC prepped Baleno - but my youtube account has an issue! Will see how else i can get it up here.

cya
R

PS - Crazy4Power : had no idea you were a Team-BHPian! Someone i was chatting with at the watercooler did mention that i should keep an eye on Alok's lap (in the Mumbai Indians Gypsy), which i did manage to do. I was in the Fiesta, gave you a thumbs up while we were all leaving.

[Pferdestärke]

So well written Rehaan!
This is being Printed out and kept as a Benchmark (along with a few steward suggestions) prior to our next event..

Noted everything.. Trying to learn the hard way, is fairly hard. We wanted to do an event on our own, just so we learn from it for the next time.. And your report sums up the day almost perfectly!

And on another note.. I didnt realise I spoke to Alok, until after I saw him near his "Winning Car".. I've always identified him due to his Gypsy!
Although I am really sorry, missed the entire 4x4 action (1.1 to 1.3 category and the open class, in 4x4).. :(

Biggest error though, on our part was our "timing system" provided by AutoCar India. As awesome and accurate as it was, it's limitations *which we only found out after it was set up and ready, just before the event* were what made us change the course right before the start. 1st limitation being, it could only record upto 90 seconds and the second one being, no loop timing (as in not possible to take or record lap after lap time), is it was a "rally stage sensor" with a drag racing system.. :S

That said, no excuses.. Lesson learnt. Race Logic, it is, for the next event (which not only gives accurate timing, but a full GPS telemetry of your lap, with splits (intermediate) timing, along with your racing line with braking and acceleration points..

[SuperBee]

Organizing an Autocross event on a loose track, that too with the amount of participation received is not an easy task, considering all the factors which include timing and safety among other things. And I must say the guys over at Automission did a very good job of organizing it. The walk through the track, explanation of the Christmas lights and the timing system, the handling of entrants and their cars from registration to scrutiny to the start line was all done professionally. I especially liked the track, which was not crowded with corners and had some fast straights. Also loved the classic cars that were strewn around the place, along with the Automission Lancer(the Evo convert - totally loved it). Also, the view from the hill was great, with almost the whole track visible, but we need shade up there. Saw Alok's lap in the blue gypsy as well after Rehaan asked me to watch out for it, which was a real pleasure to watch.

The only big disappointment for me was the cancellation of the second round, which we got to know after we all had lined up at the start. I remember lining up, then being guided back to where I had parked my car, not understanding what was going on. I guess it was not feasible to keep the second round considering the participation and the daylight time left but still, that made me sad.

Also got to meet bhpians Aniket and Rehaan. Saw Aniket's stickered car in front of me at the start and went ahead to wish him luck. Meeting Rehaan was an accident, as we were sitting in the shamiana when somebody called out his name and I realised the guy having lunch next to me is Rehaan.

A big Thank You to the organizers over at automission - Pradeep, Viral, Hansel and the others for organizing and handling the event. Also I believe Thanks are in order for Venky's for sponsoring the event, and yes, the Chicken was delicious.

Also, as this was my first time, I had no camera or recording equipment and would greatly appreciate any photos starring the Silver Swift(Car No. 127).

[Rehaan]

Managed to upload the video of my lap.

Still getting the hang of the course and how the car behaved - watch for the very sudden understeer at places (perhaps due to the deeper mud / ruts in the course?).

Automission Christmas Autocross 2011 - First Lap - YouTube

cya
R

[jalsa777]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Managed to upload the video of my lap.

Still getting the hang of the course and how the car behaved - watch for the very sudden understeer at places (perhaps due to the deeper mud / ruts in the course?).

Thanks for the video.
It seems like it was super fun. Sad i missed it

The understeer you are experiencing mid-corner is power understeer. As soon as you comeback on the throttle, the front wheels loose grip and start spinning and you also loose lateral traction as a result.

I also noticed that you were driving with one hand only. I think you should work on that because it makes you mush less sensitive to steering feedback.

[Crazy4Power]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

PS - Crazy4Power : had no idea you were a Team-BHPian! Someone i was chatting with at the watercooler did mention that i should keep an eye on Alok's lap (in the Mumbai Indians Gypsy), which i did manage to do. I was in the Fiesta, gave you a thumbs up while we were all leaving.

Nicely written review of Venky's Autocross, a complete team-bhp review with all likes & dislikes.
I think your points will be a great help not only to Automission but to all motorsport event organizers. I am really sorry for not able to recognize you but I was pretty sure that I know you when you waved me, but I was not getting your name.
This time before going for any rally, I am going to ask you to send me Team-bhp stickers; the one’s which I had are all pasted over on my other gypsy.

Originally Posted by Pferdestärke

And on another note.. I didnt realise I spoke to Alok, until after I saw him near his "Winning Car".. I've always identified him due to his Gypsy!
Although I am really sorry, missed the entire 4x4 action (1.1 to 1.3 category and the open class, in 4x4).. :(

I know you will remember me because of my gypsy & I will remember you for your track & the kind of effort you are putting to promote motorsports.
There is a reason why we recognize each other from gypsy & the track, coz I toppled my Gypsy on his track on the opening ceremony of Automission.
A lesson learnt very hardway !!- I still don’t know how my gypsy was toppled on that day. But I am really thankful to automission that I learned a lesson that never listens to your navigator other then navigation calls. The only thing which I remembered on that day that Allan who was sitting with me told that I am approaching the right hander very fast, probably in reaction to that I had released the accelerator and gypsy went out of power.

Originally Posted by SuperBee

Saw Alok's lap in the blue gypsy as well after Rehaan asked me to watch out for it, which was a real pleasure to watch.

The only big disappointment for me was the cancellation of the second round, which we got to know after we all had lined up at the start..

Thanks for appreciating, I am also very disappointed for not able to do the second lap as I was driving the first lap very cautiously because of the earlier incident was there at the back of my mind

[scooby05]

I think and Suggest, That, Automission should give all you participants a free 2 rounds of the the track this weekend!
Pferdestärke and Pradeep are you listening? If possible, Please send a mail to the participants requesting them to come over this weekend, and the Track would be kept open from 10am to 3 pm, for them to take 1 practice and 1 final round with a stop watch. No Prizes, Only soft drinks and water complimentary, all else chargeable to cover costs. Maybe in case someone wants to get additional drivers to do the rounds charge them.
I am sure atleast 25 of the participants would love this as "Paisa Vassool" and will go a long way, as I agree with Rehaan that the 5 hours to and fro for just a round seems very disheartening!

[SPIKE ARRESTOR]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Managed to upload the video of my lap.

Rehaan, any specific reason why you always had one hand on the gear lever? I see that the straight patches are very less. Both hands on the steering wheel with short speed bursts, followed by shifting when required could have helped you marginally with timings. This is what I feel, do correct me if I am wrong.

Spike

[Pferdestärke]

@scooby05 uncle;
I am listening.. And I promise to offer the same, to all competitors.. Totally love the suggestion.. Only small problem, is, it being new year's eve.. Well I think it would be the best way to celebrate 31st (day).. Let's do it..

@Rehaan;
I think Jalsa777's post pretty much somes up your query on "understeer". Couldnt have explained it better myself.. Yes and for sure, two hands on the wheel would've cut down those precious "tenths".. We need to figure out a way to split the modified and stock cars from the same category.. I dont know why the current format in the FMSCI categories isnt encouraging this. Although I was told yesterday that the we CAN change and split the 2.. That would be more fair and also much much more fun..

@Crazy4Power:
For the longest of times the farther end of the Oval was called Allan-Alok Corner ... It was a very Very tight corner with negative camber/banking... We flattened it out after that day though, so it's much safer now.. :-) .. You totally conquered the track this weekend.. Bravo sir, Bravo!!!

@SuperBee;
I might have a video of your entire run.. Will try and make a quick edit of it and post it here.. Will have to check though.. As I am only out of the paper work, today! :P
IF you see hard enough from Rehaans AWESOME video (well done bro), you see me walk by right at the last second before the video ends and I didnt even realise it was Rehaan's hot lap that got over..

Adding a few pictures from the event !!





















Will add more soon!!