G.T.

Don't focus too much on the times...yours or the others'.

Look ahead, drive clean. The lap times will take care of itself.

sugarwood

Just don't take it too seriously.
The people there will.
You are not going to become a pro race driver.
Just have some fun getting to know your car.

JayG

Have Fun!!!

Mark Hubley

The #1 goal on your first run of the day is to stay on the course. Once you have proved to yourself that you know where the course is, then worry about knocking off some time.

I second the comment made previously about shifting: Find a good, early point to shift from first to second, then leave it. Maybe one day you will find yourself on an autocross course that has a long enough stretch to hit third, but in my experience that is rare. I have often been on courses with tight enough turns that it is tempting to shift back down to first. Most of the time that is going to be counterproductive. Shift to second early, and focus your attention on steering, braking, and accelerating.

porschedog

Aim for something cheap
Listen to Instructor (he is risking injury or worse to ride along with you, so pay attention)
Ignore Know-It-Alls
Don't think about cost of tires, clutch or brakes
Have fun; you'll get faster as you relax and learn

joe-1972

Relax... enjoy... and have fun!

My group of guys and girls are absolutely bat **** crazy... we joke with each other... pick apart our cars and generally pretend that we are back in high school.

But when we are on the starting line we are out to kill each other!
No holds barred... looking for blood... want to destroy our competitors!

And then we just start to BS with each other when we are done!

(This is not me... but a very good driver in our group)

5CHN3LL

Look ahead. Don't concentrate at the cones directly in front of the car or you'll go cone-blind and lose the course.