Evolution Autocross School Report
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 181
Likes: 2
From: Oklahoma City
Evolution Autocross School Report
I just got back tonight from the Evolution Autocross school held in Mineral Wells, Texas and thought I'd give a brief report since many of you had been kind enough to give me input on it before I decided to go.
Each school is one day in length and I took Phase I and Phase II over a Friday/Saturday. They ran each school twice on the weekend with Autocross Extreme running on Saturday and Sunday as well. I can't say enough about how well organized each day was, the instructional level or the learning experience.
One of the criticisms I read hear in my earlier thread was direct and implied criticism of instructors handling of students cars. I found that to not be valid in the two days I attended. All four of my instructors were highly skilled drivers, one a Pro Solo driver and 3 national amateur champions. They all told us repeatedly to let them know if we had a problem with how they drove our cars (or anything else). No one ever hit my rev limiter due to the size and design of the courses.
Phase I started with 3 laps to develop a base time for each student with no instruction or coaching. Then we did a set of 8 to 9 runs alternating between student and instructor runs on a simple course with slalom, circle, Chicago box, circle, etc. Learning to drive the back side of cones, controlling braking, steering and line. After a working (instructional) lunch we came back to the same course and worked on "looking ahead". By the end of the day I dropped 6 seconds from my run times. I also felt like the school helped me a great deal in understanding the cone picture of a course.
My instructors included Bruce Bellom from New York (II), Jinx Jordan from North Carolina (II), Neal Bellamy from Texas (I) and Kevin Dietz from Washington State (I).
Phase II consisted of running 5 different courses throughout the day working on driving technique but introducing course memorization, visualization and audible "talking yourself through the course" techniques. Initially I struggled in the morning because the course was much more complicated than the day before and you are trying to put together a lot of elements at once. The visualization and talking helped with that a lot. This day was very challenging because the course kept changing dramatically between every set of runs. But the last set of the day was made with no walk through, no map but only a description of the course by the instructor while we "visualized" the course with our eyes closed. I was the first driver up so I couldn't get a sneak peek by watching someone else run first. I nailed all three runs! The techniques we learned and practiced all day work!
We did about 25 runs in Phase I and about the same number in Phase II so I was pretty happy about all the practice time. The coaching from the instructors was excellent. They were very encouraging, gave criticsm in a constructive, helpful and friendly manner and made each of us feel very comfortable. It was a lot of fun to see how much they could get out of my car, never having driven it before while relaxing and talking me through the course!
Our schools were sponsored by Equipe Rapide Sports Car Club in the DFW area and they did an outstanding job of setting up the local aspects of the school.
It was interesting to me to run my car with Honda 2000's, a Corvette, a TransAm and a bunch of Mazda Miata's. At the end of the day the Corvette and I probably had close to the lowest times (Phase I - Phase II you don't run timers) but most of the Mazda's were very close to us. What that showed me was just how important driving technique is on a short course lite AutoX.
The only criticism I could make of the school isn't really anything to do with the school but the venue. Mineral Wells has a huge area to set up on, in fact they had more than enough room to run 3 or 4 autocross courses simultaneously. But the surface was pretty rough eating up tires and there was an enormous amount of gravel. I'm not looking forward to looking closely at my wheel wells!
In summary, I came away from the school with 1) much better ability to read and prep for running a course 2) improved understanding of autox car control and how to link everything up when it happens fast 3) I "get" looking ahead - which I'd learned on a track already - and when you do the cone confusion disappears 4) much improved smoothness (steering and gas particularly. I also came away with even more enthusiasm for Autocross! I can't wait for my next event!
Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to go. I am extremely glad I did and I am looking forward to taking Autocross Extreme as soon as possible!
Each school is one day in length and I took Phase I and Phase II over a Friday/Saturday. They ran each school twice on the weekend with Autocross Extreme running on Saturday and Sunday as well. I can't say enough about how well organized each day was, the instructional level or the learning experience.
One of the criticisms I read hear in my earlier thread was direct and implied criticism of instructors handling of students cars. I found that to not be valid in the two days I attended. All four of my instructors were highly skilled drivers, one a Pro Solo driver and 3 national amateur champions. They all told us repeatedly to let them know if we had a problem with how they drove our cars (or anything else). No one ever hit my rev limiter due to the size and design of the courses.
Phase I started with 3 laps to develop a base time for each student with no instruction or coaching. Then we did a set of 8 to 9 runs alternating between student and instructor runs on a simple course with slalom, circle, Chicago box, circle, etc. Learning to drive the back side of cones, controlling braking, steering and line. After a working (instructional) lunch we came back to the same course and worked on "looking ahead". By the end of the day I dropped 6 seconds from my run times. I also felt like the school helped me a great deal in understanding the cone picture of a course.
My instructors included Bruce Bellom from New York (II), Jinx Jordan from North Carolina (II), Neal Bellamy from Texas (I) and Kevin Dietz from Washington State (I).
Phase II consisted of running 5 different courses throughout the day working on driving technique but introducing course memorization, visualization and audible "talking yourself through the course" techniques. Initially I struggled in the morning because the course was much more complicated than the day before and you are trying to put together a lot of elements at once. The visualization and talking helped with that a lot. This day was very challenging because the course kept changing dramatically between every set of runs. But the last set of the day was made with no walk through, no map but only a description of the course by the instructor while we "visualized" the course with our eyes closed. I was the first driver up so I couldn't get a sneak peek by watching someone else run first. I nailed all three runs! The techniques we learned and practiced all day work!
We did about 25 runs in Phase I and about the same number in Phase II so I was pretty happy about all the practice time. The coaching from the instructors was excellent. They were very encouraging, gave criticsm in a constructive, helpful and friendly manner and made each of us feel very comfortable. It was a lot of fun to see how much they could get out of my car, never having driven it before while relaxing and talking me through the course!
Our schools were sponsored by Equipe Rapide Sports Car Club in the DFW area and they did an outstanding job of setting up the local aspects of the school.
It was interesting to me to run my car with Honda 2000's, a Corvette, a TransAm and a bunch of Mazda Miata's. At the end of the day the Corvette and I probably had close to the lowest times (Phase I - Phase II you don't run timers) but most of the Mazda's were very close to us. What that showed me was just how important driving technique is on a short course lite AutoX.
The only criticism I could make of the school isn't really anything to do with the school but the venue. Mineral Wells has a huge area to set up on, in fact they had more than enough room to run 3 or 4 autocross courses simultaneously. But the surface was pretty rough eating up tires and there was an enormous amount of gravel. I'm not looking forward to looking closely at my wheel wells!
In summary, I came away from the school with 1) much better ability to read and prep for running a course 2) improved understanding of autox car control and how to link everything up when it happens fast 3) I "get" looking ahead - which I'd learned on a track already - and when you do the cone confusion disappears 4) much improved smoothness (steering and gas particularly. I also came away with even more enthusiasm for Autocross! I can't wait for my next event!
Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to go. I am extremely glad I did and I am looking forward to taking Autocross Extreme as soon as possible!
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 181
Likes: 2
From: Oklahoma City
Having said that if I was going back to Mineral Wells I use streets as the surface was very rough and there was tons of gravel. The guys with R compounds picked up a lot more of it and slung it up in the wheel wells of their cars. I'd have been even more concerned about my paint.
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 374
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From: IL
I have taken many Evolution schools over the past five years and will second Tony's praise. I think what sets this school apart is that the instructors are all excellent. I have taken the schools in my '00 C4 and now in my '02 996TT and I have never had a problem with the instructors mishandling my car. They will drive it any way you want them to. Left to their own, they will drive it just a little faster than you.
I would suggest using street tires. Many people show up with R-compounds but even the Evo folks say don't waste your money. Because of the large number of back-to-back runs, they'll get really hot. You will learn as much, some say more, on your street tires.
I would suggest using street tires. Many people show up with R-compounds but even the Evo folks say don't waste your money. Because of the large number of back-to-back runs, they'll get really hot. You will learn as much, some say more, on your street tires.
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 135
Likes: 1
From: Dallas
WAC... glad you had such a great time. I know Neal personnally and he is a great guy and instructor. We do most of our local PCA autox and time trials at Mineral Wells, so I know what you mean about the rough surface. i would always recommend to people taking schools to use street or any older, worn tires. You're gonna wear em out over the weekend. Save your race tires for the actual events.
