Ok.. instructors are set for the Detroit school... just wondering if anyone here knows any of these folks:
Pat Salerno, Mike "Jr." Johnson, Marcus Merideth, and Dave Newman
Obviously I know who Mike Johnson is from watching the Setup show. I'm glad he will be there as I was talking to both him and Dietz about being instructors for this session. I only hope I can get a little extra advise from Mike on our GXP's!
This will be my first Evo School, but not my first school... granted what I've been to in the past pales in comparison. Any advise for a newbie to an Evo School? Something I might not think of, or any lessons learned from some of you vets out there?
School is the weekend after Memorial Day... can't wait! Perfect timing for me to head to Peru twice in June and really put some of this to use. I'll be doing Phase I on Saturday and Phase II on Sunday.
I know all the drivers personally except for Marcus. All three are great guys and will teach you a lot. Dave is very laid back while Pat and Mike are very outgoing and loud. I'm a bit more reserved so Dave and I get along really well.
A Phase I school is about getting the basics down and learning where to be looking on course. That's it. Set your car up in the morning and don't change a thing all day. No tire pressures, no alignment, no nothing. Back your driving off enough to do what they are asking you to do. You may go slower, but the time will quickly come back with practice.
I know all the drivers personally except for Marcus. All three are great guys and will teach you a lot. Dave is very laid back while Pat and Mike are very outgoing and loud. I'm a bit more reserved so Dave and I get along really well.
A Phase I school is about getting the basics down and learning where to be looking on course. That's it. Set your car up in the morning and don't change a thing all day. No tire pressures, no alignment, no nothing. Back your driving off enough to do what they are asking you to do. You may go slower, but the time will quickly come back with practice.
Thanks.
My background is I've been autocrossing off and on for the last 5 years. I was never serious about doing it, just did it for fun when the weekend lined up and I had the time. Last year with the GXP I decided to get serious, make a commitment and really spend the time needed to get better. I learned how to drive the car last year, that was my goal. When to shift, how it handles, and the only thing I did was an alignment.
This year I've upgraded the tires (still not R-compounds), changed out the exhaust, but that's it. I like my alignment where it is... very predictable to me. Now my focus is to drive faster, by learning how to do it without just the accelerator. I want to learn how to read the lines of the course (I think I'm doing rather well, but I have nobody else to tell me otherwise.. it's just my judgement). I'm hoping any bad habits I have developed in the last year can be identified, understood by me, and I'll work on them from there.
I think this is all realistic from what I can see about Phase I and II. I think I have some of the basics of Phase I currently, but a little affirmation would be great!
I'm looking forward to one heck of a great time and a TON of learning too.
I also wouldn't Flood Jr. with GXP questions. i'm sure he get's it alot. I actually never brought it up to him. He came up to me and started talking about it.
I know Marcus fairly well. Great guy, likes to have a good time. sounds like a good group of instructors, i'd be doing the extreme school if i didn't have a wedding on saturday and the redbull air races on sunday.
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2007 - GXP - White A Street Prepared - Crazy Monkey Racing
DEJON Powerhouse - Wester's Garage
I also wouldn't Flood Jr. with GXP questions. i'm sure he get's it alot. I actually never brought it up to him. He came up to me and started talking about it.
I know Marcus fairly well. Great guy, likes to have a good time. sounds like a good group of instructors, i'd be doing the extreme school if i didn't have a wedding on saturday and the redbull air races on sunday.
Good point to make, and I was going to be respectful of him and not hound him.. but you are correct. I'm hoping he rides along and drives in my GXP though, and knowing he has a lot of seat time in this car I know I'll be listening even more.
I've never done the school, but to say I'm excited about it would be an understatement.
Phase I and II are all about the driver, not the car, so there will not be any advice on the car presented at those schools. You have to learn to drive what you have at 8-10/10ths and consistant before working on the car. More than a couple times I have seen students taking the evo school in a standard rental car and often the instructors fly in and demo with rental cars. That really drives home (pun intended) just how fast any car can be driven just by using the right techniques.
Do yourself a favor, to get the most out of the schools don't go in thinking I already know this stuff. I know national level drivers who go back and take the phase I school and learn from it.
You'll rotate thru the instructors thru the day, so you can get all their inputs. If there is more than one school going on at the same time, the instructors will split two and two.
I personally know all 4 of those guys, all are very good at passing on skills. There are no bad evo instructors, they all have had to earn that position.
__________________
Spin or win, there's no glory for going slow!
Team Dynamics AX racing
2003 GSL, 2005 HSL, National Champion
2007 GXP ZOK Mean
Solo Performance Race catback
Rick Hendrick Pontiac
Solo Performance
CHARLES FRANK goldsmith
I'm not going in thinking I know this stuff... If I had that kind of attitude (and I don't know what in this thread or anything else I've posted on here gives that impression) I wouldn't take the class. It's quite the opposite.. I think I've learned bad habits and "think" they are correct. I'm looking to learn the right way to do things and see if I'm doing them that way or not. I think the biggest challenge is going to be using what I learn in the school week after week and sticking with it and not my bad habits I'm sure I have. We all think we are good... it's a humbling experience to have some who really is good show you how bad you are in comparison.
And as for pointers on the car... well, with Jr. having been on Setup and having a lot of seat time in the GXP... I'm sure he has some pointers on what to work on and what not to spend time on... especially once he gets a chance to assess the skills / lack of skills of an individual driver. That's all I'm thinking I might get extra out of the class. I have no doubt all of the instructors are great... heck, I think most of them are National Champion drivers, that speaks volumes to me.
The comment was a general one sorry if it ruffled your feathers didn't mean to offend. I have seen (I have taken a LOT of evo schools) many students who have some AX experience come in with a closed mind that they are taking PH1or PH2 just because they want to take the advanced classes, and they end up making the least amount of progress.
Knowing Jr, I believe what he will say is leave the car alone and concentrate on driving. Every time you make a change you introduce a new variable. Now you don't know if it is your driving or the changes you made that made you better (or worse, it takes a while for a novice to adjust to a car that handles differently even if it is "better" than before, so a "good" change can result in you going slower).
A well set up car is not the easiest one to drive as it is no where near as forgiving to being overdriven, so you can spend all your time just trying to keep the car under you and not be able to concentrate on line (an out of shape car by definition is off line), looking ahead, and developing good habits.
Have fun! We leave for the Atl doublecross shortly.
__________________
Spin or win, there's no glory for going slow!
Team Dynamics AX racing
2003 GSL, 2005 HSL, National Champion
2007 GXP ZOK Mean
Solo Performance Race catback
Rick Hendrick Pontiac
Solo Performance
CHARLES FRANK goldsmith
You didn't ruffle my feather too much! I know that you mean not to offend and only to help, I was just surprised you seemed to think I fell in that same group. I honestly look forward to your posts and your insight in this section.
My fear is that I've driven enough cars to become confident in my ability and that I'm actually not doing this correctly. I'm looking forward to this class to set me straight or confirm I'm doing things correctly. I hope to gain a ton out of this, that's why I spent the money and time (I'm traveling a fair distance, staying at hotels, and such beyond the cost of just the class) to devote to this. Locally I'm the top seed in A-stock in every event I run across two regions... but that's doesn't mean anything on a regional or national level since I've never competed at that level. I'm hoping to test the waters so to speak at the Divisional in Peru, IN in June. That should be a fair test of where I stand with real competition... and I think that's going to be a humbling experience at best!
Thanks everyone for the tips / suggestions... I'm trying to go in with as open of a mind as I can. I know each of these instructors are better than I... and I hope I can learn from them... I know they will teach, it's up to me to learn though.
I am interested in trying my hand at solo autox,I have never done anything like it before and would like to attend an evo school.I have an 07 gxp with an auto.has anyone out there used an auto for autox and how did it work.
I am interested in trying my hand at solo autox,I have never done anything like it before and would like to attend an evo school.I have an 07 gxp with an auto.has anyone out there used an auto for autox and how did it work.
Go out and have fun. I was talking to someone this past weekend who was autocrossing an auto. They were having fun but were off the pace and the way that you need to shift/move the gear selector would bother me. Don't let that stop you. I've had several friends now that start in their "daily driver" and then catch a co-drive arrangement or buy another autocross specific car to compete in.
You're not likely going to be at the top of the class with an automatic, but then it isn't likely you'd be at the top of the class in a prepped to the max car as a novice either, so as Rob says go out to have fun, learn car control and driving whatever you have to the max, at worst you'll come out a better driver for it.
I know a lot of people who fly in for an evo school and take it in a run of the mill rental. Not too many stick shift rentals out there.
Ax is the most fun you can have in a car with your clothes still on!
__________________
Spin or win, there's no glory for going slow!
Team Dynamics AX racing
2003 GSL, 2005 HSL, National Champion
2007 GXP ZOK Mean
Solo Performance Race catback
Rick Hendrick Pontiac
Solo Performance
CHARLES FRANK goldsmith
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