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NER AX Report #1 Report

NER Autocross Presented by PCANER and Porsche Norwell

NER opened up its 2022 Autocross competition season on May 22. Porsche Norwell was the sponsor of the event, and Nick Vullemier and Brian Leonard were on hand from Norwell, driving a 2018 718 Cayman.

Rob MacAlpine set up a great course using the Miata Club’s larger cones. His club had been running the day before, and I had stopped by the airfield to check in, and we decided to leave cones in place and reuse portions of his course for our event to save setup time and make a little less work for Rob and his helpers in the morning. The plan worked out well – especially as we were facing temperatures in the upper nineties.

After cancellations and no-shows, 58 drivers participated in the event. We had an unusually large number of dual drivers, so we split most of them into separate run groups to simplify grid management. We also had 23 novices, 10 of whom had just participated in our Season-opening Autocross school two weeks prior.

The course was fairly technical but loosened up a bit to help minimize cone hits and reduce the workload on the course workers in the extreme heat. We had plenty of water on hand, and it all worked out well. A slight breeze throughout the day was a lifesaver.

 

By the end of the day, seven drivers had posted times below 70 seconds; Rob MacAlpine posted FTD at 66.850, and Ollie Lucier posted Porsche FTD at 68.353.

Chris Darminio took Class 1 unopposed in his 1976 914 with a 73.884. Class 3 saw the return of old friends Adam Small and Christine Skaubitis, giving Bob Canter some competition and adding to the representation of air-cooled Porsches. Adam took the Class with a 72.802. Neil Halbert edged out George Rouhart in Class 4 with a 73.882, and Dan Gramm took Class 5 in his 97 Boxster with a 77.515. Class 6 fielded seven drivers, and Devon Yablonski took it with a 69.989 in his 2014 Cayman S, narrowly beating Mark Skala to do it. Glenn Champagne was the class winner in Class 7, posting a 76.339 in his 1999 996 Carrera. Henry Wu prevailed in class 8, posting a 69.770 in his 2014 991 Carrera S frustrating Jeremy Mazzariello and Erick Aubin, who were right behind him. Nigel Fenwick was the winner in Class 9, co-driving Bill Aubins 2020 GT4 with a 69.433. Ollie Lucier’s 68.353 took class 10, and Rob MacAlpine’s 66.850 topped Anthony Nunez’s 67.112 to take Class 11.

In the Novice Class, the top 6 drivers posted some pretty respectable times, all below 78 seconds, with Brian Nett posting a 73.838 to take the Class and getting himself booted out of the Novice category.

Full results can be seen on our Live Timing/Archive site by going to https://porschenet.com/ax, scrolling down to the date of Autocross #1 (May 22, 2022), then selecting  “Results.”

Thanks again to everyone for coming out to our first event of 2022. Our next event is on Sunday, June 19, and registration is open on motorsportreg.com. I hope to see a good crowd out there for that date!

-Chris Ryan

 

The Day’s Results

 

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NER Autocross School 2022

 

PCA NER Autocross 2022

After a COVID-induced absence for a couple of years, NER held its Autocross School again this year on May 7th. The event was sponsored once again by Conway Autoworks in Hanover, MA. (Thank you, Kenny!)

This year’s event attracted 45 students, all eager to see what Autocross is all about and to learn more about what they can do with their cars. Twenty-eight of our veteran autocrossers came to instruct and help out with the event.

We held the usual chalk talk at the beginning of the event, and students had been advised (prior to the event) to watch the 3-part NER Autocross Video produced by Richard Viard to get some background for the day. Most of the students complied, and during the talk, Ed Moschella proceeded to describe the finer points of oversteer, understeer, the friction circle, driving lines, as well as the importance of looking ahead while driving, and how to work the course.

We modeled our school event on the setup used very successfully by our fellow autocrossers in the BMW and Miata Clubs. The key difference for us was to pre-assign instructors to students for the exercise portion of the event, which greatly eliminated some of the logistical issues we had had in the past with different people jumping in and out of cars and slowing down the whole process. Three exercises were set up consisting of a series of offset clamshell elements which helped with course-reading, getting a line, braking, and turning; a kidney-shaped exercise which provided more braking and turning practice; and a slalom exercise. There was only one person (starter) running each exercise.

The students were assigned to two different run groups, and each group was divided into three color-coded subgroups. The first run group cycled through the exercises with their assigned instructors, while the members of the second run group worked (shagged cones) along with each exercise. Then the run groups switched, and group 2 had their chance to cycle through the exercises. By the time we completed the exercises and broke for lunch, everyone was ready to try out their new skills on an actual timed course.

Students were driven around the course in their own cars by their instructor at a moderate pace to get familiarized with the course and a driving approach. Then, each student was given a chance to do four timed runs with their instructor riding along. For the fifth run, instructors drove the students again, but this time at a full autocross pace. This opened the students’ eyes as to what they and their cars could be expected to do. In hindsight, we probably should have done that after the second run, then let the students take their last two runs after having seen that. Something to consider for next year …

A look at the posted times for the day shows most of the students managed to improve their times considerably over the course of their four runs showing that they must have learned something during the day’s activities. Full results can be seen by going to NER’s Live Timing site at https://porschenet.com/ax, scrolling down to the date of the Autocross School (May 7th, 2022), then selecting  “Results.”

We wrapped up the day by reading everyone’s posted times and awarding the students with a Rookie (“I Survived Autocross!”) trophy glass for everyone to remember the event by. We trust that they all had a lot of fun and learned something about their cars, what they are capable of, and what the sport of Autocross is all about. Based on feedback we’ve received, we expect to see a number of these students showing up for an autocross event soon – in fact – for our first event this year, 10 of the 23 Novices that registered had attended the school. We hope to welcome even more of them to one of our upcoming autocross events soon!

-Chris Ryan

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NER Autocross School: Sat. May, 7

The NER Autocross Team will be holding its popular Autocross School at Devens this year on Saturday, May 7th. The format will be similar to previous years with driving exercises held in the morning, followed by lunch (Pizza supplied by NER), with actual timed runs on a full autocross course in the afternoon.

We are taking a new approach to the Autocross School this year to maximize student driving time and engagement between students and the instructors.  The three morning exercises will include a slalom, a figure-eight, and offset clamshells with one instructor assigned to a pair of students for all three exercises to provide increased instruction and feedback on the students’ driving.  The afternoon will consist of 4 – 5 student runs on a full autocross course with the option of letting your instructor drive to demonstrate the proper line through the course.  While attendance at the school is not requisite for attending events during the season, it is highly recommended. Regardless of whether you intend to autocross or not, this is a fabulous introduction to the art of driving at a fraction of the price of most schools of its kind. Teenage drivers are encouraged to attend. Licensed teens (full license, not a permit) under the age of 18 must provide a signed waiver and have at least one parent present throughout the course of the event.  For more information, please contact the registrar.

You must be a novice to attend this school.  Please don’t sign up expecting a Test n’ Tune.

Autocross allows you to learn car control skills in a safe environment. We are fortunate to enjoy probably one of the best venues in the area (Moore Airfield at Fort Devens). The wide runways and ample open space allow participants to get close to or exceed the performance limits of their cars without risking damage to cars or participants – so you can see what your Porsche feels like when pushed like it was meant to be. The driving skills you’ll learn here are not just useful for autocross events, but also for DE events on the track as well as driving on the street. Plus it’s also a social event – you’ll have the opportunity to meet a friendly group of men and women who enjoy socializing with each other while having fun with their cars, and working on driving skills together. We hope you’ll come out and give it a try! In the meantime, check out our excellent instructional videos on our website at www.porschenet.com produced by Autocross Team member Richard Viard. They will give you some good ideas on what to expect, how to prepare, etc.  

 

Registration

You must register for this event in advance. Registration is currently open online at www.pcaner.motorsportreg.com. We are limited to 48 students so register now to insure a spot.

 Price: $60 (includes a free registration to one NER Autocross Event in 2020)

 Eligibility: This event is for novice autocrossers only! Participants must have participated in no more than four autocross events in the past two years to be eligible.  As always, special circumstances may apply, so contact Chris Ryan at [email protected] with questions.

 Instructors: You must register for the event on motorsportreg as an instructor (you will not be charged) Please be on site at 7:00 AM.

Students: should plan to arrive after 8:00 AM but no later than 8:30.

 

For event and eligibility questions contact NER Autocross Chair Chris Ryan at [email protected] . For registration/payment issues contact  NER Autocross Registrar Jeff Johnson at [email protected] .

 

Directions:  The event will be at Moore Airfield on Route 2A which is separate from the main Army base. The Google maps address is 90 Fitchburg Rd. Ayer MA.     From Rte128 or I-495: Take Route 2 West. Take Exit 38B (Route 111 North) for 2 miles. At the rotary, take Route 2A West toward Ayer. Stay on 2A as it turns right in downtown Ayer.  Follow Route 2A bearing left at the fork by Tiny’s Restaurant. Continue past the Shop & Save market on your left – the entrance gate will be on your left just after the railroad tracks with a sign reading “State Police Driver Training”. Enter through the main gate, look for the “Autocross” sign and bear left up the hill to get to the airfield. At the top of the hill there will be someone to check you in, and greet you with instructions. 

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Postponed: Annual Autocross Party

The Annual Autocross Party at Billiards Café in Ayer, planned for February 5th has been postponed.

New Date TBD

Please Email us is you would like to be notified of the new re-schedule date.

Questions? Contact Chris Ryan, NER Autocross Chair: [email protected]

 

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NER AX#5 Results

 

NER Closed out its Autocross season under sunny skies with a Fall chill in the air. The event was sponsored by Herb Chambers, a perennial autocross supporter, and we thank them once again for their continued support.

Fifty-seven drivers ended up posting times for the event. This number of drivers was lower than usual, largely due to a number of no-shows. Several of those had the courtesy to notify us ahead of time they would not be there, and that was appreciated. However, there were several who had registered for the event, but simply skipped out unannounced. As a reminder, when we confirm your registration, we ask that you notify us before the event if you are not going to make it -no-shows make staffing and running an event particularly difficult – I hope people will take that more seriously next year.

Once again, we had a fair showing of Novices (12), which will now be minus one (Adam Norton) as he took first in the Novice Class and thus will be registered in his regular class (Class 7) at his next event. Congratulations Adam!

Elsewhere in the day, Chris Darminio took Class 1, posting an 81.35 in his ’76 914 to beat our old friend Jack Goudreau who returned in his ’73 914. John Staton  posted an 82.94 in his ’77 911S in Class 2. Great to see these old cars showing up for our events!

Chris Hubert was tops in Class 4 by about 2.5 seconds; Lev Tabenkin took Class 5 by beating out the Boxsters by 5.5 seconds; Ernie Grasso took Class 6 in his 718 Cayman, just edging our Eric Kessel and yours truly by .3 and .6 seconds, respectively. Tony Miniscalco was the winner in Class 7, while Jeremy Mazzariello won Class 8, even after having to spend lunchtime digging small pebbles out of his tire bead after an “agricultural excursion” from the course. Bill Aubin and Ollie Lucier took classes 9 and 10, respectively, while Wil Koscielny (2020 Miata) beat our course designer Rob MacAlpine (1999 Miata) in the non-Porsche Class; taking FTD in the process!

The qualifying (minimum of 4 events run) Class Winners for the Season were: Neil Halbert (Class 4), Lev Tabenkin (Class 5), Mark Skala (Class 6), Tony Miniscalco (Class 7), Jeremy Mazzariello (Class 8), Walter Lunsmann (Class 9), and Rob MacAlpine (Non-Porsche Class 11). This year, we plan to have the Season awards made in conjunction with NCR at Billiards Café sometime in January – stay tuned for announcements with further details.

Thank you to everyone who participated and helped run the events this year – especially Rob and Sheryl MacAlpine. We hope to see you all back again in 2022 – including all you Novices – and bring your friends!

-Chris Ryan

Results:

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October Driving Events

Get a few more laps in before your Porsche hibernates for the Winter!

Visit links to learn more and register:

10/23 NER – Autocross #5 – 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM
 
10/30 NCR DE at NHMS – 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM
 
 

 

 
 

 

 

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NER Autocross #4 September 4th, 2021 – Report

KMC

Saturday the 4th was a great day to be out at Devens engaging in cone-dodging … the skies were clear, the air was dry, and temps hovered in the 70’s all day. The timing tent sported a Kachel Motor Company banner, a new autocross sponsor this year. Brendon Miller and Dave Seavey were at the event representing KMC.

We had 70 people register for the event, but after several cancellations and a few no-shows, we ended up only fielding 58 drivers for another lightly attended autocross. But we saw a large novice contingent (20), which hopefully bodes well for the future if these folks get hooked.

Tom Tate represented Class 2 in his trusty 1972 911 with the Martini Racing stripes. Bob Canter finally got someone to race against in Class 3 when old friend Christine Skaubitis showed up with her cousin Lauren Firnstein driving her beautiful RS America 964. Neil Halbert finally had his car back and used it to beat Georges Rouhart in Class 4. Most of the other classes saw the usual winners take the prize, although Dave Seavey, co-driving Walter Lunsmann’s GT3 came close (within .2 seconds) to beating Walter in his own car – a definite no-no. Walter also had Porsche FTD posting a 68.863, while overall FTD was claimed by Frank Bayliss driving his Exocet with a small block V-8 coming in with a 65.951.

And speaking of KMC, in the Novice Class, Brendon Miller posted a 82.295 putting him in the top 50% of the class for the day – certainly a respectable showing for a relative newcomer. Nate Geyer took the Novice class overall with a 75.997, booting him out of the Novice class a moving him to Class 11 the next time he shows up.

The day was slightly marred for a couple of drivers when Anker Berg-Sonne’s Caterham started emitting smoke from a valve-cover leak and he had to stop running. And Rob MacAlpine’s trusty Miata had a ball joint let go jamming the wheel into the car in such a way as it could not be pushed off the course. I had to send Bob Canter to my house for a couple of wheel dollies so they could move it. Since it was lunchtime, we halted the event, had lunch while Rob took care of getting the car out of the way, then continued after lunch completing the day with 8 runs anyway and a good time was had by all.

Next up for NER is our final event of the season on October 23rd. Hope to see you out at Devens then!

 

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NER Special Autocross Event Report

NER Autocross Special Event   August 15th, 2021

NER held a special event geared to give novices a chance to come and try out autocross, meet some of the “regulars,” and see what it’s all about. The event was held instead of our normal “Autocross School,” which we usually do at the beginning of the season. As they have done with the school for years, Conway Motorsports sponsored the event.

We had 50 people sign up, and 27 of them were novices. We had a bunch of parent/child dual drivers, and one family brought four people (father, mother, son, and family friend), all sharing Dad’s Boxster. Now that they are all into autocross, they definitely need to get another Porsche! So, we achieved our goal of attracting the newbies … the trick was to give them a chance to try out autocross and come away with a good taste in their mouths for the sport.

We set up two separate courses and divided them into three run groups so that folks would end up spending most instead of half their time driving and less time out working the course. One course was timed and the other untimed. The untimed course was used as an exercise course allowing drivers to get a good feel for some of the basic autocross elements like slaloms, gates, clamshells through repetitive runs through the course. The timed course allowed everyone to gauge their own improvement throughout the day or against their favorite autocross buddy – regardless of class. The experienced drivers spent most of their time jumping in to instruct the novices, but they managed to get a few runs of their own in as well as give the novices some thrilling rides to give them an idea of what can be done with these cars.

Because we set up two courses in separate areas of the airfield, the courses were up and back arrangements like would be done if autocrossing in a parking lot. The timed course also featured two switchback elements which, in hindsight, may have proved to be a bit too complex for the novices – in fact, it proved to be tough for many of the experienced drivers as well! But it did teach people the importance of learning a complex course – a skill which will undoubtedly come in handy in the future.

The Club sprang for a Pizza lunch as we normally do at our Autocross School, and people had a chance to socialize while taking a break in the middle of the day. After lunch, it was back to the track(s) where people kept driving until after 4:30. Between the two courses, folks got a lot of seat time in, and even though it was all fun, many were ready to call it a day by then.

The timing results from the main course are posted below and will remain up on our live timing site at https://porschenet.com/autocross/results_live.htm until our next event on September 4th. Photos from the event taken by Anker Berg-Sonne have also been posted to the website and our Facebook page. Thanks to all the new people who came out to try AX and to the veterans who spent most, if not all their day instructing and helping the novices have fun.

 

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