2002 M Coupe | Laguna Seca Blue | Black

This weekend I joined the Roadrunner BMW CCA, and AZ PCA at Tempe Diablo Stadium for my first driving event ever – autocross. Started off bright and early at 7am, registering and going through the starting procedures (walking the track, drivers meet, etc). Before things began, I was a little intimidated by quite a few trailered cars, and others who drove out on track compound tires.

My first run I was assigned an instructor. The PCA gives the first lap as a warm up, and three timed laps. A few turns into my first timed lap, and I knew I was going to love this! My best lap of the first run was 50.4. I ended the day with a best time of 44.993. I was happy with my improvement. I know I could have driven a faster lap, but I screwed up. I forgot to turn DSC off, and didn’t think about it until part way through lap 2 when I shut it off after losing all power taking a fast corner. I could have moved quite a bit in the rankings with a low 44 second run, if I hadn’t spaced turning DSC off. Oh well, next time. I was pleased to just eek out anything below 45 seconds…even if it was just by 7 thousandths of a second. 😉 I’m proud to say I didn’t hit a cone the entire day.

If you haven’t participated in autocross, you owe it to yourself to look up your local BMW CCA chapter and sign up for the next event. It’s boat loads of fun, helps you improve your driving skills, shows what you and your car are capable of, and is a great [legal] outlet for competitive driving.