NCC Autocross: Novice School - April 9th

[Egadd]

Registration has opened for NCC's one and only 2022 Novice School session. This is a great opportunity for new participants to learn more about the motorsport. I hope to see other MINIs out there. Please reach out if you have any questions! More details below:

 

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Want to know what autocross is all about? Always wanted to come to an event, but didn't want to jump right in? Been to an event or 2 and want to learn the basics? Come out to the NCC Autocross 2022 Novice School!

 

This is the One and Only NCC Autocross School for the 2022 Season.

 

Autocross is a safe, low-speed motorsport where competitors drive against the clock to turn in the best times as they navigate a driving course defined by orange parking cones in a large, open lot. Our NCC Autocross school is the best way for new and budding autocross participants to learn more about autocross and improve their driving performance through in-car instruction by some of the best instructors in the Washington DC area.

 

Sessions will include a variety of topics to help novice participants better understand what goes on in a day of autocross, and what they will likely be seeing and hearing around them as they participate in the motorsport. Instruction will provide guidance on how to prepare both the car and driver for autocross, how to register, tech inspect, work a course, and safety topics will get you up to speed with the day-of operations for participating in autocross.

 

The morning will consist of drills, exercises, and instruction.  The afternoon will be a model of a regular autocross event, including a full autocross course. There is no better way to get started in autocross than with the NCC Autocross school.

 

Register now as space in our schools are limited to ensure small class groups and personalized instruction.

 

Cost: $100

 

Register here: https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/2022-ncc-autocross-novice-school-summit-point-raceway-washington-bmw-cca-630118

[STXMINI]

17 hours ago, Egadd said:

Registration has opened for NCC's one and only 2022 Novice School session. This is a great opportunity for new participants to learn more about the motorsport. I hope to see other MINIs out there. Please reach out if you have any questions! More details below:

 

---

 

Want to know what autocross is all about? Always wanted to come to an event, but didn't want to jump right in? Been to an event or 2 and want to learn the basics? Come out to the NCC Autocross 2022 Novice School!

 

This is the One and Only NCC Autocross School for the 2022 Season.

 

Autocross is a safe, low-speed motorsport where competitors drive against the clock to turn in the best times as they navigate a driving course defined by orange parking cones in a large, open lot. Our NCC Autocross school is the best way for new and budding autocross participants to learn more about autocross and improve their driving performance through in-car instruction by some of the best instructors in the Washington DC area.

 

Sessions will include a variety of topics to help novice participants better understand what goes on in a day of autocross, and what they will likely be seeing and hearing around them as they participate in the motorsport. Instruction will provide guidance on how to prepare both the car and driver for autocross, how to register, tech inspect, work a course, and safety topics will get you up to speed with the day-of operations for participating in autocross.

 

The morning will consist of drills, exercises, and instruction.  The afternoon will be a model of a regular autocross event, including a full autocross course. There is no better way to get started in autocross than with the NCC Autocross school.

 

Register now as space in our schools are limited to ensure small class groups and personalized instruction.

 

Cost: $100

 

Register here: https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/2022-ncc-autocross-novice-school-summit-point-raceway-washington-bmw-cca-630118

 

I'll put this out on SM today!

[Mr. Ed]

Looks like good fun... thanks for the heads-up. See you there!

[scottt]

Is it $100 for the event AND $58 to join the club?

[1975_mini]

5 hours ago, scottt said:

Is it $100 for the event AND $58 to join the club?

Yes for insurance purposes you must be a member of the bmw club, then the event fee.

On 3/14/2022 at 9:23 PM, Mr. Ed said:

Looks like good fun... thanks for the heads-up. See you there!

I’ll see you there

 

[nccbmwcca]

On 3/21/2022 at 3:21 PM, scottt said:

Is it $100 for the event AND $58 to join the club?

That's correct. The membership does come with many other benefits, as well as being a requirement for other NCC autocross events.

 

We've got a few MINIs signed up already, looking forward to seeing you all there!

[1975_mini]

Hello all,

 

I took part in the BMWCCA NCC hosted Autocross Novice school, and wanted to share my experience with you. I am not going to bury the lead, simply put I would say it was a great school and the bang for your buck can not be beat!

The school was $100 and you must be a member of BMWCCA (insurance coverage stuff) which is $58 for the year, so all in if not a member $158. You are required to wear a SNELL certified helmet, but they have free loaners if you do not own one. So what does that cost get you?

 

When I arrived I completed registration, and they had complimentary donuts and coffee while you waited for the rest of the students to arrive. This is very appreciated with an 8:30 AM start time. The course begins with some classroom instruction, this is only to give you a general overview of how an autocross is setup and helpful driving principles. It was under an hour of classroom, the course definitely works on the “learn by doing” philosophy.

Once done in the classroom they walk you through a demonstration on how to prepare your car for an autocross (all could be applied for your fun Sunday drive on backroads). Fraiser was kind enough to set up his car as a “what not to do”. Then students ensured their cars were properly cleared of loose items, and completed tech inspection. Now it was time to drive, and keep driving.

 

We moved our cars to the course and were broken into 3 groups of 7-8 cars, and the cadre had set up three different station that focused on specific cone configurations (corners) you would see on course, and to emphasize driving principles introduced in the classroom. You are introduced to conducting a course walk and planning how you want to approach the corners. Instructor would hop in with you as you drove, there were about 4 instructors at each station. A little bit about the instructors, they were great at assessing your driving ability and tailoring the feedback to areas for you to focus on and always positive in reinforcing good technique. They were genuinely excited for students’ successes. With only 7 to 8 car at a station you only had around a 60 to 90 seconds of down time between runs, which was just enough time to process the feedback you received and focus on how you were going to apply it. Then you were off again.

 

After a few hours, you are driving so much you don’t have time to check you watch if you wanted to, we took a lunch break. Lunch is provide as well, and you have some time to interact with your classmates. During this time the cadre has taken all the individual focuses from the morning and tied them all together into a full autocross course. We join back at the course and conduct a full course walk with the instructors, to apply planning out our approach to the course. The instructor then gave rides in their vehicles as an extra way to get a visual picture of the course at speed. Afterwards we regrouped at the timing tent for the driver’s brief and introduced they explained work assignments. The class was divided into two groups one driving and one working the course, then we switched.

 

I was in the group that drove first, and again the instructors would hop in to help guide you through the course and give advice. The instructors I had during the full course had a great approach of letting me apply what I had learned throughout the day and offer helpful tips. Once you felt comfortable they step out and let you run solo. I believe we got 6 runs on the full course, so on the high end of a normal autocross session.  I then rotated to course work, which is a great opportunity see the course from different angles and see the lines others approach are using.

The last part of the day the students work the course locations while the instructors get to have some fun running the course. This not only allows you to get more comfortable working the course, but now you get to see how your approach to driving the course differs for how experienced drivers attack it.

 

I would recommend this school to anyone whether you are interested in autocross or just want to improve your car control. Unfortunately there is not another one on the calendar for this year, but keep your eyes out for it next year. If you have some competitive/spirited experience or none at all the instructors are able to provide instruction to improve your abilities. I do not know of another opportunity to receive this much driving time with instruction at such a low price point. It is a steal!!