Why don't they chalk and/or do a better job at putting cones up at rallycrosses?
Watching an older episode of Roadkill where they go rallycrossing at an SCCA event and they got totally lost on the course. I recall going to one many years back and feeling lost as all hell as well even after walking the course. I get that chalking up the course might be a pain, and so would putting up more cones, but clearly getting lost in a course is common enough where you'd think they could do a better job at it.
Posted Mar 14, 2020, 2:37 AM UTC
23
It's part of the competition. I would get lost with chalk, more cones, GPS and autosteer, but I don't think it would be fair to keep making it easier for me so I can compete with people who can do it blindfolded driving backwards.
I think it's a barrier for entry into the sport that they should reconsider. Maybe less for the individual racer and more for keeping the sport healthy with new people joining it.
Also, keep in mind that autocross is way less about competing with others as it is competing with yourshelf. Yes, of course the best of the best are competing either others, but that's not most guys. Most people are there to just have some fun, maybe improve their driving skill and get a better understanding of their own car's limits.
Too many cones causes the same problem. Course designers have actually used that fact to confuse participants before. Getting lost on course due to too few cones hasn't been common in my experience, but I have seen too many cones result in competitors stopping on course. All got moving before we had to red-flag it, but it was worse than too few cones.
Does your local group have a novice coordinator? Are you walking the course beforehand? Maybe let them know your trouble and ask? An experienced competitor can probably help you "see" the course better to help avoid getting lost.