Solano Autocross August 18

We drove to Solano Community College in Fairfield, CA, it is fairly close for us. I go to school about 15 minutes away at The California Maritime Academy in Vallejo.  And was about a 50 minute drive from home. The event called Onion Peel Autocross is put on by Vaca Valley Vettes http://www.vacavalleyvettes.com/ out of Vacaville, CA. The course was set up in an extremely large open parking lot on the Solano campus right as you pull in the main campus road, it was much larger than the Marina set ups allowing a faster track configuration. The event staff really made a fun and challenging course with long straight aways, sweeping turns, hair pins, and even some deceiving cones at the entrance to fast turns.

I can tell my Dad and I are getting better but I still see what we need to work on. On my Dad's first run he did a huge burn out at the start, now it was very cool but he lost a lot of time spinning the tires. Granted it was the first run and the tires were cold so the extra heat only helped in the long run. On the past courses at Marina the best way to drive was to keep the car in second gear right after you hit the first straight away. This method didn't work too well on this track since the hairpins forced you to slow down too much to allow the car to keep a high enough rpm range to speed out of the corner. This is where we lost time, instead of leaving the corner in the 3k to 4k range in first gear the car was in the 2k range in second. I know this seems really elemetary but in the moment you don't think about it you just don't want to hit cones and keep going. I did find myself being a bit hesitant on the on the track since I wasn't sure how the car would react on the cracked asphalt of the parking lot rather than the concrete at Marina. And that we only had 4 runs this time instead of 5 or 6 I didn't want to throw away a run with a spin out in the tight turns just to see where grip point is. But in my last run I said screw it and pushed the car. My dad did well out of the four runs his best time was a 1:29.075 which was competitive with the other Convertibles that were configured the same. My method on the track was to stay in first all the way until the exit of the second hair pin, then do the same on the entrance back to the first hair pin. This was the trick and got a 1:28.072! So this week I took the win over the two of us, but the time between us is getting shorter and shorter so we are both improving!



So on the track is started off with the long straight away with four slalom cones, on the cones you can choose any which way to go around them but you must snake in between each one. As you enter the hair pin it didn't look very sharp but when you exit the entrance to the second straight away is farther up and the turn tighten up as you are coming out of it. The sharp right turn looked worse from far away and I could have carried more speed through it but chose to attack the inside of the turn each time. I never came close to the outside cones but I think I could have shaved of a few hundredths of a second by using a larger apex. Now getting into the lower part of the track the second hair pin was tight, so tight that almost all the cones hit all day happend on the exit of the turn. Once you get out of the hair pin it is petal the metal all the way through the huge left hand sweeper. Half way on the sweeper where it gets tight I had a little hesitation thinking the turn got tight but you can carry a large amount of speed through the entire thing! It was so deceiving. Now you come to a fork in the road, on the first time through you go left and repeat the turns and straights then you go right to the final right and sweeping left.

This course was so much fun, all the fast parts of the track really let me see the limits of the car and the tires. Remember we still are on stock DOT Goodyear run flats! I know I am not yet at the limit of the tires but getting closer each time, I am still amazed at how well the tires do stick and cannot imagine how well a set of slicks will do. My Dad and I each had a blast and the huge turn out at the event was great. There will be another event at Solano coming up in October and we hope to go racing.

Coming through the slalom

Entering the second hair pin

Entering the first hair pin

Entering the second hair pin

Entering the first hair pin

Watch the video of the whole day Here!

August 18 AutoX VIDEO!

August 11, 2012 Marina Airport

We went back to Marina Municipal Airport for the last autocross event of the season, put on by Santa Clara Corvettes. On the drive down the fog was low and blanketing the coast from South San Francisco all the way to the tarmac. My friend Chloe from school was staying with us for the weekend so I dragged her along for the ride. Since we had become a familier face with the regulars we got hellos and hugs from everyone that we were driving with. The course set up was gigantic, every square foot of the tarmac was used and all the cones owned by SCCC were out. The road course had a long straight away in the beginning leading into a sweeping left turn. One hairpin turn and loop kept the layout challenging and got a few drivers lost.

Since my father and I had a few disagreements about why I beat him last time, I chose to go first and see if I could disprove the hot tires excuse. We were in run group one and since we were a two driver car we went first in the pack of eight cars. So I was the first one out on the cold track, my first lap was decent for learning the course and heating up the tires. On lap two I got a bit wild, since the straight aways were always starting after sharp turns I would kick out the back end once I got on the throttle. So I tried to do the same but on the sweeper after the fast section. I started to get the car in a power slide but then the front tires were still cold and gave out. I then swerved and hit some cones. Chloe jumped in on the third run and stayed in the car until my fifth and final run. I got my fastest time on the fourth run with a 1:32.8, it wasn't too bad since other cars that were running slicks and were a z06 were getting in the 1:26's. The announcer was impressed with the way the tires were sticking since we still have the stock DOT run flats.

My dad then jumped in with the car hot and I rode shotgun for the first lap giving suggestions on the course. I got out for the rest of his laps to give him a weight advantage. And wouldn't you know it, he beats me on the second lap out. A 1:31.6 the fastest time the car would do all day. As I stood next to the announcer I yelled "Damn It!" right into the microphone. An once everyone heard that they started laughing, we were the only father and son duo that day out on the track so everyone was listening for who would win.

All in all it was a great day and the car performed great! Chloe had a blast riding shotgun with me and we all went home safe. I also got a GoPro cam and mounted it on the car in a few spots, so check out the video!

August 11 Marina Autocross VIDEO!

July 21 Marina Airport Autocross

Today was my first autocross experience and my fathers second with the Santa Clara Corvette Club. For weeks my father has been wanting to get me in the driver seat since his first time last month, during that first race I had been gone for two months working in the gulf of mexico. He had sent me pictures and I could only have imagined how much of a rush he got thundering down the track. At the Marina Airport the track layout changes every event, today's event was set up like a fast road course which incorporated a figure eight. As we signed in I was in total amazement gazing out at the track, all of the organized orange and bright green cones created a complicated maze.

The track layout was created to incorporate high speed sections so you can hit the rev limiter before entering a corner. Many of the seasoned racers frowned at the complicated layout since the figure eight section was very confusing at first.

Before the drivers meeting all of the drivers in run groups one and two have a half hour to walk the track. Everyone had their own way of doing this from riding a bike to simulating the car in the corner. My father and I just walked the course while holding the map and making sure we understood where each turn was. The biggest challenge for us was understanding how the slalom cones worked, there are two slaloms on the course; one at the top half and one in the middle. A vertical standing cone marks the spot of the turn and a horizontal cone marks the inside corner of the turn. It took us three runs to finally get the directions right, we kept missing one turn out of the four. If you turn on the wrong side it is an automatic DNF for that run.

The way the run groups work are like this:

The first group gets five timed runs and one fun run as a freebie since the track is coldest. When group one is racing on the track, group two must work as track workers holding the safety flags and replacing knocked down cones. The same applies to run groups three and four. Once each car is done with their allotted runs everybody switches from driving to working and vice versa. 

My father had the first runs in the car, I was the navigator making sure that he saw each turn and guided him through the course. After his six runs we switched.

The car handled great! It was my first time driving it all out with the traction control off. I was too sure what to expect but when I laid on the throttle it took off. For being on the stock Michelin Run Flats the car stuck in the corners to a degree, but once you go to the tipping point of the tire's grip the front end would just slide. I eventually got the hang of it and used the sliding to my advantage in the long sweeping turns. All in all the motor ran great and the brakes worked flawlessly....not too bad for a mostly stock 1999 Corvette.

Who We Are

Andersen Racing is a father and son team that is starting on a new adventure in the auto racing world. The car that we are running is a modified 1999 Corvette Convertible, follow us on our journey as we become better drivers and make improvements to the car.



Driver Biographies


Loren Andersen - The son in the duo and main author of the blog, I attend the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo, CA. I am studying marine engineering technology, I hope to use my future degree and license in a job that I can excel at and enjoy. Also, allowing time for racing.

Robert Andersen - The father and owner of the car, he is the brain behind the modifications that have earned awards and many complements at car shows and on the race track. A car that started as a 50th birthday gift to himself has turned into a new competitive hobby.