MICHELIN AUTOCROSS

Late registration on Monday, July 5, will be your last opportunity to classify your car for the AX. After that time, only the Autocross Chair has the authority to reclassify a car.

Check the schedule to see when your Class runs. You must compete in the proper Group for your car’s class. In the interest of fairness, no exceptions can made for those who have personal conflicts or conflicts with other Parade activities. The Drivers Education event (also at TMS) will be scheduled so that you can also do the AX, without conflict. The Autocross course will be open for walking on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 6^th, as well as early each day, as described in the schedule. There will also be an "Autocross 101" seminar on Tuesday, designed to help 1^st time and occasional Autocross competitors. This seminar will be at the Media Center in the TMS infield at TMS, held in conjunction with the course walk.

The weather in North Central Texas in early summer is generally hot and dry. Lows around 75 and highs around 95 are typical. The Michelin Autocross is scheduled beginning early each morning to finish by early afternoon and avoid the hottest part of the day. The event will continue, rain or shine. Wear light-colored clothing and a hat, use sunscreen and drink plenty of water. Shorts and short sleeved shirts are encouraged. Water will be available for purchase at the site.

Parking will be available for spectators’ and workers’ vehicles as well as trailers. Restrooms, showers, and a food/refreshment concession will be available. There are also a number of fast food restaurants within five miles. Overnight camping will be available nearby. Pre-Stage parking for competitors will be in a city street, adjacent to the course. Trailered cars must be unloaded in the spectator parking area and then driven into position in Pre-Staging. Spectator viewing areas will be in a grassy area near the course.

A Michelin support truck is scheduled to be on site to provide air, tire mounting and balancing, technical support and tire sales.

The initial safety inspection of your Porsche must have been accomplished before you arrive at the Autocross site. A final safety check will be done in Pre-Staging.

You must bring the following with you before you can run:

1. The completed Safety Inspection form (includes final safety inspection items)

2. Parade car numbers properly affixed

3. Proper clothing (see Section A-5.2(e) in the Parade Competition Rules)*

4. Approved helmet (see Section A-5.2(f) in the Parade Competition Rules)

* For this event, we recommend short sleeves and pants, due to heat.

Your class will be assigned to one of three Groups each day. Your car must be in position in Pre-Staging before the published closing time for your Group. Cars arriving to Pre-Staging late will not be allowed to run. When you arrive in Pre-Staging, one label will be placed on your windshield for each driver of the car. The label will have a bar code for Timing, a place for the final Safety Inspection stamp and space for the results of your runs. Once you get in your car to run, the final Safety Inspection (proper clothing, helmets, seat belts, etc.) will occur and your label will be stamped. Note that this final Safety Inspection happens for each driver.

Each driver of a multi-driver car must complete a complete run-set before other drivers run the same car.

There will be a mandatory drivers’ meeting for each Group prior to running. This meeting will cover event procedures, understanding of flags and event safety. If you do not attend this meeting, you will not be permitted to compete in the event.

Cars in Pre-Staging will be grouped into "Run Groups" and sent to Staging. There is a new requirement in 2004 that cars not be allowed to take successive runs sooner than 5 minutes. This will require that we carefully control cars in the Staging queue. Consequently, once in Staging, entrants may not leave Staging without forfeiting any remaining runs and entrants may not get out of their car while in Staging to perform adjustments. Entrants will be given an opportunity to do adjustments approximately mid-way in the runs. If entrants fail to complete adjustments in the required time and report to the Staging Grid, they will forfeit all remaining runs.

Grid is where entrants start each run. When entrants pull forward to Grid, a worker will position the car and scan the barcode label on the windshield. There will be a "traffic light" that will initially be red to indicate "don't go". Soon, it will turn green, to indicate "go". Watch the "traffic light" and start your runs when it turns green. Don't worry about looking at the course. There are workers that can see everything and they are controlling the "traffic light". Just start when the light goes green.

We are trying to maximize the number of runs. Each competitor will receive either 2 + 2, 2 + 3, or 3 + 3 timed runs, depending on the total number of entrants. During a set of runs (2 or 3), which will occur quickly, you will not be allowed to get out of your car or leave the queue without forfeiting any remaining runs in that set. There will be a short adjustment period scheduled between run sets. You must follow the instructions of the grid workers. Failure to report for your 2^nd set of runs in a timely manner, will result in losing those runs.

A rerun will be allowed if a driver did not get a fair run. Reruns will not be granted for mechanical failure. If you are stopped during a run for a condition that you did not cause, you will get a rerun. If you observe a condition that interferes with your run while on course, such as a course worker or another car in your way, or a pylon (not a directional pylon) on its side or outside of its position due to a previous competitor, stop immediately and point out the problem to a course worker. Do not complete your run; follow the course worker’s instructions and then follow the course back to Staging at reduced speed. You will be given directions for an official rerun when you return to Staging.

Note:

• If you observe a condition for which you should get a rerun but do not stop, you will not receive a rerun.
• If you stop and it is determined that an unsafe or unfair condition did not exist, you will not get a rerun.

A penalty of two (2) seconds will be assessed for each pylon moved completely outside of its outline or tipped over during a timed run. A penalty will be assessed for pylons determined to have been moved or tipped over by your car from Staging through the Finish area, including those parts of the course before and after the timed section. Note that directional pylons (if there are any) will not count if hit. If you fail to negotiate the specified course, you are considered to be off course and will receive a DNF (did not finish) for that run.

After you finish each run, your time and run status will be displayed on a big display for everyone to see, announced on the PA system, and written on the label on the windshield of your car. These results are not official. The Official Times and rankings will be available at the posting area, near Impound, immediately after each class finishes. Note that, per the Parade Competition Rules, these times include all pylon penalties. Your total time for each run will be the raw time plus any pylon penalties assessed. A worker will be responsible for helping participants with questions. If you have a question regarding timing or penalties, ask the Finish worker or Impound worker to assist you. Do not approach any Timing workers with questions.

Official results will be available in Impound and will be posted in hospitality at the hotel and on the Parade web site as soon as possible. Your official score will be the single lowest score (time plus penalties) of your runs.

Immediately after your final run, you are required to go directly to Impound and to remain near your car at all times until you have been excused from impound. You will be logged into the impound area and will be asked to open your car’s engine and trunk compartments. You may not remove anything from the car except personal items, your keys and your helmet. If you don’t report to impound or if you remove your car from impound before the required time period has elapsed, you will be disqualified. Impound is your opportunity to inspect your competitors’ cars and to verify that the posted results are correct. The Protest Committee will be located near the impound area. Impound is close to the course and there will be bleachers so that you can hear and watch the event. If there are no pending protests, all the competitors in a class can sign a release document and leave early.

Note that you can check competitors results by looking at the labels on their windshields...or, after all entrants in your class have competed their runs, walk over to the posting board to view the official results.

Trophies will be presented on Saturday, July 10^th. We look forward to your participation in the autocross at the 49th Porsche Parade. If you have any problems or questions please contact the Michelin Autocross Chair. Also, watch this web site for updated information.

After the regular AX competitive runs each day, Michelin will again offer AX competitors the opportunity to try their tires on the Parade AX course. This "Try Me Tires" session will be available for 2 hours. Your runs will be timed so that you can compare your results. NOTE: You must already have competed in the AX to be allowed to run... we will check your Results Label on the windshield, so don't remove it.

There will be a $10 fee for 2 runs. All proceeds from the "Try Me Tires" program will be given to our charity, the Hope Shelter.

The Michelin Autocross will be held over three consecutive days, beginning Wednesday, July 7th. Classes will run in scheduled order. The exact schedule shall be determined after early registration and will be published on this web site…keep checking