Driving

Progress at the PCA Zone 7 Autocross Weekend

I asked ChatGPT to summarize the results of the weekend as it related to the programming work we’re doing in RaceCoach.

The July 11–12, 2026 PCA autocross weekend at Salinas provided a useful test of both my driving and the RaceCoach analysis workflow I have been developing.

While at an event, RaceCoach outputs both a grid and latest report of the comparisons run (1 v 2, 2 v 3) done via run_analysis from the command line.

To read the background on this project, read through the repo’s files here:

https://github.com/peterm95018/Racecoach/tree/momentum-recovery

The grid report is here:

RaceCoach

RaceCoach started off as a personal autocross telemetry and coaching project built to help me get faster between runs. What is has changed into is a coaching engine that does this:

Observe → Diagnose → Coach → Improve

The goal is simple: after each run, RaceCoach should answer one question:

What is the one thing I should change on the next run?

2026

• 3/9/26 Laguna Seca GGLC 4 20 min sessions
• 4/6/26 Sonoma GGLC 4 20 min sessions (PB 1:59.07)

2022 Days (7)

• 3/5-6/22 Thunderhill East 
• 4/12/22 Sonoma Raceway
• 5/25/22 Laguna Seca 
• 5/26/22 Laguna Seca
• 8/26/22 Sonoma
• 9/28/22 Lagua Seca (PB 1:47.20)

2021 Days (11)

Last updated: September 2025

Introduction

Assetto Corsa has become my go-to tool for practicing autocross and track craft between real events. With Apple Silicon and CodeWeavers CrossOver Gaming, it now runs surprisingly well on macOS without needing a full Windows install or a virtual machine.

TL;DR: Best day ever for me. I hope to repeat this performance on another day. 

I let ChatGPT draft this based on my notes and data for the day.

Event: Golden Gate Lotus Club Autocross — November 1, 2025
Location: Laguna Seca Lakebed, near Monterey Bay, CA
Car: 2013 Porsche 991.1 Carrera S (Bridgestone RE-71RS, 32 psi hot)
Results: Official Results 

Introduction

After clearing a lingering airbag fault on my 2013 Porsche 991.1 Carrera S, I decided it was time to explore what the ThinkDiag+ tool could really do. 

My goal: customize how the car behaves and bring a few hidden factory options to life—Sport Plus, Porsche Sport Exhaust (PSE), full-time cluster lighting, and TPMS settings for my track tires.

This project turned into a deep dive into coding, diagnostics, and a little bit of trim repair along the way. Here are my notes to help me track and log my work.

Date: August 2025

Rig: Logitech G920 • Assetto Corsa (PC) • Parallels/Windows 11 on Mac mini (M4)

TL;DR

I’m running Windows 11 under Parallels 20.x on a Mac mini M4 running MacOS 15.6.

I tried all the suggestions I could find via Google and AI clients to figure out how to get Logitech Ghub working in this scenario. No luck.

So I finally went back to something I had setup years ago; working with the Controls option in AC and that seemed to work in this limited scenario.

See the companion article on Racebox Setup.

Viewing Data

Tap the Track icon to look at data that has been collected.

Select a session to review. In this case it was the 3/16/25 Loma Prieta event. In the screenshot below, the green indicates the fastest lap.

See the companion article on Racebox Data Analysis.

RaceBox Mini Application Instructions for Autocross- Ed Fisher comes from a forum post I came across while trying to learn how to use the device. Mods by me based on v2.1.3 of the Racebox app for iOS and my particular process.

Setup the Course