May 14 at SPC

[wbeers690]

you are going to have to find the stripper that is now the owner of all those singles you gave me

[Loren]

you are going to have to find the stripper that is now the owner of all those singles you gave me

I do love a challenge. :mrgreen:

[aparke]

Regarding any safety issues at the crossover, I see at least two things that should be addressed.

First is driver awareness. Being comfortable behind the wheel AND being aware of your surroundings does come with a certain level of experience. However, every driver has to make it a point to avoid mental tunnel vision. I was working at station 5 during the last heat (in the rain) in which a car spun near the finish and was slow going through the cross over. My co-worker got the red flag out and frantically got it out there waving. The next driver didn't respond to our flag OR the flag that was waving at the next station (#1 or #4...don't remember which station number that is). Of course, the next station was realistically too late for the driver to respond, but it was a last ditch effort to get the driver's attention. The driver only responded once he got fairly close to the other car.

The second issue has to do with what needs to take place AFTER you spin or go off course. I saw at leaset one instance in which a driver missed a cone, stopped and reversed just to avoid a DNF. Other times, I saw drivers go off course and then take either a very slow or different route back to the grid. Either of these scenarios can be potentially dangerous. Especially the noobs need to be educated on this: Sure, OFFs (DNFs) will happen. Just don't panic. Gather yourself and safely make your way to the finish...quickly. Even if you are lost on course, you should at least be aware of where the finish is. By all means, if you miss a cone or gate, take the DNF...you're already going to have a bad time anyway.

Another minor rant, has to do with working the course. Most times there is a downed cone, the closest station has ample time to set the cone and get back out of the way. If you don't have time to do this (maybe the previous car knocked down a whole bunch of cones), don't be afraid to let the other car by and continue setting up the remaining cones after she passes. At that point, the driver has the option of stopping for a downed cone, rather than just automatically red-flagging the course. Generally, this will just make things go a little smoother with less interuption.

Overall, it was a fun event and I'm kind of jealous I didn't get to run in the rain.

[Loren]

Well-said, Aaron.

[Jeremy]

By all means, if you miss a cone or gate, take the DNF...you're already going to have a bad time anyway.

Technically, that is bad advice. You never give up on a run. There could be timing issues or a cone down ahead of you in which case you would get a rerun. Not true if you went off course, you would most likely lose your ability to take a rerun once you DNF that run.

edit: That's the SCCA rule anyway. I think I have seen FAST rule similarly though in this situation.

[Loren]

Technically, that is bad advice. You never give up on a run. There could be timing issues or a cone down ahead of you in which case you would get a rerun. Not true if you went off course, you would most likely lose your ability to take a rerun once you DNF that run.

True enough. If you can "salvage" a bad run by not DNFing it and there happens to be a timing issue or some red-flag condition that's not your fault, you'd be eligible for a rerun. The odds of all of that happening aren't all that great, but it could happen.

I say weigh your options (quickly)... coming to a complete stop to avoid a cone is stupid. You're going to kill two seconds stopping and backing up. Just hit the cone and take the penalty. DNF avoidance is a somewhat separate issue. If you've completely missed a gate or an apex, you could stop and back up to get through it, or loop around and do the same... or you can man up and accept that you blew it and carry on. There's no SCCA National Championship on the line here, and you get 5-6 runs or more, not just 3. We'd prefer that you make the choice that is the least disruptive to the flow of the event, but do what you need to do.

Regardless, the driver is going to do what the driver is going to do... workers need to assess the situation and flag accordingly.

[warneej]

Double post because I'm awesome but I saw some people taking pictures, love to get the link once they're posted!

[Loren]

Double post because I'm awesome but I saw some people taking pictures, love to get the link once they're posted!

I'd like to see some of those photos posted to the website.

PS: I'm thinking seriously about running E3 in Brian's 240 next season. :mrgreen: Not FWD, but plenty slow.

[AWOL Photo]

Double post because I'm awesome but I saw some people taking pictures, love to get the link once they're posted!

http://www.awolphoto.com/Autocross/FAST ... SPC-Auto-X" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[AWOL Photo]

Double post because I'm awesome but I saw some people taking pictures, love to get the link once they're posted!

I'd like to see some of those photos posted to the website.

PS: I'm thinking seriously about running E3 in Brian's 240 next season. :mrgreen: Not FWD, but plenty slow.

I added one the other day. I talked to Jamie and asked him to browse through the galleries and select a few and I will donate them to the websIte.

[aparke]

By all means, if you miss a cone or gate, take the DNF...you're already going to have a bad time anyway.

Technically, that is bad advice. You never give up on a run. There could be timing issues or a cone down ahead of you in which case you would get a rerun. Not true if you went off course, you would most likely lose your ability to take a rerun once you DNF that run.

edit: That's the SCCA rule anyway. I think I have seen FAST rule similarly though in this situation.

I guess I just don't take it that seriously.

[dropped top]

On that note, we used to have a handful of umbrellas in the trailer, but only a couple remain, we should get some more of the large ones. I'll watch out for some while I search for a screaming deal on a couple of canopies.

Thanks Jeff for providing the FROC-mobile.

I was working timing during the rain and when the timers quit working we were rooting through the boxes looking for stopwatches and we found a half dozen umbrellas in the bottom of one box. Sorry to those that suffered in the rain without, didn't know they were there. :shock: Perhaps, reorganization is needed instead of buying new.

Then also along with this I will repeat that the coolers for our drinks need a good cleaning out. I will volunteer to do this sometime between now and next event as long as I can get some help for the lifting of the heavier things and directions as to where I might find the trailer.

[Loren]

Then also along with this I will repeat that the coolers for our drinks need a good cleaning out. I will volunteer to do this sometime between now and next event as long as I can get some help for the lifting of the heavier things and directions as to where I might find the trailer.

Start a "trailer party" thread, Joe. I'll try to get over there and help. There are some probably some things that need to be fixed, helmets could stand to be cleaned/disinfected, and who knows what else.

[Loren]

Topic Split: FWD Economy Cars & MPG

[warneej]

Thanks Loren.

Updating the Season points soon?

[Loren]

Thanks Loren.

Updating the Season points soon?

I think Jeremy is still handling that.

[Native]

Jeremy got the points table to me. I haven't made time to post it. Soon though...

[anachostic]

This was my first event after the school. Had a lot of fun and didn't mind the course duty in the rain, but then again, I had a decent jacket. Regarding the close calls and course safety, is there a rule or regulation that says we can't have air horns for alerting?

[Loren]

Regarding the close calls and course safety, is there a rule or regulation that says we can't have air horns for alerting?

No, but I don't think it is necessary or that it would be very effective. We've normally got two workers at each station. One is the "runner" who primarily chases and resets cones. The other is holding a red flag and a radio. Where would an air horn fit into this scenario? Probably on the ground next to the fire extinguisher... so it wouldn't be readily accessible.

I could see maybe giving the active Course Marshal something like that so that he could alert to any problem he saw, but I'm not sure that would be effective, either. The horn would just get everyone's attention and have them looking around wondering what's going on. The exception there would be if we somehow managed to train all of the workers to just automatically wave the red flag, and the drivers to just unquestionably stop, anytime they heard that horn. But, if people were that trainable, we wouldn't have had any of the problems that we had at this last event! I mean, we told the workers "if there's a problem over here, red flag the next car", and we told the drivers "if you see a red flag STOP". If both of those things had happened reliably, there would have been no close calls.

We couldn't use a loud horn at SPC very much, though. We would get complaints. We have a full PA system that we were asked to quit using because of complaints from the apartment complex next door.

I hate to play the "that's the way it's always been done" card, but... flags have been the communication tool of choice for autocross (and racing) for many decades. They're probably sufficient for our little events.

[anachostic]

That was my general idea, that having an audible alert in addition to a visual alert would signal all drivers to brake. Flagging doesn't happen often and I'm not sure the horn would be more disruptive than some of the exhausts.

But it was just a suggestion and I'll go along with the established culture. I'm just a noob.