SPC Mar 21-22

[Native]

...nice!

Don't think the start was quite as early as Carl may have liked, but with 7-9 minutes of seat time, it was still more than double a regular event. Nice mixture of elements in the course - some slower tighter stuff, and a couple of spots to open it up a bit. Couldn't have asked for nicer weather, either.

Job well done 8) .

[Anonymous]

I didn't really like the course. I know, everyone is shocked.

How about we stop testing courses with a Yaris and start using Howard's pickup truck? That should tell you what the problems were today.

[Solar]

...nice!


Job well done 8) .

Here here !!! Carl did a great job!! Great course, a total of 12 runs combinded, and one of the best courses at SPC I can remember!!

Drivers meeting started at 10 sharp which just shows that it can be done at any event location (Brooksville started at 10 also ). Though the meeting went a little long; to me it was only because we were running a different type format, and there was more instruction and questions on how the worker groups would be done.

Steve did a great job on rotating workers in and out and did his best to limit anyone at a worker station to 45 minutes.

Lunch was awesome as well, great Cuban eats, and it was nice to have a low carb option. One of the first times after lunch I didn't feel like taking a nap.

Looking forward to doing it again tomorrow. 8)

[leftandright]

I had a fine time. I LIKED the course. It was my first time doing endurocross with you guys; and what fun. More e-cross, please!

Cubano chow -thumbs up. Weather - thumbs up, too.

I can't make it tomorrow; y'all have fun.

Thanks for a fine day of lefts and rights,
Mike

[Loren]

I didn't really like the course. I know, everyone is shocked.

How about we stop testing courses with a Yaris and start using Howard's pickup truck? That should tell you what the problems were today.

The problem wasn't what we tested the course with, it was how much time we had available to fix the course. That's the way it goes sometimes. We could have taken another half an hour to make the course "perfect", but then we'd have been another half an hour later getting started... and somebody would have STILL not liked it.

I didn't like the course at first (and REALLY didn't like it when I did the test runs on it before we made some changes to it), but it grew on me after a couple laps. By my last run, I'd really learned to enjoy it.

[Anonymous]

It wasn't THAT bad. It just wasn't what it was hyped up to be. I was expecting "The fastest course that safety will allow", and what I got was a first gear course with a bunch of lock to lock turns.

Maybe tomorrow is the fast course.

[Loren]

Maybe Carl over-hyped his course?

Still, I heard from more people that liked the course than didn't. Not our fault that you bought a car that will go 45 mph in first gear!

[Anonymous]

Actually 38.3 mph with my monster truck tall tires. 36.9 on stock tires.

[Anonymous]

Oh, I forgot this...

Excellent use of the nice, bright cones. I don't even remember seeing any of the ones with the hard bases, only the nicer, softer ones. I really appreciated that. Good job.

[Solar]

Maybe Carl over-hyped his course?

I don't think so; IMO the course was fast for SPC and we were able to use most of the area out there. Yeah, there were some tight spots, but I liked the fact that there were plenty of different line options for drivers to take depending on how fast you entered and exited a apex to set up your next turn. To fast and you blew the next apex, to slow, and.....well you lost time.

After the day was over, I wondered how the course would've played out if it were a standard autocross, with just one lap at a time.

[Solar]

Oh, I forgot this...

Excellent use of the nice, bright cones. I don't even remember seeing any of the ones with the hard bases, only the nicer, softer ones. I really appreciated that. Good job.

You can thank SPC for that, they replaced all their nasty cones, I don't think we used one FAST cone for the whole course.

[meicalnissyen]

Actually 38.3 mph with my monster truck tall tires. 36.9 on stock tires.

snotsucker bangs the limiter at just under 40 with the 235/50's on the front, maybe gets there a bit slower though



don't have the stones to look down with the flemster

Mazda plate to read:

FLEM-LVR

[meicalnissyen]

Maybe Carl over-hyped his course?

Still, I heard from more people that liked the course than didn't. Not our fault that you bought a car that will go 45 mph in first gear!

Carl's course???

[meicalnissyen]

[/quote]

I don't think so; IMO the course was fast for SPC and we were able to use most of the area out there. Yeah, there were some tight spots, but I liked the fact that there were plenty of different line options for drivers to take depending on how fast you entered and exited a apex to set up your next turn. To fast and you blew the next apex, to slow, and.....well you lost time.

After the day was over, I wondered how the course would've played out if it were a standard autocross, with just one lap at a time.[/quote]

Good point on the line.s.
there were choices to be made, and benefits and consequences. that is a rare luxury.

is there a way to run a split timer so diferent lines could be checked for time? not that I am consistent enough to benefit, but its a thought

[Anonymous]

Today was a much better course. I had a great time. Thanks.

[Loren]

Interestingly enough, the tightest and most difficult parts of Saturday's course were also present in this course. The only real difference was that part of the course was eliminated and a long straight added to give (the perception of *) more speed.

* (In reality, there was very little more speed. My max speed Saturday was 43 mph, today it was 45.)

It was definitely a fun course though. There was a surprising amount of challenge for such a simple course.

And, yes Mike, it was Carl's course. I made some suggestions (as did Steve), and made sure that it got set up properly and safely, but it stayed very true to Carl's vision.

[Agent]

This was probably the fastest you will ever have gone at SPC. In fact, I CHALLENGE you to go faster. (hint, chair an event and make a straight line drag race)

I'm glad everyone had a pretty good time. As far as the first day, there wasn't anything I could really do to make it faster besides making an oval. The long straight on the first day HAD to have something to slow it down a bit and maybe the cone was offset too much, but it seemed fun. I liked the first day better, but also I love back to back runs and long courses. It's nice to have a long course because a split second isn't as big of a deal.

The second day turned out pretty well, I think we started fairly early, and some peeps may say we got out a bit late, but I left with only 3 parties still at the site (after I loaded up my car even) and it was barely 4:30pm. Not bad with 12 runs. Next time, I think the ultimate course could have another 15 seconds in it, but at SPC it's tough to do unless you are going uberslow. Since I don't have a uber-charger, slow=teh suck.

Oh, I apologize for the late lunch on the second day. Next time I'll have them be there at 11:30, this should ensure us getting our lunch before 12:30. (and with more buns)

[snookwheel]

Great day! Thank you Carl. I really enjoyed the course and the HUGE number of runs! The course offered a bit of everything. The weather was fantastic.

It really would have been a perfect day except for one thing...the baked beans, while very tasty, were just a bit too runny. A tiny bit of the juice spread over far enough on my plate to place my delicious BBQ sandwich at risk of becoming soggy. :shock: Other than that stessfull situation, a fantastic event! In time, I am sure I will get over above mentioned unfortunate lunch event...

Seriously, GREAT job. Had a blast.

Video's to follow

Thanks again. Scott

[aparke]

Great job, Carl! Today was a blast. Tons of runs and great food. I liked the fact that it seemed different than a lot of other autocrosses--shorter course with more runs. Variety is nice. A longer course at SPC can significantly increase the time before the second car is sent out. The shorter course was designed such that the cars were flowing through pretty rapidly; it also lessens the gap between the experts and novices...(which I suppose, puts me somewhere in between )

[Anonymous]

There was a surprising amount of challenge for such a simple course.

Yes. I thought it was very challenging today, as opposed to yesterday's course which I found boring.

The big difference between today's course and yesterday's was "punish/reward". Yesterday I felt like the course had 5 punishing places with only 1 reward. Today's course had 3 punishing places and 2 were rewarded. This subject is in Roger Johnson's handbook.

The only thing that did not reward either day was that back corner. I just didn't get it. Although it was a lot easier to get into it today, making it not as punishing as yesterday. The exit was still punishing.

So, having tight spots in a course is not bad, as long as they are rewarded.