There have been a lot of responses that say their region "allows" this
and that. That's great! But I wonder if they organize things such that
it is not only _allowed_, but also _possible_.....
At 06:57 PM 6/28/99 , Hottvr@aol.com wrote:
>The way i
>got this whole deal figured is that if you want to run at the top of a class.
>Then you
>have to run against the top of the class. Theres nothing more fun than going
>to an event thinking "Todays gonna be the day" that I beat one of those "pro
>jocks".
I sort of agree. The problem is, when you end up 3 secs behind the "jocks",
what do you do? You know, "Hey, I can go 3 secs faster!" And that is good.
You may even be able to see the "jocks" runs and get some ideas of what you
can do better. But that's tough. In fact, its real tough to learn anything
trying to relate what you saw from the drivers' seat vs. what you are seeing
from the grid of someone else's run. At least, in my experience.
Ideally, you'd catch a ride with one or two of those jocks -- that can teach
you a ton. Or possibly better, you'd get one or two jocks to drive you in
your own car... that'll really show you how much faster you can be in certain
spots. I've learned more from that than from everything else combined (thanks
to rides with John Thomas, GH Sharp, and Brian Priebe at McKamey schools)!
THE GOOD NEWS: Most of the "jocks" are happy to give you some free
instruction, to let you ride with them, to drive your car, etc.
THE BAD NEWS: Most events are organized in such a way that its not
really _possible_, even if "allowed".....
For example, the best jocks to learn from are the ones in your own
class.... but they are usually driving when you are. So by the time you get
back to grid and park your car, they are out on course. You often can't
even watch their runs, let alone hop in the car with them and get buckled
up without holding up the show. And then, when they get back, you don't
have time to get out, get back in your car, and get on course without
holding things up.
Some regions separate out the "experts" so that they run at a different time.
Problem solved? Not usually -- who's working the course? Usually the people
that want to ride with the experts.
So, even though you're _allowed_ to ride with the experts, its really difficult
to pull it off at most events because you are either in your own car or working
the course when that expert is driving. And even if that was solved, you
really want to do a couple runs, then ride with the expert, then do a couple
more runs.
The only way I see to make this work reliably is to co-drive with an expert
such that you each take turns riding and driving and the grid is actively
supporting your two-driver effort. Other than two-driver cars, the events
have no mechanism for supporting drivers riding with the jocks!
THE QUESTIONS:
Do any regions have a solution to this?
Do any regions organize the events to make it _possible_ for drivers to ride
with jocks?
What mechanisms would you suggest to help coordinate such "educational"
rides and drives??
Thanks for all the feedback in this thread!!!!
Brian
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