Larry Steckel asked:
>My local club, North Hills Sports Car Club, has always ran events in
>numerical order. Car #1 thru #100 and then start over for the second run.
>Steel Cities uses a heat system where you work a heat, sit out a heat and
>run a heat. The net result is you are at the event all day, and can have
>time to socialize and watch the other competitors. And I see that as a
>positive side of autocross.
>However, I know from the discussion here at Team.Net and from chatting
with
>fellow cone crunchers I have met along the way that some clubs use a
system
>where you come in, register, do your three or four runs and can then
leave.
>So, in effect, the club is running two or three small events within the
>framework of a one day event at their lot. The competitor has some choice
I
>assume as to when they come out and run.
>My multiple part question to y'all is; if your club runs in this fashion,
>how do you organize this type of autocross? By that I mean, do you put
stock
>cars in the morning and mods etc. in the afternoon session? Or is it a
>certain number of cars per session on a first come first served basis? Is
>Registration and Tech open all day? How do you get enough workers to
>adequately cover the stations all day? I am interested in learning the
>techniques you have found to make this type of multiple session autocross
>format work.
In the Detroit area, there's two different formats available. Detroit
Region SCCA runs with a heat format -- similar to Steel Cities in that
there are usually 4 heats, and you work one, run a different one, and
there's an "off" heat in-between to minimize changeover times -- like Work
1, Run 3, Work 2, Run 4, Work 3, Run 1, Work 4, Run 2. Last year, we even
had a pretty much "set" class listing for the heats that worked pretty well
from a numbers balance perspective. Given that 140 cars is on the low side
for us when the weather is nice, having this level of organization (not to
mention encouraging pre-registration) works great. Registration is open at
7:00 or 7:30, closes at 8:30 or 9:00, first car at 9:30 (okay, it's usually
9:45 or 10:00), with rare exception everyone gets 4 runs, and we're usually
done, picked up, and presenting trophies by 5:00. It's a full day, but
rarely is it hectic (except in the T&S truck).
On the other hand, the Detroit Council of Sports Car Clubs (DCSCC)
autocrosses are run in what I've nicknamed "Zoo Format". Registration and
tech are open until 1:00 pm, although the first car is typically off at
10:30 or so. At registration, you sign up to work a "shift" -- from X
clock time to Y clock time, and the grid consists of three basic lines:
1st run, "rerun" (2nd or later run, you can go back to paddock and make a
change if you so desire), and "hot lap" (particularly popular on colder
days as a way to get SOME heat in your tires). The grid usually fills up
Really Fast. For entry numbers under 80 cars or so, it works well enough.
>From 80 to about 110 cars, it's painful, and past 110 cars, it's well and
truly broken. You can literally sit on grid for HOURS at a large Zoo
Format event, waiting to take your first run because the re-run and hot-lap
lines get staging priority. I've had to pull my car out of grid in order
to work my assigned shift, or swap shifts with someone in order to be able
to get my runs in. This sort of thing is one reason I stopped running
Council events some time ago (there are some other reasons, but they aren't
germane to the discussion at hand).
Again, the Zoo Format works pretty well with smaller events, but as it gets
larger, it's a really good idea to go with a more structured format -- a
heat format, particularly one where the run/work order is pre-determined,
will greatly increase operational efficiency. Having an "off" heat between
the "run" and "work" heats also helps as it speeds the changeover of grid
and workers between heats -- the people ready to go aren't having to sprint
back from the course to their car or put their car back in paddock so they
can sprint out on course, plus the "off" time allows for socializing,
lunch, changing the car back from race to street tires (4th heat being the
major exception), etc. If you set up the class order so the open/ladies
corresponding classes are in subsequent heats, that also means that
co-drivers can be mutually-supporting.
Hope this is of some help, and I'm sure there are a number of differing
opinions on this subject. Not entirely sure there's a One Right Way -- it
depends on the situation at your local events, really.
Jim Crider
autojim@att.net
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