You know, I've seen two very negative posts on this now on team.net and also
a discussion on SCCA forums. Do you have anything positive to say? Are
you
ready to offer any sort of solutions? What is it you want? Do you want
them to
throw the event out? If so then come out and say so (though I doubt
Larry minds
that 1st place finish in AS).
I am sure the National staff was doing their best in what looked to be
extremely
miserable conditions. If this brought out problems in the new timing
system then
it is good they are being found now and not later in the season. I'm
also sure
they are aware of the issues and are working at correcting any problems
before
the next event.
The results are still marked as unofficial so the national office may
not have decided
on the final solution to the issues. I think we should wait and see
what they are going
to do.
Scott Troyer
Snake River SCCA
Nampa, Idaho
The Fine's wrote:
> Below is the letter I mailed this morning to Tasha and Howard:
>
>
>
> February 20, 2004
>
>
>
> Sports Car Club of America
>
> P.O. Box 19400
>
> Topeka, KS 66619
>
>
>
> Attn: Tasha Goodale & Howard Duncan
>
>
>
> Dear Tasha & Howard:
>
>
>
> Just wanted to start by saying it was great to see the SCCA gang at this
> weekend's event in Atlanta, unfortunately for us the weather soured the
> social aspect of the weekend.
>
>
>
> We feel the need to write this letter based on the numerous accounts of
> strange timer glitches - for lack of a better description. We witnessed
> several instances of what appeared to be in accurate times throughout
> the event. From several vantage points, we watched competitor's cars in
> relation to when each passed the finish line. The times reflected for
> these cars, did not coincide with each respective car's position to one
> another when they crossed the finish line. It was our understanding that
> several other people witnessed the same thing we observed.
>
>
>
> We specifically called this seemingly glaring timer error to your
> attention, but were not really given any explanation. On Sunday morning,
> Dennis Grant who informed us that he was in part responsible for
> programming the new timing system approached us. He felt that for some
> reason the timing system was running in "drag race mode" and that the
> reaction times were not counted in the total time per run because the
> timer was not starting with the green light but was actually starting
> when a car broke the starting light beam.
>
>
>
> Even if this was the case - why didn't the SCCA personnel make an
> announcement to this effect? We all know that reaction times can
> determine whether you win or lose a run. Dennis Grant's explanation made
> sense to us for awhile, until we witnessed a few pairs of cars come
> across the finish line so close it was hard to say who should have had
> the faster time - however when the times were announced, one car was
> timed ahead by approximately 2 full seconds. That's what made us really
> start questioning the validity of times at this event.
>
>
>
> When two cars start the timer together, it should not matter how far of
> a distance they have to travel to finish, if they both finish and go
> thru the timing lights at the same time, the times should be fairly
> close. When two cars cross the finish line in almost a dead heat and yet
> one car has been timed with a 2 second lead it appears most likely that
> there is some form of timer error. If you do the math, based upon the
> relative speed of the cars crossing the finish, which for example is 30
> mph - in 2 seconds they would have traveled 88 feet. That distance is
> certainly noticeable, and was not evident when we witnessed where the
> cars finished in relation to one another.
>
>
>
> This exact situation happened to Larry and Brian Garfield in the 2nd
> round of the Super Challenge. They had very similar dial-in's, both in
> the 7's on reaction times and very close at the finish. And yet the
> timer tells us they were 2 seconds apart. Clearly there is an error
> somewhere that potentially caused an improper result.
>
>
>
> In closing, it does seem as though the SCCA has put some time, money,
> and thought into the SOLO timing system for this year. However, we feel
> that there was a problem at the Atlanta event and no one from the SCCA
> staff addressed this to the competitors in any fashion. We hope that
> when a logical solution is figured out that the competitors will be
> notified.
>
>
>
>
>
> Respectfully,
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Kim & Larry Fine
>
> #19 AS/ASL
>
>
>
> P.S. On another subject, is there a reason why the SCCA schedules the
> east coast events so early in the year? For one thing, Florida hotel
> rates in February are brutal and then you have to wait around until May
> for you next SCCA PRO/TOUR. And for the people who gear up to do the
> full PRO series, why not start the season out with a TOUR so you can
> work the bugs out of your car before going to a points event?
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