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Message text written by "Kevin Lahey"
"I'll respectfully disagree. I've noticed an enormous difference between
Marina and places like Oakland and GGF. It is the difference between my
car being nicely planted (maybe occasionally stepping out) and struggling
heartily to keep it going straight."
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I agree the three surfaces--Marina, Oakland, GGF--are each different. And
Marina does offer a slightly positive additional grip over GGF. 3 Com
offers more grip, too, but its bumpiness is a negative.
Having dealt with Marina several times, I think I'm fairly well acquianted
with it. It's the only place where, at two separate events, we've had cars
slide over 100 feet with their wheels locked up. On both occasions the cars
were aimed at the finish line with the driver's eyes rather wide, as I
recall.
A key part of the problem was course design and not leaving enough
run off room. On the first instance the driver decided she couldn't make
the final turn and locked up all four wheels in a panic stop. And then
skidded over 100 feet until it stopped. And we're talking here of a speed
range of 60-70 mph entering the key turn. The culprit was the grit on the
surface. That same grit covers the entire surface and out in the middle
when you make some turns there is a little pile of rubber dust added to the
mix. That's why you MUST follow the path created by others who run before
you do. That reality is what led to the creation of run groups in the first
place. Before that ALL the sharp guys waited until the late afternoon to
make their runs.
(I once chaired an event at the old Pleasanton site when, after one
hour of operation, we shut down in the morning for a full additional hour
because NOBODY wanted to run yet. Too much dust on the course. Run Groups
hadn't been invented yet.)
If you had asked be before hand about that specific Marina course,
I thought there was sufficient room. I would have been wrong. Further, I
think "speed killer" final turns is the wrong way to go.
We solved the problem by going back two (2) turns and making that
one sharper rather than having the "speed killer" turn be the last one.
While you may prefer the present Marina site* over other sites, the
goal is scheduling events as close to the Bay Area as possible, to provide
as many events as possible to our members in a convenient location. By
having events inside the Bay Area, more people get interested in the game
and, eventually, some of them seek other venues.
Without us keeping events inside the Bay Area, the sport shrinks.
With fewer people attending events, several things happen:
1) we don't clear as much money to buy equipment, trophies,
etc.; (which is why we raised the entry fee beginning in 1999); and
2) the clubs in outlying areas also lose attendance because
their base comes from the Bay Area population center. Catch 22.
I hope you enjoy your long trips. By their distance away from the
heavy population area, you will have a more laid-back event because there
are fewer people. I like those kinds of events, too, but I realize without
a solid base here in the Bay Area the sport will shrink dramatically. How
do I know this? Well look what happened in 1998 when seven of our 16 events
were held in Sacramento. That's why I volunteered to take over scheduling.
*There is another site at Marina that we used at least twice. It's asphalt
and used as a go-kart track. The danger element is more than any club
needs.
The present Marina site --approx. 400x750 feet --isn't big enough
to allow 60 second runs. It's actually closer to 800 ft long but we have to
give up 50 ft for an airplane lane that is never used. Personally I prefer
to have runs as close to 60 seconds as possible.
SCHEDULING: The last thing we can worry about is every other club's
schedule. When our inside-the-Bay Area sites become available we have to
use it when the land owner says we can. Moments ago I just learned the Pro
Solo at Lemoore will not be on May 5-6 as originally told to me by Howard
Duncan. It is now May 26-27. That we have an event scheduled for GGF that
weekend is of no concern to SCCA National. And, despite his promise, Duncan
did not inform us of the change. We learned about it by checking out the
National web site.
Oh, last Friday afternoon I called National to learn the latest
National Tour and Pro Solo schedules. On their answering machine, I
requested a FAX if they didn't care to call. As of Noon today there has
been no response.
My point: Some gorillas are bigger than others. And National is
bigger than we are. If it was up to me I'd run our GGF event on May 27. Not
too many of our people will be running Pro Solo. However, in the past, we
have always supported National's Pro Solo and Tour when they happen here.
What do you think?
--John Kelly
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