Dan,
The "Forum" is ba-autox, an email list that locals
use to discuss things from autocross courses to
SUV and cellphone use. There is help signing
onto this list in the autocross links page.
http://www.sfrscca.org/solo2/autox-links.html
The general feeling on this is if you don't like
the courses, then chair an event and show us how
it can be done.
No idea why the final loop was taken out, but I'd
bet that it did not meet SCCA safety rules. Ever
seen a car hit a fixed object at 30 MPH?
Oakland and Golden Gate fields are relatively small,
and it's very hard to design satisfying, well-flowing
courses as long as a minute there.
Even Marina Airfield, which is bigger, does not
get much larger courses. Every single NASA event
this year has had TTOD less than 50 seconds.
Candlestick is really big, and great long courses
are available, but the surface is poor and there are
some dangerous bumps there that can get cars airborne,
or rip the bottom out of low modified cars. Still,
TTOD in Round 2 was 67 seconds, not 75. Candlestick
also costs an arm and a leg, so we might have to raise
entry fees if we ran there all the time.
It's possible, of course, by making the courses slower
and so, tighter. I would prefer faster, well-flowing courses
of 40-50 seconds. I thought the course yesterday was
great.
I've been autocrossing in the area for 7 years, with all the
clubs. Courses over 1 minute for the TTOD cars have
been pretty rare. Either they have been at large Sacramento
airfields, or they have been terror courses
narrow and twisty without a bit of fun in them.
Part of the problem we have in cost per minute is the huge
number of entrants we get. We pushed about 340 people
and one police car through in about 8 hours. No way to get
more than 3 runs. If you want longer events, you'll have to
go to Sacramento. They have lost their big airfields, so
there may not be longer events there.
$10.00 per minute for racing is ridiculous? Man, what
planet are you from? Real racing is about $15,000 and
WAY up for a year, not counting rebuild and medical
expenses. Many autocrossers cough up that much a year.
Maybe racing or autocross is just not for you.
If you want more time per dollar, try SpeedRing or Karting.
Or Malibu, it's cheaper, too. And fun.
Jerry
Jerry Mouton mailto:jerry@moutons.org Laissez les bons temps rouler!
----- Original Message -----
From: <Dan4223w@aol.com>
To: <Webmaster@sfr-solo2.org>
Sent: Monday, March 04, 2002 8:30 AM
Subject: Forum/ Sunday's course
> Regarding the new system of sign-in-upon-arrival at SFR Solo2, I have been
> told that the way to sign up for that as work credit is to go to the "forum"
> on www.sfrscca.org/solo2. As far as I can tell, there is no forum. Am I
> missing something? How can I sign up? I think we should have more than one
> check-in person, so there's not a long line.
>
> One more thing: I don't know the general feeling on this, but people I have
> spoken to agree with me; the event on 3/3 was too short! I know the course
> was supposed to have another S-turn, and it got left out for some reason. Do
> what you need to do, but at least let the course run close to a minute. This
> time it was an average of about 45 seconds, tops. Normally it's almost a
> minute. At Candlestick this year, it was about 75 seconds, which is great.
> But on Sunday I kind of felt cheated. $25 divides up into $8.33 per run on
> 3-run days, which is pretty steep. I'm not complaining about the price (and
> nobody should be), but when the price of racing figures to about $10 per
> minute, that's just ridiculous.
> Thanks for your patience, didn't mean to write a book.
> -Dan
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