I'd also like to thank Barry and Ed for running an excellent event. To get
so many cars thru with barely a hitch can only result from the tireless
efforts of the event chairs throughout the day.
I had one interesting observation, having been at the event from start to
finish. I may or may not be correct, but it seemed like the size and
duration of the 8 run groups was pretty consistent. I know there was a
recent reshuffling of the run groups to reflect current participation
numbers, and if my perception was correct then this seems to be quite
effective. Honestly I think this is important when you have 330 cars
running in one day, because whenever you have a big imbalance and end up
with a 2.5 hour run group, you will run into big trouble. Not enough
workers for some groups for one. Also worker fatigue, which is perfectly
understandable but often leads to mistakes which take time to sort out.
Thanks again guys!
Peter
-----Original Message-----
From: Barry Chafin [mailto:bchafin@attglobal.net]
Sent: Monday, March 04, 2002 10:58 AM
To: Jerry Mouton; Dan4223w@aol.com
Cc: ba-autox@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Forum/ Sunday's course
Jerry -- Thanks for helping Dan out with questions about yesterday's course
design
/ implementation, your points are on target. As an Event Chair I'd love to
of
gotten another 15 seconds out of the Oakland lot in order to have three cars
on
course @ a time (theoretically more cars in less time). To accomplish the
task it's
likely going take a loop or as you pointed out much tighter and less
desirable
course.
Tony's going to try a loop on St. Patty's Day. Let's hear it for getting
looped on
St. Patty's Day!, :^). Let's hear it for Tony.
Dan -- Thanks for the feedback on the course design/site entry line. The
abstract
course design initially posted at the SFR site HAD to be modified for safety
concerns and site size (lot size) constraints. The "back seat drivin' sweep
stakes" corner had to be shortened to avoid a light pole, the "Crazy taxi
gone
conin' kink" ended up going East instead of North East (technical design vs.
abstract drove this change), we had to shrink up the "should'a had a V8
straight"
to avoid the bleachers and there turned out to be insufficient room for the
"are we
there yet Mom loop". On the abstract map I tried to set expectations by the
statement in the lower right hand corner: "all dimensions are approximate
and
physical characteristics of the sight (light poles & such) may cause the
course
design to be altered (better to alter course than body work or parts,...).
Yesterday's course was lifted from the Roger H. Johnson, SCCA Solo II Course
Design
manual, version 3.1 dated June 11, 1997. As implemented @ Oakland it was a
slightly modified version of the Topeka North Course of the SCCA Nationals,
1995,
included in Roger's manual. If nothing else you can say you've driven a
National
level GATED course, sans the concrete.
All -- I didn't notice a lot of folks getting lost on yesterdays GATED
course and
don't think there were a lot of course induced re-runs. If you have other
data,
please share.
Regards,
barry - http://www.4d-sport.com
Jerry Mouton wrote:
> 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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