LAST Rally-x of the year; 11/18 , LOL Dirty Jack-O-Lantern Rallycross

[jungle]

THE DIRTY JACK-O-LANTERN RALLYCROSS IS ON!!!

The Cannon Falls course is ready and will be well groomed by Sunday,
November 18. The course has dried out since last month, and should
be in excellent condition for the event.

Another event has been discussed, but this could be the LAST EVENT OF
THE YEAR!! The championship is extremely close in some of the classes
(check in the "Files" link in the left column of this page for
standings), so get out there and defend your positions.

To preregister go to:
http://mnautosport.com/scca-lol/rally/rallyx/events.php

The landowner has informed me that he will have his food stand at
this event, he said he may have hot dogs, chili and maybe another
type of soup. So we will eat well.

I still need volunteers for registration at the event, and help with
timing and scoring. Let me know by post on this site or at the event.

Since we change back to normal time from daylight savings this
weekend, the sun will be setting at about 5:00 the day of the event.
I would like to start the event an hour earlier than normal, so I
would like to have the first car on the course by 11:00 a.m. This
means that I will need to be really organized (which is a stretch),
so the schedule is as follows:

Registration 8:45AM-10:30AM
Tech 9:00AM-10:35AM
Course walk 10:00AM-10:40AM
Driver's meeting 10:40AM
First car on course 11:00AM

Entry Fee:
SCCA Members - $40.00
Non-Members* - $50.00
Spectators – Always Free!!
*Non-members can always join at the event.

To preregister go to:
http://mnautosport.com/scca-lol/rally/rallyx/events.php

Scoring:
Event scoring shall be based on the accumulation of the best score of
each run set. In the event of a single run set, that score will be
counted toward the total.

[jungle]

i am looking to co-drive....so if someone wants their entry fee paid for lemme know...

[Ivan]

Hmmm, could be fun. Are 4x4's allowed? "Rules" link isn't working on that page. Thought I remember seeing another s10 in past event photos.

[jungle]

yup...

[magicsammy]

I will be there - driving the site owner's Scooby slushbox.

This is a great site, smooth enough for any non-lowered street car.

Come on out and play one more time!!

[esper]

I'll be there, with a "lowered" street car.

And it will be in a very high class i'm assuming.

[aansorge]

I'm thinking about it. However, I'm not sure if my old wagon will put up with the stress. My last event was Nationals, so I've got a bit of the racer's itch. Perhaps I'll risk killing my daily driver in the hopes of alleviating my racing addiction for another couple of months.

[Mark Holden]

Hmmm, could be fun. Are 4x4's allowed? "Rules" link isn't working on that page. Thought I remember seeing another s10 in past event photos.

If you mean 4x4 truck, then yes, they are allowed. Any vehicle that can pass the basic safety tech can compete. Tall trucks are certainly at a disadvantage, but we had a Durango run the last event and do pretty well (it was a muddy and very, very slow event, however, on a dry day you'd be giving up a lot due to the high center of gravity and long wheelbase).

Jim Cox also sometimes comes out with his Rally S-10, but that's got very little in common with any normal truck, kinda like a CORR or Baja truck. And an LS1 in it now...

A "4x4" ATV would not be allowed. But I don't think that's what you meant anyhow.

There are a couple of guys from TCStangs.com coming out with a Mustang, which should be very entertaining to watch on dirt. Probably not too fast, but entertaining.

This is the last scheduled event of the year, but one of the earlier events was postponed, and may happen at the start of Dec.

[Git Er Dun]

How is the course now? I went to a field for a rallycross one time in the spring and bottomed out a bunch but didn't hurt anything? Is there many rocks in the field or just mud?

[GUS]

Are you going to race the s10 zr2 Ivan? I want to see that thing "do some jumps"! lol

This is very tempting to join. school...rallycross...school...rallycross...? :evil:

[Ivan]

Are you going to race the s10 zr2 Ivan? I want to see that thing "do some jumps"! lol

This is very tempting to join. school...rallycross...school...rallycross...? :evil:

That's what I'm thinking, shiny Miata on dirt = no good. Not expecting to do real well anyways, being a rallycross virgin 'n all. If the ZR2's 4.3 can't take it, it'll be an (another) excuse to do the 350 vortec swap.

Jumps lol!

[Mark Holden]

This course is a farmer's field, which had soybeans planted this past season, so it should be free of rocks, etc. I haven't seen anything, but of course it's always possible there's something we haven't seen.

And no jumps :) We can't have cars leaving the grounds under the sanction.

[Mark Holden]

Also, a Miata would have to have at a minimum the factory hard top, and might have to have more than that (I think Spec Miata racers are allowed, but not sure about non-caged ones). So the Miata probably isn't a good choice.

[SlowSwede]

Sweet. I signed up.

I don't expect the 9-3 to do well. But it will be fun.

Only seems good at the hill climb event and track days.

Is it just cash, day of?

[Mark Holden]

Yep, cash or check, day of.

Next year we might look at doing prepayment options with credit, but that's a discussion yet to happen.


Sweet. I signed up.

I don't expect the 9-3 to do well. But it will be fun.

Only seems good at the hill climb event and track days.

Is it just cash, day of?

[SlowSwede]

Cool. Just had two more of my Saab buddies join up. :rockon

Maybe next year I will have some money left around for a proper car to use. But right now, new appliances and putting a new bathroom in kind of took away all my fun money.

:rolleyes:

[Mark Holden]

I don't expect the 9-3 to do well. But it will be fun.

Only seems good at the hill climb event and track days.


You might be surprised. Autocross guys tend to do very well against us. Clean lines and smoothness transfer over to dirt very well.

A smooth driver will be faster than most aggressive (and sideways drivers). The very fastest guys (depending on the surface) might spend a little time sideways, but not as much as the slower guys.

Part of the problem, is that it's just so darn fun to get the car sideways that it's hard to restrain yourself to be quicker. :)

[the tick]

How many runs do you guys typically get. Or more directly, how many do you expect to get this weekend?

[Mark Holden]

How many runs do you guys typically get. Or more directly, how many do you expect to get this weekend?

Typically we get in three sets of two, or a total of 6 runs. We score by summing up the best runs of each run group.

Since this course is 1.2 miles long, I'm going to guess the best times will be in the 2:30 range (could be longer) and most people will be closer to 3 (non rally/rallycross prepped vehicles), so there will probably be ~18 minutes of seat time for most people :)

Now, if the weather doesn't cooperate, or we have a really large turnout, the worst I've seen was two sets of two runs.

[jungle]

hmmm...the only non-lowered vechile i have is my 2wd dodge 1/2 truck...hmmmmm....

[Mark Holden]

hmmm...the only non-lowered vechile i have is my 2wd dodge 1/2 truck...hmmmmm....

LOL. If you ran that, and it's stock, you'd be in SR and worst case, there are a couple of guys showing up in a 'stang that might be in the same class. I think I'd take the truck over the 'stang at a Rallyx.

The busy classes at RallyX are the stock & prepared AWD (lots of Subies) and the modified 2WD class. Stock Front & Prepared Front usually get one or two entries, and I haven't seen a Stock Rear or Prepared Rear in years...

[esper]

I'll probably be in one of the higher subaru classes I am assuming. From the way I read the rules thats pretty much where an ESP WRX would go.

edit: just looked again, guess its rally prepared awd for me, but probably for most of the WRXs as well

[Mark Holden]

I'll probably be in one of the higher subaru classes I am assuming. From the way I read the rules thats pretty much where an ESP WRX would go.

Mods? I doubt you'd be in SA (stock AWD), but PA (prepared AWD) is pretty permissive:


Prepared Class Preparation allowances:
1. All Rally Stock category modifications are allowed.
2. Any sway bars and their mounting may be used or removed.
3. Any brakes may be used except no carbon brakes allowed.
4. Exhaust systems from the cylinder head exhaust ports back May be
replaced with any material with the following requirements:
a. The exhaust must exit the body work.
b. The exhaust must exit to the rear of the driver.
c. The exhaust must comply with local noise restrictions.
d. Downstream there must be at least one functioning catalytic
converter in the exhaust system on cars originally equipped with a
catalytic converter.
5. The intake system upstream from the throttle body may be replaced with
any material. Under no circumstances may forced induction components
be changed or added (turbochargers, superchargers, intercoolers).
6. Short shift kits are allowed.
7. Front and/or rear strut tower bars are permitted.
8. Any dampers may be used but the damper must mount to the original
mounting position using unmodified mounting points. Springs may also be
replaced, but they must be of the same type and use original mounting
points. Threaded collars and camber plates are allowed.
9. Electronic engine controls may be modified or piggybacked, but not
replaced.
10. Any tire is allowed except homebuilt studded tires.
11. Any front seat may be used, provided the seating surface is fully
upholstered. This does not permit the substitution of a passenger’s seat
with a child or miniature seat of any type. Any substituted passenger’s
seat must be sufficiently large and strong to be capable of adequately
accommodating an adult, such that it could be used as the driver’s seat.
Cars may have no fewer than the original number of seats. Seat belts are
required in all cars; however; the number of attachment points may not be
less than originally equipped. Installation of shoulder and lap belts is
strongly recommended. Additional belts must be installed per the belt
manufacturer's recommendations.
12. Any non-metallic bushing is allowed.
13. Wheels are unrestricted.

Stock Class allowances:

Preparation allowances:
1. All Cars must be equipped as from the manufacturer, with only factoryinstalled
and port-installed option packages. Options that were only part
of a package must be present with the entire package. Complete option
packages may be installed after purchase of the vehicle.
2. Tires must be DOT approved. Snow tires are allowed. No studded tires
are permitted unless ice or snow are present. Studded tires may not be
homemade using bolts or screws. Only street-legal studs are allowed.
Tires may not interfere with any parts of the car (fenders, fender liners,
suspension, etc).
“Aggressive” tires are prohibited. A tire will be considered an “aggressive
tire” if it meets any of the following criteria:
a. It does not carry a DOT approval.
b. It is marked “For competition only”, “Not for street use” or similar
verbiage.
c. It is modified or altered from its original tread pattern in any way.
19
d. The tread gap of the tire is equal to or greater than 0.34” as
measured in the space between any tread blocks. This does not
apply to any circumferential grooving that may be part of the
original pattern of the tire.
3. Any air filter may be used, but it must fit in the stock location.
4. The additions of protective equipment are allowed with the following
exceptions:
a. The modifications must only provide protection to the car and/or
occupants and provide no performance advantage.
b. Mud flaps may only be made of urethane and other flexible plastic
derivatives (i.e. no carbon-Kevlar)
c. Skidplates protecting suspension and drive traincomponents may
only be made out of metal or plastic derivatives.
d. Driver restraints and roll cage may be added.
e. Additional or replacement hood and trunk latches are permitted. All
latch systems must be secure.
5. Dress-up and convenience items which do not give a performance
advantage, reduce the weight of the car, or weigh less than the replaced
standard part they are replacing are allowed (i.e. shift knobs, pedal
covers).
6. ABS and/or traction control systems may be electronically/electrically
disabled but not removed.
7. Vehicle lights may be replaced with alternate bulbs and housing. Auxiliary
lights may be added. The total number of lights shall not be less than
standard.
8. Any brake pads may be used.
9. Fuel may be any type of unleaded or diesel fuel commonly available at the
pump. Alternative fuels must be pre-approved by the event RallyCross
Safety Steward prior to the event. No alcohol fuels or nitrous oxide are
allowed.
10. Any clutch disc or pressure plate may be used provided it fits all the other
unmodified, stock components.
11. Exhaust systems from the catalytic converter back may be removed or
replaced with the following requirements:
a. The exhaust must exit the body work.
b. The exhaust must exit to the rear of the driver.
c. The exhaust must comply with local noise restrictions
12. Any type wheel may be used provided it complies with the following:
Wheels must be of the same diameter and width as the OEM wheel.
Wheel offset(backspace) must be within 0.375"(9.5mm) of original
equipment wheel offset


Modified class:


Preparation allowances:
1. All Rally Prepared category modifications are allowed.
2. Any Electronic engine controls may be used.
3. Any replacement hood may be used.
4. Any clutch may be used.
5. Any car that is currently legal for stage rally competition in other
sanctioning bodies may run in its appropriate Rally Modified class
regardless of whether it meets the Rally Modified rules.
6. Glass, with the exception of the front windshield, may be replaced with
lexan or equivalent.
7. Any engine may be used but must be internal combustion.
8. Any drive train may be used
9. Any suspension may be used. This allows changes to all components and
geometry.
10. Body work may be added or substituted with any material.
11. The interior components may be completely removed and/or replaced.
12. Additional chassis braces and seam-welding are permitted.
13. All log booked race cars that meet entry requirements are legal for the
proper Modified class.
14. Any fuel system may be used provided gasoline or diesel fuel is used.
15. Catalytic converters are not required.


Sorry about the order, should put stock first, but I've got a 2yr old wanting to type...

[esper]

I have swaybars, endlinks, rear strut tie, group-N tops, prodrive springs, catless turboback exhaust and run a 19psi map through an accessport (requires a Forge bypass valve). I'll be using blizzak revo1 tires on 2001 2.5RS wheels.

After re reading looks like rally modified to me, since I got no cats anywhere in the car.

[Mark Holden]

I have swaybars, endlinks, rear strut tie, group-N tops, prodrive springs, catless turboback exhaust and run a 19psi map through an accessport (requires a Forge bypass valve). I'll be using blizzak revo1 tires on 2001 2.5RS wheels.

After re reading looks like rally modified to me, since I got no cats anywhere in the car.

Catless makes you M4. I think the rest would actually be Prepared class legal, but I'm not going to spend too much time looking, since the cat does the job.

Have fun getting your ass handed to you by Utecht ;)

I got tired of it eventually and moved to M2.

[esper]

maybe I will channel the ghost of richard burns and come out not too badly beaten up by mark.

I don't really care so much about competing, just out to drive for fun anyways.

[Mark Holden]

maybe I will channel the ghost of richard burns and come out not too badly beaten up by mark.

I don't really care so much about competing, just out to drive for fun anyways.

Actually, since Utecht has the season championship wrapped up, I would not at all be shocked to see him run in a different class, or maybe ever not at all at this event.

[SlowSwede]

All right, I rounded up my Saab buddies

Looks like we will come with:

89 900 SPG
02 9-3
01 9-5 Aero
03 9-3 SS (me)

Should be fun.

[chuck b]

Since this course is 1.2 miles long.

Mark,
is this the same course from the last half of last year- the dust bowl? that was the super twisty first gear course (for the SE-R anyway, probably not for the Protege).

I'm thinking about it too. Looks like I'd be in Prepared for the 16" winter wheels replacing the 17" stockers. As least i'd have decent tires!

thx

out

[Mark Holden]

Same location, but the layout is different. I can't recall how different it is, but not too much is my guess.

If it's really dry the place is indeed a dustbowl, but I'd prefer that to the mud bog we had last time in the rain. :P


Mark,
is this the same course from the last half of last year- the dust bowl? that was the super twisty first gear course (for the SE-R anyway, probably not for the Protege).

I'm thinking about it too. Looks like I'd be in Prepared for the 16" winter wheels replacing the 17" stockers. As least i'd have decent tires!

thx

out

[SalahK]

maybe I will channel the ghost of richard burns and come out not too badly beaten up by mark.

Rule#1: Believe in your own spirit man!!

At my first ever RallyCross event, driving my Blizzak-shod 2003 Evo (you know the wheelspinning monster with the viscous center LSD and open front diff), I beat Mark Utecht's Hakk-shod, LSDs up the wazoo, STI by over a second a lap on average.

So, if you wish, you may borrow my spirit for the upcoming event.

Mark (Utecht), If you're reading this, i'm just trying to give Zak a little boost. As you can clearly see, he has already conceded ;)

[SlowSwede]

Here's mine...mostly Saabs...sorry!

I will post video tomorrow, but it appears like my work camera took a crap and didn't record anything, which really pisses me off. Because we had some good in car shots of the Saab's getting ****ty sideways.


On to the pics, none are "action" shots (because I thought the video was working).

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1604.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1605.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1602.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1606.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1611.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1612.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1613.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1614.jpg

[SlowSwede]

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1615.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1616.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1617.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1618.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1619.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1621.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1623.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1625.jpg

[SlowSwede]

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1624.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/IMG_1628.jpg

[magicsammy]

what a hoot!

Man, I had fun. Special thanks to the site owner for the site, site prep and free food. And for letting me drive his car.

[Mark Holden]

what a hoot!

Man, I had fun. Special thanks to the site owner for the site, site prep and free food. And for letting me drive his car.

Didn't realize that was you! I was your friendly (Ok, grumpy about cameras) starter. Nice to meet you.

[washburn]

So...someone post some video of this deal. I want to see whta it was like.

[magicsammy]

the course was about 2 1/2 minutes log and very twisty.

It was perfect in the morning, the dirt was soft and about an inch deep.

In the afternoon it started raining and the dirt got a bit deeper with the big sweepers getting kind of rutted and deep but still pretty drivable. The rain made the loose soil just a tick more slippery and I pushed out on a couple corners trying to get a little more.

I trophied second in Stock AWD class and my co-driver, a rallycross newbie, listened to my instruction and beat me for first place (next time he is on his own ;)).

I love rallycrossing - I just can't stop laughing and hollering while trying to drive fast on the loose surface.

[SlowSwede]

the course was about 2 1/2 minutes log and very twisty.

It was perfect in the morning, the dirt was soft and about an inch deep.

In the afternoon it started raining and the dirt got a bit deeper with the big sweepers getting kind of rutted and deep but still pretty drivable. The rain made the loose soil just a tick more slippery and I pushed out on a couple corners trying to get a little more.

I trophied second in Stock AWD class and my co-driver, a rallycross newbie, listened to my instruction and beat me for first place (next time he is on his own ;)).

I love rallycrossing - I just can't stop laughing and hollering while trying to drive fast on the loose surface.

It was bar none the most fun I have had at any motorsports event. I didn't expect to do well, but I took first in stock front and top 10 overall (I believe).


As for the video, I have some of you, but my camera is acting super bizarre and I feel I may have lost it all. I had video of your coming around the first third of the course and through the slalom.

[esper]

I had fun too, I just had to remind myself that the pacing of a rallycross isn't like the kind of pacing you see at a large autocross event. Its more of an eventual process. It made me thankful to some degree that we are so on top of being aware of what is causing event delays and getting things done quickly, but at an event this size it really doesn't matter nearly as much.

I drove pretty well (6th overall I think) although I really think I could do better next time considering that i was knocking over so many cones trying to get close to them auto X style instead of giving them a bit more room to compensate for sliding, dirt spray etc. I had at least 3 cones in each morning run and wonder how things could have improved had I not carried those into my final score.

I've got some pics, but no video.


The paddock
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/esperunit/DSC_0125.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/esperunit/DSC_0136.jpg




http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/esperunit/DSC_0147.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/esperunit/DSC_0155.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/esperunit/DSC_0166.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/esperunit/DSC_0173.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/esperunit/DSC_0196.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y141/esperunit/DSC_0225.jpg

[Mark Holden]

I'm glad you guys enjoyed yourselves.

Clean lines and smoothness translate to fast on dirt too. As Zak (sp? sorry) pointed out, you need to leave more room between you and the cones.

And we know that we aren't the best at keeping things on track and keeping the pace up. Some of that is inevitable with a course that changes character so dramatically over the course of a day, other things we just don't do that well. It's one of the reasons I keep trying to drag more of you autocross guys out, in the hopes that we'll start learning some good habits from you.

I had a rollercoaster day. Went into the event in 2nd place on the season in my class (Modified 2WD) and one point ahead of 3rd. 1st was locked up already, and the guy in 3rd had been co-driving my car most of the season.

Got in the car, fired it up and drove about 1/2 a mile before I realized that the alternator was dead. Still sleepy I guess and not looking at the gauges closely as I left. Drove home, and debated what to do. Thought briefly about taking my wife's car (Nissan Altima, so I could run it in M2) but scratched that idea immediately.

Decided to drive down in my WRX and just work the event and not compete. If Erik found a different drive, he'd take 2nd, and if neither of us drove, things would stay as they were.

Once I got there, a friend offered a co-drive in her M4 Subaru, and I decided that I'd take her up on it. At that point, Kevin, who was 1st in M2 offered a ride to Erik.

I was like "damn, there goes 2nd". Then Kevin said we could both drive it and he wouldn't run, since he had the championship locked up. Ok, now it's a battle.

Since Kevin is also looking at buying my WRX, I let him drive it. No drama there, but...

Kevin's car is a fully prepped ice racer, and it was eye-opening how much more aggressive I could drive in it than my 1/2 prepped Sentra. I was having a terrible time course reading my first run and managed to go off course (10 sec gate penalty, not a DNF like autox) and take down one other cone, along with stalling the car. Second run was much better, but the car was so tail happy (and I'm not used to that) that I took out 4 cones, at least three with the rear end.

I was shocked to hear that despite my 4 cones on my "good" run I was still about 7/10s ahead of Erik at the break.

After the break, the started raining a little bit, but not enough to matter much. Erik was stepping up the pace and found 6+ seconds over his first set (!). However, on his second run of the second set, which was looking even faster, the driver's front wheel sheared all five studs (we determined later that the lugs had been backing off). There was a long delay while we moved the car off course, which meant the course spent a long time getting wetter and that played into having to cut the day short.

The thing was, Erik had a recorded time for the second set, and I didn't. So I was going to DNF. I looked at the line of 2WD cars left and most of them were nice shiny Saabs that I wouldn't be willing to push. Except the event master's M2 Suzuki Swift. I asked, and he agreed to let me drive it.

Now I have a shot. I know that in the car I had been driving, I can still take it if I keep just a little cleaner. But this car is an unknown. My run was 12 seconds off my earlier pace :( The owner had been nipping at my heels in that car earlier, but I couldn't come to grips with the car fast enough.

So I took 3rd in class, Erik took 2nd, and we took the same in the season championship.

We managed to jack up Kevin's car, pound out he broken studs, and Erik had run to an auto store and gotten new ones, so we got the car back under it's own power and up onto the trailer. Nice thing about dirt, is that it only made things messy, didn't break anything else.

So, I have a list of things to do over the winter. Drop the transaxle out of the Sentra and weld the diff, remove the front swaybar, and get a stiffer rear bar. A lot of bodywork which was already on the list, and hopefully, cage it. Look at adjusting the spacing of the pedals a bit to make left foot braking easier too.

[SlowSwede]

I would have let you drive my 9-3 in a heart beat. Should have just asked.

If the other events are as smooth as this one, I will likely come a lot more next year.

One thing I would recommend is RADIOS.

That truck coned three times in my section and at the end they said that he had one clean run and one run with one cone down in the first session.

The course was so large and without radios timing and scoring must have been a nightmare.

[Mark Holden]

I would have let you drive my 9-3 in a heart beat. Should have just asked.

No doubt you would have. But I never would have been willing to push the car hard enough. The Swift is a dedicated rallycross car, and in fact, a true POS with very little real value to it.

[esper]

I would have let you drive my 9-3 in a heart beat. Should have just asked.

If the other events are as smooth as this one, I will likely come a lot more next year.

One thing I would recommend is RADIOS.

That truck coned three times in my section and at the end they said that he had one clean run and one run with one cone down in the first session.

The course was so large and without radios timing and scoring must have been a nightmare.

I don't want to be Mr. overly critical but here's what I'd offer as my constructive criticism. i think you guys did a great job, I was just underdressed and freezing most of the day so wanting things to go fast. I really didn't think through the "standing in a field all day in late nobvember" aspect as much as I should have.

The biggest key that i saw was the start interval. Now this may be due to the timing equipment involved but the interval was enough so that at several points one car had completed the course and nobody was on the course at the time. doesn't sound like a big deal but at 150 car autocrosses 5 seconds added per start interval adds up to adding more than an hour to the event. Granted, this is less cars and I don't know what the safety regulations are etc. but it seemed like the pacing could have been quicker.

secondly (minor thing) while it was nice to have the group course drive, running through the keyhole was an unneccesary waste of time there, as long as everyone knew how to approach it.

The lack of radios led to many cones potentially not being recorded. Its hard to know since I haven't seen any results though, but I know I saw things hit that the person didn't or couldn't communicate to someone something had happened. Even 4 radios dispersed around the course would have made a huge difference. But then again, I hit a lot of cones on my first 2 runs, so perhaps this benefitted me in some way :)

Like I said, MAC sort of has to be insane time nazis because there is simply no other way to get all the runs in with the amount of cars that show up to a lot of the events. With fewer cars and fewer runs there is a lot more room to go at a slower pace, and thats fine, it is what it is. However at the pace we were going I think 2 runs in the afternoon might have been pushing it time wise so it was probably better that didn't happen.

[Mark Holden]

I don't want to be Mr. overly critical but here's what I'd offer as my constructive criticism. i think you guys did a great job, I was just underdressed and freezing most of the day so wanting things to go fast. I really didn't think through the "standing in a field all day in late nobvember" aspect as much as I should have.

Honestly, I want criticism from people who are used to doing it better, so that we get better, so don't be afraid of hurting my feelings :)


The biggest key that i saw was the start interval. Now this may be due to the timing equipment involved but the interval was enough so that at several points one car had completed the course and nobody was on the course at the time. doesn't sound like a big deal but at 150 car autocrosses 5 seconds added per start interval adds up to adding more than an hour to the event. Granted, this is less cars and I don't know what the safety regulations are etc. but it seemed like the pacing could have been quicker.

There were several times I can recall this happening, and most were due to people doing things that we should have, but didn't tell them not to do in the driver's meeting. One of the suggestions I'm going to make for next year is a scripted portion of the driver's meeting, or at least a checklist for the event master to follow to make sure things get covered so we don't have to stop and tell people in the middle of the event. Not a criticism of this event master, most of use would have missed similar things, as the core group is so used to things that we don't even think about some of the things we should be telling the new guys.


secondly (minor thing) while it was nice to have the group course drive, running through the keyhole was an unneccesary waste of time there, as long as everyone knew how to approach it.

You're right. And I bet nobody even thought of it. Typically we don't do a parade lap, but when the course is 1.2 miles, it's a bit hard to walk it in a reasonable period of time. We should keep an eye out for places where the course crosses itself and causes issues like that.


The lack of radios led to many cones potentially not being recorded. Its hard to know since I haven't seen any results though, but I know I saw things hit that the person didn't or couldn't communicate to someone something had happened. Even 4 radios dispersed around the course would have made a huge difference. But then again, I hit a lot of cones on my first 2 runs, so perhaps this benefitted me in some way :)

There were radios out there, but communications sucked this time and I don't know why it was so bad. I was having problems with radios that I've used for 2+ years with zero issues, and they had full charges, but T&S could barely understand me, and I couldn't hear transmissions from across the field that I could see line of sight.

But I think being able to provide a radio to each and every worker would be of huge benefit, and I think we need to start using separate channels for cone reporting and the safety/organizer aspect of things.

Anybody know a good place to get FRS radios in bulk for cheap? No GMRS, just FRS, but decent units that will last. Ideally units with rechargeable batteries, but ones that can use AAs in a pinch? Too much to ask? :)


Like I said, MAC sort of has to be insane time nazis because there is simply no other way to get all the runs in with the amount of cars that show up to a lot of the events. With fewer cars and fewer runs there is a lot more room to go at a slower pace, and thats fine, it is what it is. However at the pace we were going I think 2 runs in the afternoon might have been pushing it time wise so it was probably better that didn't happen.

I don't see us getting to the point that MAC does, but I'd like to be able to see us handle, say 50 cars without our organization going to pot. Lots of cars at a site like that, where times are in the 2:30 range (and a lot higher for many), is going to limit the number of total runs without a doubt, but we seem to start really failing over about 20 cars right now.

[Mark Holden]

More pictures (not mine):

http://www.digitalgopher.net/gallery/3851310#222885342

[SlowSwede]

Mark

Sent you a PM.

[SlowSwede]

My car looks soooo out of place.

But what a blast!

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/93ss.jpg

[Digital_Gopher]

More pictures (not mine):

http://www.digitalgopher.net/gallery/3851310#222885342

Thanks for posting a link here. I had not gotten over here today.


Jeremy

[Mark Holden]

And I can't keep track on who is on what forum/mailing list anymore, so I just post stuff all over :)

[phile]

My car looks soooo out of place.

But what a blast!

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b47/campbellca/93ss.jpg

Tell Jeremy that his stuff is welcome in my "PANNING shots only" group on Flickr.

[esper]

any results for this? or am I blind and jsut not seeing something...

[Mark Holden]

They got posted in the "official" place, but not in the unofficial place, which is where they're easier to get to. I'll try and upload them this evening after my little boy goes to bed.

Edit:

I managed to do it while he was still awake.

http://mnautosport.com/scca-lol/rally/rallyx/events.php

The results are there now.

[esper]

yes! fifth overall with 7 cones!

I guess I was channeling dead McRae.