5/30/09 Event

[solo-x]

Wow, BM in top pax spot. That hasn't happened in a while!

Anybody have sound logs from the event, or happen to know what kind of levels the Hype-R was at?

BTW, positive camber on the rear axle = not good. I wouldn't recommend that for alignment on an FWD SP car. Also, setting rear camber with 140lbs of tires and gear in the car is a great way to end up with positive rear camber at race weight. Note: Always have the car at race weight when changing the alignment, even if you "know what you're doing". :hammer:

Oh, and sorry for killing all those mosquitoes. The Hype-R is now 300% more "green" as evidenced by the lack of a large wafting blue cloud of oil smoke after each run. I would have relinquished my honorary g-fab membership after reducing my oil smoke emissions to a level below a certain SM car save for the fact that I fixed this issue with zip ties and a gatorade bottle. I'm fairly certain that is a "g-fab approved" fix and sufficient for me to maintain my honorary status.

[Jenna]

Pffffft.

The SM car in question isn't smoking oil anymore. That's the tires locking up.

[blang]

130 is our break point for 4 heats, BUT we didn't know the actual participant count 'till after the course was set. We were working with the pre-reg count plus fudge-factor of 124-ish. With 4 heats, we would have had probs with inadequate workers even if we only had 4 stations on course.

We try to get the run groups to complete the runs in 90 minutes so the workers aren't out there so long. We goofed on the first heat, sorry about that. We'll try to avoid a repeat with upcoming events.

Just so the math is defined on pulling this off, we need cars to start every 27 seconds on average. That should be fairly easy to given a proper course design and no operational problems.

So - echoing Chang's comment - great job everyone!

And I agree, the course was extremely fun!

[Chang]

Three heats dont work.  We lose too much time with the worker changeovers.  Three heats means more down tiime for changing workers.  Lets not let history repeat itself.  We have learned this in the past.
We could discuss not stopping for lunch.  If you bring  lunch, you can grab a bite between driving your runs.  This would mean no time to leave the site to buy lunch.

[Mickle]

We could discuss not stopping for lunch.  If you bring  lunch, you can grab a bite between driving your runs.  This would mean no time to leave the site to buy lunch.

I like that idea, I ended up doing that anyways because the lunch break was so late that I couldnt wait!  I was starving so I stuffed my face and went back out.

[neilschelly]

I'd rather 6 runs and a lunch break than 8 runs without one.  And that's coming from someone who is rarely working on course during a heat.  I imagine taking away at least some semblance of lunch break would make our events far less hospitable to folks.
-N

[Bill B.]

I suggested to Bob that we "shuttle" people out to the course for their work assignments. We do this at the BMW club events and by comparison it appears to work. We wasted a LOT of time with people walking out this past event.

[Jenna]

I'd rather 6 runs and a lunch break than 8 runs without one.  And that's coming from someone who is rarely working on course during a heat.  I imagine taking away at least some semblance of lunch break would make our events far less hospitable to folks.
-N

The lunch break allows us to work out any timing issues without having a car starting every 20 seconds. More runs are nice, but not having people in timing freak out during heats is probably better.

[neilschelly]

So is two hours on course for a single heat hospitable?

I didn't say it was.  I think yesterday probably should have been a 3+3 day for runs and when I heard the morning was going to 4, I was very surprised by that.  But I think that was a mistake already acknowledged and explained. 
-N

[WileyCox]

Hey, did anyone with a Traqmate, GPS or any other recording system get a (semi) accurate idea of course length from Saturday?


-WileyC

[blang]

I suggested to Bob that we "shuttle" people out to the course for their work assignments. We do this at the BMW club events and by comparison it appears to work. We wasted a LOT of time with people walking out this past event.

In order to do the shuttle thing, we'd need dedicated vehicles to do the shuttling.

I'd offer my van, but no seats and having to disconnect / reconnect is a real drag (and it takes about 20 min. on either end). Plus there's a lot of "stuff" in there. Anyone that's requested tools or parts from me knows about this "factor". :-)

I don't think that "we" ever completely closed this topic, we just didn't have the tools to pull it off.

Repeating the concept on my earlier post - 15 min. of downtime for worker changeover equates to 30 to 40 timed runs. Do that a couple of times and everyone gets less runs at the event. So we really do have to work on changovers.

Note that it is okay to bring a bicycle to events that you can ride to your workstation. If you bring a bike and aren't using it, please offer it to folks that are working at the "far end" of the course.

So - bikes are good for event flow (not through grid, of course), and anyone that wants to offer taxi service to shuttle workers is welcome to do so (please check with the event chair or SSS for particulars). Note that we cannot park cars on course, so don't ask.

[ChrisFranson]

Hey, did anyone with a Traqmate, GPS or any other recording system get a (semi) accurate idea of course length from Saturday?
-WileyC

That loop generally works out to be almost exactly a mile.

[WileyCox]

In order to do the shuttle thing, we'd need dedicated vehicles to do the shuttling.

Note that it is okay to bring a bicycle to events that you can ride to your workstation. If you bring a bike and aren't using it, please offer it to folks that are working at the "far end" of the course.

So - bikes are good for event flow (not through grid, of course), and anyone that wants to offer taxi service to shuttle workers is welcome to do so (please check with the event chair or SSS for particulars). Note that we cannot park cars on course, so don't ask.

Need me to find and buy a bunch of group (used plain boring old) bicycles?  I can start trolling craigslist for bikes that can be refurb'd and live in the truck?  I can do bicycle refurb, so if we want to go this route, I volunteer for that job.  I can't imagine we could pack more than 5-10 in the truck (just lying all over the place on top of things), but it could help.

Also, if we do go the trailer route for truck replacement, we may have a dedicated tow vehicle (pickup?) that could be used as a shuttle vehicle.


-WileyC

[crxmike]

Note that we cannot park cars on course, so don't ask.

Just curious (not asking, I promise) how do the Ford clubs get away with this then?  Is their insurance policy different?  I realize their course tend to be longer making driving out a real time saver.  As long as you park way off-line, I do not see it as a safety concern.

With that said, when Pat first told me that I could drive out to my work station, I was flabbergasted.

[batchman]

Just curious (not asking, I promise) how do the Ford clubs get away with this then?  Is their insurance policy different?  I realize their course tend to be longer making driving out a real time saver.  As long as you park way off-line, I do not see it as a safety concern.

With that said, when Pat first told me that I could drive out to my work station, I was flabbergasted.

Parking way offline is easy.  No club uses all the pavement.  A senior member in the first run of the session ensures sanity.

It is worth noting that having a few sedans around is very very useful when thunderstorms are predicted.  While I expect to do some running when working course, running to shelter is not really possible from stations 2 through N-1.  At least, not for this old guy.

Best,
- Jeff S

on edit - PS thanks for a great event, I really enjoyed the course.
PPS,  anyone with enough rpm for corner 2 or the exit at this course will get through most any Ford club event