THSCC Forums

Rob,

The car that launched when the Starlet spun out *WAS* flagged by station 2 ...he/she just didn't stop and no other stations attempted to flag the car after our station but luckily the Starlet was very fast at turning around and getting going in the right direction.

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2011/2012 Autox VP
2013/2014.5 President
2013 Top Gun

2015 Fit

22R-EC => 4G63 => D16Y7 + D16Y8 => EJ255 + K24Z2 => K20Z3 + K24Z2 => K24Z2 + M54 => L15B

i do one AutoX a year maybe. so take this with a grain of salt. IMO, course workers are getting less competent as time goes on.

i saw people turning there backs to cars on course, strolling out to get cones in front of cars, and strolling off course in front of cars.

i can say during the heat i worked the radio calls were clear but for maybe one or two. but low coneage was more responsible for that i believe than the actual ability to talk on the radio. the event i did last year had some of the most unintelligible radio traffic i think i have ever heard. plus everyone was trying to talk over everyone else.

i also think it is a good idea to call out "Red Flag, Red Flag" over the radio as not everyone might be up to speed as James noted. but that would be more of a Club directive rather than just my opinion.

i know it sounds stupid but maybe radio usage lessons for the Novices, or maybe mention it during the driver's meetings. of course if Ya'll are mentioning it during the driver's meetings i guess you know how much i listen anymore.

i miss the days of "when in doubt, whip it out". of course i also miss "The OOOOMPAH-LOOOMPAH Song" too.

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BenchWarmer Motorsports

another one of those damn LeMons heads

just another Chump

we are an Autocross Club Dammit............

I agree that a lot of people don't know how to make cone calls properly on the radio, or use the radio at all.

let me say this though, it's much worse at the recent Triad events i've been to.

What about making people bring the radios back to the table so we can ensure that novices don't end up holding the radio? Not sure if that is reasonable or not, but it's a suggestion!

I also think that the fact that some heats were ~2 hours and it was ~100F outside probably got people very tired and less on the ball. I had to struggle to stay alert at the end as I was totally exhausted.

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Club Webmaster
-2014 Mazda 6 SkyActiv DD
-2002 Honda S2000 totaled by deer

The original asphalt is made with local materials which are granite. That's about as good as it gets. The problem lies that they have sealcoated it to keep the leaky used cars from eating the asphalt up. Sealcoating = SLICK!

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02 Focus SVT
STF 9

This is why I always encourage the instructors/ extras to go out and work the course with the students to teach them how to work the course, when I chair autox schools.

You can't fix stupid, though.

I've noticed that course workers get "dumber" as the temps get higher. People get fried out there standing in the sun. Especially at Greenville where you can't retreat into the grass. However, making the novices run with class helps out a lot, avoids those times where the novice run group is out there working the course.

I had a great time this weekend. I was totally fried by my 3rd run from the heat and I know Laura was struggling with the temps too. We might be out when the heat index is predicted to be significantly above 100.

personally, i hate rain. i'm thinking that might fry my mindset way worse than heat. but that is just me.

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BenchWarmer Motorsports

another one of those damn LeMons heads

just another Chump

we are an Autocross Club Dammit............

Believe me, the novices who show up to the novice meetings are told lots of things. And I know it's easy to forget things, especially when it's so hot. Also especially when you are driving an expensive muscle car and you're too cool to listen

Maybe I'll take some initiative and make a handout. That could make the novice meeting go a little faster, too.

It looked to me that the sealant hasn't been reapplied in some time, and is getting a bit gritty as it decays. In the past, the pavement got grippier as rubber was laid down during the day - in particular - the far sweeper would go from impossible greasy to actually pretty decent in the afternoon heats. Since I made all of my runs early in heat 1, I don't know if this happened yesterday.

On the good side, my Hoosiers are back to being (cheater) slicks for the first since I pulled them off my tire trailer the morning of the Laurinburg autocross. This is the only site we run that doesn't chew up tires.

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Art McDonald
Premier Amateur #518
2008 Dishman Cup
Pivot Cone Snob

Rodney is a waxer (but in a good way)

Must have been someone else then, because everyone was yelling RED FLAG, but no one could hear It was hot so I'm not bitching, I was just using this as illustrative. I was going to walk up there, but it was hot and near the end so I punted.....

I'm not sure I want to make the assumption that it was a novice. A lot of people who should know better fall asleep, but I agree with Maria that we can emphasize it more at the Novice meeting. I'm not sure the paper would be of benefit since it would be more trees killed and my guess is not too many would really use it.