THSCC Forums

Sorry David, no slight intended

so, what exactly is meant by "drills"? I suppose thats what turned me off a bit to it, but maybe I'm misunderstanding what we're talking about

_________________
2012 MX-5 Sport SUV

DAMMIT!!!! I can't go now!!!! I now have to fly to DALLAS that day!!!!!! I hate it when work gets in the way of me having fun!!!! DAMMIT!!!! DAMMIT!!!! DAMMIT!!!! DAMMIT!!!! DAMMIT!!!! DAMMIT!!!! DAMMIT!!!! DAMMIT!!!! DAMMIT!!!! DAMMIT!!!! DAMMIT!!!! DAMMIT!!!!

_________________
Todd Breakey
STS 42 - 1992 Sunburst Miata
Dammit!
"You souldn't play leap frog with a porcupine. You might get hurt." - Eliza

I am not speaking for Art, but I will share my suggestions that I shared with him.

Area 1: A high, high speed slalom that leads into a turn around. After the turn around, a couple of fast lane changes.

A five cone slalom with about a 30ft pacing will get your heart rate. You will push it until you spin. Find the limits of grip. Any changes you make to the car, to your line are amplified 10 fold. How fast you make it through the exit offsets is determined on how slow you exit the turn around

Area 2: A constant changing turn around. The entry and exit points will change through out the morning. Keep the entry and exit elements the same, but vary the entrance and exit.

Pretty straight forward.

In the afternoon, link the two areas together and get a 35 second course. Each group has 12 cars, make your run, evaluate your run and get ready for your next run. Make a total of 4 runs in a period of 30 minutes or so.

Toss in a few course walks prior to the afternoon runs. Now you learn to walk the "perfect" line. And when you return to the grid, mentally compare your run to the walk's "perfect line". What change(s) do you need to make get the car on that line. A great mental exercise. You do that, get fluids, check the car in about 10 minutes....

The above helps you with running with other clubs and their formats. One of the biggest complaints you hear from THSCC people is they can not adjust to making their runs concurrently. Too stressful. It doesn't have to be stressful if you learn in a low-key, familiar setting.

Those were the ideas I shared with Art and he is no obligated to use any of it.

I can tell you from my experience at Nationals, the mental prep is the most important. A course is a course is a course. But when you let the event get to you, prepare to finish mid-pack. It is the cool cucumbers that have the right mental state of mind that run really, really well.

_________________
Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

After reading Jim's description, now I REALLY want to do this!!!!!!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!! DAMMIT!!!

_________________
Todd Breakey
STS 42 - 1992 Sunburst Miata
Dammit!
"You souldn't play leap frog with a porcupine. You might get hurt." - Eliza

Me too...hence my desire to do a weekday (or perhaps two together) event with a small number of participants. I'll be glad to take the risk on the rental fee myself to make it happen if we can get enough people interested. http://thscc.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=6604

_________________
Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2

X 2

I need to get out of a funk.

_________________
02 Focus SVT
STF 9

No slight assumed. I just saw that Art didn't have a chance to update. There won't be a shortage of instructors.

_________________
Not spectacular just decent.
I'm not sure what I'm driving.
Maybe an ITR in DS.
Or half-assed STX prepped 330.

I'm a little confused by the "instructor" format. Are the instructors supposed to sign up for the event or do we just show up? I certainly wouldn't mind contributing to the cause with an entry fee but it is unclear what to do at the moment.

Thanks,

Jim
- somewhere in upstate PA, there sure are a lot of trees around here!!!

Hi folks.

Thanks to Jim for the explanation of what we're planning to do. We're 4 weeks away, so there's a lot of planning/refinement to do, but that is the gist of it.

I misspoke when I said that Mary was instructing, as she won't be able to make it. David Spratte is an instructor. I'm still recruiting more instructors, since I'd like to have a really low student/instructor ratio. That's for the benefit of those who are there as students, but also to give the instructors themselves plenty of time to practice.

I'm asking the instructors to sign up for the event and pay the fee, since they'll be getting *almost* as much seat time as those who are 'only' students. I apologize to any instructors that I might surprise by this request. PM me if you have concerns.

Entry deadline - Friday July 27. The club doesn't want to lose money on this event and I presume we don't want to make a late cancellation in case there isn't enough interest.

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

Rodney is a waxer (but in a good way)

While I think Art's idea of a practice for the NCAC is a nice idea. You have a grand total of 13 entries with only a few weeks to go. It obviously hasn't hit the mark for a lot of folks. Then Chuck wants to rent Danville to do a somewhat similar idea during the week. Then Mike had the idea of something similar also. Honestly they are all T&T / School concepts. This is no slight on these guys. Their heart is in the right place.

So just a thought... What Jim describes sounds just like what an Intermediate/Advanced school would be. In the past we were doing the T&T in Jan/Feb, followed by Novice school in the beginning of the season and then Intermediate school late season. All of those events have sold out enough to be more than break even for the club and provide valuable seat time for the intended audience.

So why not just call this Int/Adv school like we did before? Does it really matter that the people who show up are only there for the NCAC? From the lack of info so far I wouldn't even count on the NCAC happening... Cap the event at 25, 50, 75, whatever it takes to break even. So I want to go just to see if I can get excited about AX again. What difference does it make? Someone else wants to test some car setup. Someone else above Novice level wants to get intense seat time to try and improve to the next level. Isn't that really going to help with the long term goals folks have? As a club don't we get a good result with more improved drivers? So what if they do or don't attend the NCAC?

Anyways, like I said, no slight intended towards these ideas. I think the format Jim describes can help all of us regardless of our specific goals.

_________________
http://www.greywinds.com

That's the point I was trying to make, Graham. However you said it much more clearly than I. Call it what you will it all boils down to seat time, different elements, instruction and an opportunity to to set up the car.

On the website the event is listed as a members-only practice day. The event description mentions the NCAC, but it doesn't limit entrants to those going to the NCAC. It does limit participation to club members, since my intent is give OUR club members an extra advantage going into the NCAC.

We have 13 preregistered. Between others who signed the roster at the last club meeting and instructors who have not yet preregistered, we should have a little over 20. If we get a total of 30 preregistrations by this coming Friday, we're on. If not, I have to have a talk with the officers about the viability of the event.

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

Rodney is a waxer (but in a good way)

I could deal with an increase in entry fee if it means it'll still happen.
I *really* want the seat time and instruction! Even signed up for an AX in Richmond since I was going to miss Sanford this weekend.

_________________
One of those LeMonHeads...
91/95 Miata, 02 Focus SVT, 01 Ford F250, 09 Suzuki SV650SF
rusty 84 C4 Vette, tiny piece of the General Lei
Irish Sport Horse - 1hp NA!

I'm surprised that you weren't at the CCG, Brice. It seemed tailor made to what you wanted. That also goes to others out there that were interested in learning more about getting into an unfamiliar event run by a different club with different standards.

_________________
Has no responsibility whatsoever.