Novices for this Sunday - April 16.

[Reijo]

On Sunday, we will do something a bit different.

At the YYC events we have noticed a significant number of new people with little or no autox experience and so to address this we will have a mini-school on Sunday morning for the newbies among us.

Dan O'Byne(our Novice Coordinator!) and I (maybe someone else will volunteer to help us too?) will be setting up a separate course on the lot to the NE of the main lot with some basic elements and will go over some basics of autox and what you need to know to be successful at this sport ... and more specifically at the first few or more events!

We'll cover some or all (but not restricted to the following topics):   
- seating position - proper reach for pedals, steering wheel, phone (ok ... not that.     ).
- hand position on the steering wheel and proper operation of the steering wheel and the other pedals for that matter!  (hint:  They are not on-off switches)
- how cones are positioned and how they make up a course (e.g. down-and-out rule, pointer or lay-down cones and what they mean, lane changes, sweepers, slaloms etc.).
- some technical (e.g. ideal tire pressures, car set-up - but very minimal since driving skills will help you more than any car prep).
- rules - Canadian/ASN and SCCA
- our region and national series ... USA/SCCA series - brief introduction to our world!
- smoothness and lines ...  You will likely never hear the end of these!
- looking ahead.  I KNOW you will never hear the end of this topic!  hahaha
- other topics that may come up.
- our Novice and Regional Championships.  Yes, you can win prizes in your first year!  Get a membership and sign up!

By then you'll have some basics and we can release you out on the "big" course for the remainder of the day.

I would suggest many ride-alongs with more experienced drivers (this is a practice so few will worry about their times or any competition ... I may eat my words here though!  hahah) to see what they are doing and to get your bearings.

See you Sunday!

Reijo

[Tom M]

i will volunteer to help with the novice mini-school Sunday as i will not be running this time

[Reijo]

i will volunteer to help with the novice mini-school Sunday as i will not be running this time

Great!  Thanks Tom!  Why are you not running?

Reijo

[Tom M]

 i would like to help with the novice school instead

[Robp201]

Hey this is a great idea!!! Is there a sign up for it? My son is coming out for first time ever and this couldn't be better for him!!
What time or is it incojunction with the practice?
Thanks 

[Midnightsky]

I really want to come help with this but I'll have to see how much homework I get done tonight and tomorrow.  If Im all caught up by Saturday night I may come lend a hand as I know how much it would help to keep the main course running smoothly.  Of course I can also use the experience with instructing as I eventually want to teach at the Solo Schools someday down the road and I know this would be a great stepping stone.

[Reijo]

Hey this is a great idea!!! Is there a sign up for it? My son is coming out for first time ever and this couldn't be better for him!!
What time or is it incojunction with the practice?
Thanks 

Just show up like usual but we'll be in the NE lot and away from the main lot where the main course is.  Ask anyone ... or just come by....you'll see us there.

Reijo

[Reijo]

I really want to come help with this but I'll have to see how much homework I get done tonight and tomorrow.  If Im all caught up by Saturday night I may come lend a hand as I know how much it would help to keep the main course running smoothly.  Of course I can also use the experience with instructing as I eventually want to teach at the Solo Schools someday down the road and I know this would be a great stepping stone.

No worries. 

There will be a separate course from the big  lot where the practice course is and we have plenty of instructors.  Tim Hoffman also said he is going to come out and help out ... as well as Dan O, Tom M and myself ... so 4 of us instructing.  It will move along quickly and lots of runs will take place quickly ... the lot is large enough although there are some obstacles ... about 320'x720' or something like that. 

R

[Bitters]

Hey, in terms of flagging people as novice as it comes to their eligibility to compete for the novice of the year award... is it still the first two years of competition? If I started last August and did 4 events, does that make me eligible for 2017 novice?

[MurrayPeterson]

You are still eligible for novice this year.

[John in Calgary]

Thanks to Tom, Dan and Reijo for putting on the school yesterday - it was nice to be away from the hustle of the main grid for a few laps to get the feel for my Miata.

One I moved out to the big boys course, I almost spun the section after the slalom with Tom riding along - thought I was going too fast and used too much brake which of course allowed me to use my steering traction to too much advantage.  I also found myself (for good or bad) using trail braking to steer in some of the tighter sections (I think Reijo was showing me how this worked when I rode in his car, I'm just not sure if it was actually doing ME any good time-wise, but it got me around some of the trickier cones).

Any insight into how the novice school will be set up on the 29th?

John