Re: July 26 YYC Practice event is a go!

[Reijo]

OK - thanks.

R

[Reijo]

Procedural Information for the evening:

3.  Each grid will have about 20 drivers (not necessarily cars. 2-driver cars in EACH grid will be at the front - we'll try and remember to put out green cones for them).  I would recommend that 2-driver cars work different heats so your tires do not overheat!   The runs will come fast and furious.  Think about it .... 13 cars, 20 seconds apart.  Almost don't bother getting out of your car between runs for the 1st sessions!  I will look at limiting the no. of runs before worker change-over ... it will be happening very fast.

I think a better way is to divide the working period into e.g 20-30 min session. If there are 40 of us with 2 courses, then we might just need 1/3 of the people working both courses. Everyone signs up for 2/3 sessions and run the rest of the time, doesn't matter which course. So one will have time to make changes, talk to co-drivers/instructor or a break.

So if we have 3 hours, with 1/3 of the people working, each of us can sign up for 3 20 minutes working session on the worker's sheets. As long as everyone works for 3 sessions, we should be good.

You have a point about the time between runs.

Having said that, if almost everyone lines up on one course, then that changes everything again.  I'm trying to figure out what that means or if it is a problem.  Maybe people will go in a line-up to a certain degree and then just go to the other "free" course rather than wait? 

But, then again, if someone is having trouble with one course, they just might want to spend more runs there.

Hmmm.....maybe it could work?  I'm open to suggestion and better ways to do things.

R

Having slept on this, I think this will work.  As anything it is not perfect but I think it is worth a shot - thanks for the idea, Ambrose!

Everyone will still grid in 2 grids (plus the NE/side lot). 

For the first part of the evening we will split into 3 heats (for work purposes only - you will either run or work and I will have a sign-up sheet for work - first come, first served).  You will be able to sign up to work either the 1st, 2nd or 3rd 30 min. heat. 

Note that you can go to the side lot at any time other than your heat that you have to work.  Just always come back to your own grid spot like normal.

See the attached excel spreadsheet which may help explain how it works.  ONLY the shaded boxes are the eligible work positions.  We also have extra help from people who are not running to fill some spots which are not included here.

Hopefully that all makes sense!   

[Reijo]

Driver's meeting at 5:30 pm ... as per the schedule on the excel spreadsheet.  You will have to do course walks before that or go "cold turkey" running the course.  Hmm....that can be a good exercise too.   

[Reijo]

Before I forget, I printed the course maps yesterday and then decided to make some minor changes to the courses (simplified ... less cones to pick up due to few workers as per Murray's suggestion - thanks Murray!).  Basically I took out some slalom cones and I think it made the slalom course more interesting with acceleration/braking zones added.

So you will have to correct the maps on your own.  I will have a big 11x17 map(s) posted/taped on my truck cap which will be correct since I printed them later.

R

[Reijo]

PARKING AND GRID WILL WORK LIKE THIS.

You may use the pit area/row to the north to drop off extra "stuff" or leave the stuff in grid.

Your grid spot will remain yours for the entire evening ... no moving needed. 

Two driver cars at the front of each row at the green cones like normal.

See the attached scan.

[Reijo]

At the lot now....dropping off 1st cones, waivers, maps, etc.     

Look for cones at the grid positions for where to park.           

[94boosted]

Had a ton of fun yesterday Reijo, thank you for setting this up. Did you end up finding your keys to the storage locker?

[JCS]

Full Lap - 35.1 sec run (fastest was 34.5)
https://youtu.be/4LOb8_RTie0

Slalom - 28.x sec
https://youtu.be/l2_1IqosB74

Sweeper Course - 36.1 sec
https://youtu.be/wqfds-_A20s

My telemetry typically is 1-2 seconds off the timing gear as my time starts when the car starts moving not when I cross the beam.

Lots of fun, and I really enjoyed the sweeper course.

[Reijo]

Had a ton of fun yesterday Reijo, thank you for setting this up. Did you end up finding your keys to the storage locker?

You're welcome!

Yes, found the keys ... had left them in the glove box ... don't know why I didn't see them in there ... just tired and hungry by that time I think ... had not eaten all day ... ugh.  We made one trip to the storage but by the time we got there the second time, we could not get in ... they shut off the gate access at 10 pm ... we were there at 10:23 according to their clock.  I also could not drop off the gate key.  So I went to the local pub to de-stress ... have a beer and a meal ... good thing to do!   

So I'll have to run over to the storage later today to drop off the stuff in the truck and the gate key ... oh well.  Get me out of the home anyway I guess.

R

[MurrayPeterson]

PAX scores for those that had (usable) numbers on their cars:
I know that some of the numbers did not match that driver names and/or cars, but hey, you get what you paid for

Overall ranking by PAX:
Rank Car# Class Driver           Car                    Raw Time  PAX #  PAX Time   Score
   1  192    AS Cam W            2004 Chevrolet Corve     29.478  0.819    24.142 100.000
   2   93    DS Quentin O         2015 Scion FRS             31.894  0.801    25.547  94.502
   3  186   STF Kyle H             2017 Honda Civic Typ     32.005  0.800    25.604  94.292
   4    5    CS Murray P           2017 Mazda MX-5           31.790  0.810    25.750  93.758
   5   43    BS Jared C            2016 Ford Focus RS        31.841  0.813    25.887  93.262
   6  312    ES Tom G             2004 Mazda Miata          32.939  0.794    26.154  92.310
   7  202   SSP Paul T             2012 Porsche 911 Tur     30.555  0.862    26.338  91.663
   8  215   STU Myron N         2017 Volkswagen Golf     31.835  0.831    26.455  91.259
   9  420   STX Allen X           2013 Scion Frs                32.327  0.822    26.573  90.854
  10   81    SM Joseph G        2013 Scion FRS               30.918  0.861    26.620  90.692
  11   42    BS Ryan C           2006 Porsche Cayman      33.811  0.813    27.488  87.828
  12  148    SM Zachary B      2015 Subaru BRZ            32.438  0.861    27.929  86.442
  13  181    DS Paul M           2013 Subaru BRZ            34.934  0.801    27.982  86.278
  14  969    HS William D       1993 Nissan 240sx          35.872  0.786    28.195  85.626
  15  205    SM Tara T           1994 Toyota Celica G        33.127  0.861    28.522  84.644
  16  203    HS Marco L         1996 Toyota Tercel           36.930  0.786    29.027  83.173
  17  111    AS Philip L          2004 Subaru WRX Wago   36.211  0.819    29.657  81.406
  18  924    HS Robert K        2003 Honda civic             38.250  0.786    30.065  80.302
  19  403    DS George U       2002 Subaru WRX            38.781  0.801    31.064  77.720
  20   12   STU Clara L           2005 BMW M3                 38.325  0.831    31.848  75.805
  21   77    DS Klaus B           2016 Subaru WRX           42.807  0.801    34.288  70.410

[Tara]

What a fun event!
Thanks for setting it up. Would love to do more like these in the future, I think we'll get the format and setup dialed in.

Ryan had the MRS almost entirely disassembled by the time I got home - that throwout bearing was pooched!

[Reijo]

What a fun event!
Thanks for setting it up. Would love to do more like these in the future, I think we'll get the format and setup dialed in.

Ryan had the MRS almost entirely disassembled by the time I got home - that throwout bearing was pooched!

Glad you enjoyed it!  A shame about the throw-out bearing but sounds like Ryan has it under control so that is good ... expendable item/regular maintenance.

We have the Wed. Aug. 9th practice essentially setup already - insurance in place and lot secured/paid for.  So look for that to open up soon - end of this week I guess....should be pay day for the monthly people July 31 I'm guessing ... so maybe that would be a better date to open it up?  Anyway, it's a matter of a few days.

Reijo

[Reijo]

Anyway, I'm curious (thanks for the comments already) about if participants found the practice event format and courses, etc. useful.

My intent was to provide some "basic training" in some commonly seen elements in solos but still with a few challenging elements to keep you entertained and looking ahead (always important, of course).

I also had some suggestions for practice days along the way however some of them were too late to be able to incorporate into the evening (e.g. maps were already made etc.).  There are also some other ideas I have also have had for the future (some similar to other's suggestions etc.).

What I'm essentially thinking of is taking a team or sports perspective on things. 

Like martial arts, wrestling, track and field etc. there are some basic exercises that are always a part of a work-out.

Yes, boring, I know.

Repetitious as well but to really master something (thinking slaloms in particular), you have to practice it and practice it some more until it becomes second nature to you....until you start to work on the really fine/infintisimal details of such elements.   That is when the "magic" begins to happen I think. 

I believe Bruce Lee once upon a time said something like (paraphrasing here a bit ... been a while):  "I do not fear a man who knows a 1000 punches/moves, but a man who has done a 1000 punches".  I have seen that type of thing in other athletes as well ... for instance some wrestlers were noted to be very good at certain techniques or moves and they were "able to stick it" as we used to say.  Sometimes it was 1 or 2 signature moves, but very few could stop them even though they knew what was coming!  It was such that some made it to the top national championship levels with those moves.  Remarkable!

Anyway, so it is a similar type of thing that I would like to try here locally.  We are already a very good club with a number of national and international level competitors.  However, I believe we, as a whole, can be even faster, more precise and tuned in, if you will, by taking a team type of approach and using some of those training techniques that have been proven to work in other sports.

Why not have practices?  Why not have training camps?  Why not have training sessions/seminars on the various theories of what it takes to go fast?  Why not have industry experts/drivers come in and speak to us ... to train us? 

SoloPro Schools are sort of like this:  Getting SCCA Championship level instructors to fly in and train us ... kind of like a mini-camp, if you will.  But I think they are really barely scratching the surface compared to what I have seen in other sports.

You might say that autox has remained a very, very grassroots motorsport that is practiced locally and with very little real training.  Locals would have their early season schools for novices and that was about it.  There was nothing or very little more advanced beyond that.  I know in Vancouver-area they developed the Velocity Schools which have been successful but, really, from what I gather, they are just more advanced local schools (there are different levels) run by volunteers from the club.

Evolution Schools was started by Jim McKamie back in the late 80's which put autox schools into a more professional form for the first time which had mixed results (anything new really) and limited acceptance.  Of course he has long ago sold that and they have continued to operate with different types of events but the teaching hasn't really changed (I have taken most of the schools multiple times myself) and then SoloPro, of course, came out of that with new materials, courses and more flexibility.  I think there is more acceptance of such schools these days and they are continent-wide as you probably know.

But, nevertheless, it is not hard to see that there could be more.  More attention to detail.  More information.  More practice.  More development of the "program" for advancing people beyond the beginner, occasional autoxer or weekend warrior levels.

I know SoloPro has continued to develop beyond the original level continuously and we have experimented with various course designs over the years since they started in 2008-2009.  And that is good and all.  However as I mentioned above there is certainly much more that can be done.

Anyway, I'm starting to ramble ... something I've been thinking of for over 10 years now.  Maybe it is high time to do something, eh?   

R

[E6Cueman]

Thanks Reijo,

I'm not sure what my expectation was, but I found the night pretty fast paced.  I would have appreciated some more time to consult with other drivers, maybe swap cars and do some ride alongs.

I think for that to happen, we'd need some more time, or smaller numbers.

I got seven runs on the practice courses, which I took entirely on the non-slalom course.  I was playing with lines on two really tight pinches on that course and trying to learn something.  Not sure I did, given inconsistency in my driving elsewhere.  I would have liked a chance to see it riding passenger in someone else's car (one or two people in particular) but didn't get a chance to do that.

I still had fun, and did at least really get some good practice on 2 to 1 downshifting. 

[Bitters]

Overall I found the night to be very useful. I stuck with one course during the first session, as I felt drilling slaloms over and over would help me more than mixing it up.

I wonder if things would smooth out if we went with a self-grid approach, just line up when you want to eliminate downtime for those trying to dial in specific things on the car or the driver. There were a few times we had an empty course when I was working the slalom that may have been eliminated with more flexible gridding.