PLNewman

The 2018 national PCA Club Race at NOLA March 23-25 will be a shared event with the NOLA NASA Region and will include the PCA Races, NASA HPDE, NASA Time Trial, and NASA Races. According to PCA Mardi Gras and Whiskey Bay Regions: "Here is an outline of the PCA Schedule for the weekend: Friday – Practice Sessions, Fun Race & 60 Minute Enduro Points Race - Saturday – Warm up, & 2 Sprint Races. Sprint Race 2 will be the Points Race. - Sunday – Australian Pursuit Race (Inverted grid with a staggered start. Not a PCA Points Race.) Pursuit Race victory celebration, trophies and Champagne for the top three finishers!"

What do Rennlisters think about this? A 60-minute Enduro on Friday...and Sprints on Saturday? Odd, no?

txhokie4life

I've been trying to decide if I make this event -- it would be my first trip to NOLA and only second SPB race weekend.

The Friday enduro would give me plenty of track time to work on learning the track :-)

Mike

Lemming

Party in the quarter on Saturday night without paying the driving penalty on Sunday. My wife will love it. I'll be there.

Veloce Raptor

It's a really fun track and a top rate facility

disasterman

I think it's a great idea for PCA to run side by side events with NASA in typically lightly attended venues.

PLNewman

Sunday's "Australian Pursuit Race" explained:

The Australian Pursuit is essentially a handicap race that allows each car to
compete for the overall win regardless of the traditional PCA Classification
system. You old timers will remember this as the Lunacy Race at Brainerd or the
Top Gun Challenge at Putnam Park. It is possible that an SP1 944 could be the
overall winner of this race even while competing against a 991 Cup Car. The
grid is prepared by taking the best lap time of the Saturday sprint races and
inverting the field. If sprint race times are not available for a particular car, then
the best lap from all of the Friday sessions will be used. This will be considered
your qualifying time. The slowest car will be gridded first and the fastest car last.
Cars will be released from the grid for one warm-up lap and return immediately
into the pit lane. The warm-up will not be quite a full lap as you will not pass the
start/finish line. Everyone will start from the pit lane. Each car is released based
upon the time differences between their qualifying times multiplied by the number
of laps planned. 15 laps is the planned length of the race, however this could
change at the discretion of the steward and will be announced at the Sunday
Drivers Meeting. For example: if an SP1 car qualifies at a 2:00 lap and an SP3
car qualifies at 1:55 in a 15 lap race, the SP3 car will start 75 seconds behind the
SP1 car. All other cars will be released in a similar fashion from the pits.
Theoretically, all cars should be on the lead lap at the end of the race, each with
a shot at the overall win.
The key to this race is to run consistent lap times close to your qualifying time.
There will be no individual class awards but rather a podium for the top three
overall finishers with trophies and champagne!

ned911

I'm planning on doing this one too. Only thing is it conflicts with the Hill Country Ralleye which means no pit crew that weekend.

mojom3

We had 80 entrants for the PCA DE yesterday and today. Everyone had a great time even in the heat. We are going to need a few more entries in order for this race to happen, it would be a shame for it to go away. I think for some reason some racers are thinking we will be running with the NASA race group. That is absolutely not the case. National scruts will be here for the PCA ONLY races and NASA will be running their own races. Please if you are hesitating because of it being in conjunction with NASA it will be a great event and well worth the trip. Hope to see you then, I will be working Tech for both groups with scales and whatever the scruts request, so I hope to meet a bunch of you then. Come on down and enjoy Loouisiana Hospitality!

txhokie4life

Lemming

This is what I'm thinking, many are signed up for COTA and don't want to commit to NOLA until after the race (just in case). At the moment, there are very few signed up. I was the first to sign up, so at one point I had the overall victory in my hands!

mojom3, is the aussie race on Sunday a PCA only race? Also, just wondering why the schedule differs from a typically PCA weekend?

txhokie4life

An 8-10hr tow to race 2 others.....

But, I was looking at a Podium spot in SPB just for showing up --

Somehow I think that'll change :-)

Mike

mojom3

The Aussie race is strictly a PCA fun event. No NASA cars unless they are PCA licensed and P cars of course. The MGAPCA.ORG website has all the info on the first page with links to everything you need to know including hotels with preferred rates ,Aussie rules track map and facilities map. check it out and come on down. Lemming, try to stay hydrated enough Sat night to do the Sunday race! Mike, typically we get a lot of SPB racers so you could have a podium finish or be disappointed but either way you will have a ton of fun racing Lemming. Videos on youtube and vimeo you can view to help. The schedule is different due to running in conjunction with a NASA event which include a NASA DE.

PLNewman

I don't see any mention of a Thursday test & tune. That's been offered in the past.

Lemming

I got an email stating that there is a non-pca test and tune on Thursday.

"Thursday Test & Tune:

The cost is $250, $100 for an additional driver in the same car. This IS NOT a PCA Event. Click here for Test & Tune Registration: http://msreg.com/nolatnt3-22-18"


I really hope we get some racers signed up for this, it is a great track to race.

mojom3

Thanks Tim, I forgot that part. Maybe will help get more drovers!