Phokaioglaukos

Participants and volunteers have to plan ahead to attend a race or DE. When is the right time to decide go/no go? PCA club races open for registration six weeks in advance. DEs are often open from the beginning of the year.
When should the organizers decide an event is not safe to hold, or will be barred by social distance rules?

d15b7

I've had two races cancelled already this year; both were called off right around the 4 week before the event timeframe. a third one was just called off and it is 8 weeks away. FYI

TXE36

I'm going to abstain. Without the point of reference of actually being an organizer and doing all that work behind the scenes, I'm not sure it is a fair question. Whatever planning participants are doing, the scale and cost of the organizer planning dwarfs it. Just my $0.02.

Phokaioglaukos

All good points. I'm looking for participant input here. Each event requires advance planning, including finalizing the volunteer corps and assigning roles, renting golf carts and other equipment, reserving hotel rooms, and much more. Much can be done weeks in advance and some can be undone without substantial cost or effort, but much cannot. Organizers are on top of that and particular circumstances for each event, such as the terms of the contract with the track, will drive the go/no go determination.

Participants also have to plan in advance to take time off, reserve motel rooms, service their cars and the like. What I'd like to get a feel for here is when individual participants think it reasonable to have an event cancelled on them without it causing too much pain. For some that could be the day before the event but others have a much longer lead time.

So, what is the time frame that makes sense to YOU?

dgrobs

I voted 6 weeks before, but until we know what this virus is really capable of (and it's clearly capable of things we don't know yet), no one can really say when it's within the safety zone of cancelling an event.

I voted 6 weeks before but that's just a stab in the dark.

Truth be told, me real answer is "I have no idea".

ProCoach

Longer lead time is always better than last minute. Support staff, hotel and meal reservations, travel, all of this is impacted by the decision. Sooner the better.

I've not worked trackside since 3/11, not sure when I'll get back.

The VA declaration is now putting the June 8-9 SRO Motorsports America (formerly World Challenge) in doubt.

And this completely wipes out the first of two very "busy seasons," annually.

IME, it's more painful if the process is drug out.

LuigiVampa

Six weeks is what I voted. I think anything short of that just makes it hard logistically for everyone from the driver, PCA national, track, hotel, shops, etc.

I'm hoping the WGI race still goes ahead but it will be time to cancel it in a few weeks.

I still want to know the backstory on why the PCA Daytona race in OCTOBER is cancelled already. Potential sponsor pullout it what I imagine.

Frank 993 C4S

It's a chicken and the egg thing. Organizers are not going to cancel the event proactively and lose money. They usually let the tracks cancel first so they can get their money back. Tracks usually cancel when they are told to shut down by local regulation.

DTMiller

This X 1 bazillion. Organizers cannot take the hit of cancelling an event and risking the track is available when that time rolls around. Tracks that are closing are doing the organizers enormous favors in both providing economic clarity and giving organizers cover for the shockingly large number (small in absolute numbers but waay larger than 0) of very angry people that all apparently have degrees in epidemiology and infectious diseases that come out of the woodwork when events gets cancelled.

Paul Solk

Could also be they are looking at that weekend for one of their major events to be rescheduled...

Paul Solk

Correct,
We already have a deposit with the track. If we cancel now and they re-open and can't fill our weekend (unlikely but a risk) we lose our deposit. If we wait and they cancel we get our deposit back and if we cancel and they can fill the weekend we still lose a portion of the deposit...

LuigiVampa

You mean a PCA race doesn't bring in as many dollars as a pro race? I feel belittled and triggered!

That is true as well. This was a thought with the LRP race in the early days of the corona virus. When Connecticut went full lock-down we had our answer.

ProCoach

Actually, it's bigger than that. You don't just lose the deposit at some tracks, you're contractually liable for the entire rental amount.

So yes, the track has to cancel first. No track will do that without a governmental order, either.

LuigiVampa

I've seen some one-sided contracts in my time but I have never seen a more one-sided contract than a track rental contract.

In addition to being one-sided some of these contracts are written with such poor drafting, for both parties, that it would make a first year law student blush.

Martin S.

Most tracks I know of have closed through April. I am guessing that May is looking a little sketchy now as well. I have signed up for an event in May.....they will do Virtual Driver's Meeting. Might have to buy a Porta Potty, and bolt it down for the trailer....what a gross thought, but not sharing a bathroom with anybody.