Brian P

Um... some of that stuff you should already have even if you are only doing DE's.

92tsiawd

I wanted to ask how much contact to expect through a weekend of club racing, I'm sure there are some small bumps, nudges...how frequent do those happen?

Brian P

It depends which club you run with. Some clubs have a "rubbin' is racin'" type mentality and small bumps and nudges are to be expected.

PCA definitely doesn't. Small bumps and nudges will cause your race to be over (for both the nudgee and the nudger). The one who is at fault will also be sent home for the weekend and put on a 13 month probation. If that person was already on a 13 month probation, then he/she will be put on a 13 month suspension.

RickBetterley

Great comments; thanks!
Just to clarify, I was looking for individuals to comment on why they don't race, rather than why Rick Betterley doesn't race (though I am not surprised I got some ).
I am glad to see that I haven't gotten any 'because you are a lousy driver and we don't want you on the track with us' responses!
(awaiting incoming round from VR/Dave).
I figure I would have to change my life around to get into racing (sell the cottage, for example) and that ain't going to happen (especially if I want to keep the lovely Joanie's support for my car lust).

Brian P

This is what we like to tell the DE folks... Think about what makes a great DE run - usually it's when you hook up with somebody going the same speed as you, and you can play throughout the turns and figure out why somebody is faster in a few turns and see what they are doing. After a few laps, you can emulate them and all of a sudden, you've just gotten better and faster.

In a race setting, due to the gridding procedures, this happens the entire weekend long. Learning suddenly accelerates and you get much, much faster.

At DE's, you rarely have people going the same speed as you, and even if you do, traffic usually separates you too quickly. So, you end up going out on your own just driving in circles.

So, after a while, DE's actually cost more money because they stop becoming educational. At least that's what I tell myself when I pay the bills for racing

mark kibort

I have to agree. Ive seen MANY more totalled cars in the DEs and 13/13 racing weekends than Ive ever seen in SCCA Club racing. For a few years it was very rare to even have a caution lap in our races or practices. this season, with a few new drivers we are getting a few, but the common denominator is that the incidents are driver error, alone! (time trial style of accidents).

Its all going to be a certain level of danger. But, if you pick your battles, the race groups can be much safer. think about it, in the race, the guys near you are grid'ed up by similar times. In DE, its like a free for all and everyone is just going all out, because they can! In the racer groups, we all run hard, but not at the limit until we have a clear track. The drivers are much more aware of traffic . So, in the end, after recently running a time trial group a couple of years ago, I have to say, the time trial/DE groups are down right scary! (if there is a lot of novice drivers and unprepared cars on a tight track). The other thing about racing a series, is that you get to know all the cars and drivers. By this, you can pretty accurately predict, who sees you , who wont, who will give a point by, who drives the line, etc. This predictability makes running in the race groups very very safe. (as far as driving on the track goes) . And, if you had a real expensive car and didnt want a ding, I would just start in the back of the pack, or on the Pole in the race if you didnt want any chances of getting touched in the, sometimes, dangerous crowded race starts. .



mk

DanR

having just done my first race I am already less excited by the thought of DE next week. Dont get me wrong I am still looking forwards to being on the track but no doubt I will be thinking that is is not as exciting. So another reason for not racing could be that it will make your DE's less enjoyable (but I still think it is worth it - CR rocks and I am addicted and just off to sell a kidney to buy some new hoosiers!!!)

Potomac-Greg

A counterpoint (to myself and others who complain of cost/time commitments):

I can see myself dipping a toe in the water with a basic one-event rental. Get a race license and maybe rent an SRF or 944 spec/cup for a weekend -- not to win, just to race. The downside is that I might get hooked, and then I'll either spend my way to the poor house, or mope around knowing what I'm missing!

Porsche917K

I guess my experience has just been different on DE's vs. club races. I do a lot of DE's and I typically see 1-2 cars a year get into an accident. Conversely, I typically attend 6-7 club races a year and see at least 1-2 cars tag a wall or another car at each event.

I could be wrong but it seems like in racing you will wreck a car eventually. Just a matter of when.

jakermc

NASA has a solution for this with their GTS class

Chaos

If your car is Alan Coleman's former one it alreadt has a few PCA firsts and seconds.

Bull

I have had most, if not all of that in both race and DE cars. So have many of the red run group folks I have run with at PCA events. I wouldn't be comfortable running in an instructor level group without it.

va122

I'm not working, thus I have no money ergo, I'm not racing this season

va122

yup! don't bring a car to the track you can't afford to push off a cliff.

VERBOTN

For me it is crawl, walk, run.....and hopefully I will be running in June