Rich

You did really well in your races, it was great to see you and your 993 laying it down. Good job

Juan, +100 on dicipline

Mark

 

I was watching the end on race monitor. I was wondering what happened.

 

Enjoyed your post. jsut a couple of comments. in my time with HSR, its pretty cool stuff. they offer tons of seat time, and frankly some of those guys drive really hard, really fast in really awsome cars. but they dont rub bumpers intentionally, they are generally a bit older, a bit more mature, they all understand that everyone's car is precious and thus have a bit more discipline and understand that no first place versus 5th place is worth destroying a rarity like a RSR or even a brand new white 997 2012 cup.

its real simple... you gotta take a deep breath and just be a bit more chill in turn 1,2,3,4,5. its turn 1 at Sebring. i mean, we all gotta know there is going to be drama if everyone doesnt just have some discipline and chill. i aint suggesting we turn it into a DE david murray lapping session, but maybe because its PCA we should just eliminate one aspect of the race which is trying to win it in the first turn.

If that were a pro race, if you were a paying ProAM pro or a factory pro in a factory car, and you did that lap one, and crashed out the team car lap 1 turn 1, you'd maybe have an earful from the team, from the guy paying, etc. if you did that more than once, youi'd probably be back to driving go karts at the local dirt circle.

it makes no sense either since in these cups going through 1 you dont want to be on someone's bumper as you cant get a solid run going into 2, you need the air on your splitter to keep the nose down, and because its Sebring PCA and we're there to no wreck each other.

myabe what should happen is, just before guys leave the grid before the race, they should get out of their cars, take off their helmets and be forced to introduce themselves and shake hands with the guys to their left and right. then maybe, possibly we'll have a bit more respect for one another, and maybe we'll not force a bad siutation lap 1 turn 1.

oh, sorry for the rant. trust me, it probably could have happened to anyone, but if we want to be a great run group, we have to be better. people said the cups would be a nightmare. and we proved exactly that. just makes no sense to me.

 

Can I get that for my car? With me at the wheel Its always late.

 

Excellent post. Thank you.

All it takes is money!

Seriously, this is a slam-dunk and easy on cars with individual wheel speed sensors and a powerful system like the MoTeC ADL and SDL. I use this configuration for guys who are learning these cars and guys who are already fast and want to go even quicker through refining and optimizing their braking technique.

You can do it on earlier cars by mounting sensors and setting it up, but generally the brake pedal is more easily modulated and there are simple exercises you can do to calibrate your foot pressure and your braking that don't require an electronic monitor to tell you whether the car is at threshold braking (wheel speed 7-12% less than ground speed).

I can say that there are quite a few folks who can't tell me (or their mechanic) exactly what their bias is, and have never tested it. A simple infrared temp gun measuring front and rear rotor temps in the pit lane after a hard and fast cool down lap should show 50-100 degrees more in the front than in the rear. If not (or reversed) no wonder the rear is squirrely! If the fronts are a LOT warmer, the car won't stop as well and front wear will be disproportionate.

Sorry for the diversion, but this loss of control raises some good questions...

 

Thats a nice yellow car in that shot rich little patina but fast lookin. And thats the only race i got to do

 

This is my 4th year attending this race, and I've been hit the last 3 years. 4 years of no incidents anywhere else, but here. Luckily, they've all been minor. This year, I was letting 3 faster cars through on the inside of T4, got pushed two wheels off by the last one over the rumbles, was back on by the end of the rumbles, made it half way to the bridge, and was sidswiped by a slower car trying to pass. And this was the first hot lap of the qualify! Totally avoidable, and very frustrating......

 

I was at a seminar ran by Ross Bently ( speed secrets ) and he made that exact comment about meeting your compeditors on the grid. He always gets to the grid early and walks the field to see who he will be racing with. Sometimes just talking to the guy next to you may tell you to watch out from him

 

I'm sure some of you were there for the cup car ping pong on the front straight at NJ under double yellow a couple of years ago. Crazy sh*t seems to happen in that run group. Not that it doesn't happen in others as well, but that group gets it fair share.

 

Seems to me that with the speeds those cars can obtain, greater skills are required and there is less margin for error, so even if the proportion of less than skilled drivers is exactly the same as the other race groups, incidents will be more frequent and the higher speed will mean the crashes will be more severe. Not sure if there is an easy fix as even the pro series have this problem, but maybe its time for the PCA to consider graduated licensing.

 

How many in those wrecks were rookies or only have a 3 years or less experience in club racing? crap this is only my 4th year doing this and i still feel like a rookie....

ill bet less than you think....

Maybe leaving the X on the rookies for a longer period than 1 race, maybe the first 5 or 6 events/weekends and make it so they must stay clean in order to get a liscence or something along those lines (have the first event must do all sessions, and the rest just be clean) so make it as if they already have a 13 for their first few events....would make me dial it back a little with the looming threat of no racing.....

i like the idea of a graduated lisc, but i dont think its right to force someone to buy a slower car to qualify to race a faster one...same person could cause the same wreck even if they raced in sp1 for 10 years safely....i think it would cut down on it but who knows...then we could also be exclusive like ferrari.....you should be able to race whatever car you have but at the same time respect the fact that others may not be able to replace the car they have so you may end their racing all together and not just the weekend.

i definately like the idea of meeting people on the grid....i know those that i meet off track i give more room to or know how they will react....most of the E guys are pretty consistent so you see alot of the same racers, i know who chops and who doesnt (even in F and G i know some) you can see who is very consistent in corners and knows where space will run out and where the cars wont fit side by side, who will make yuo really work for a pass etc.

had a racer in F i think it was come over after the first sprint and talk cause i was pushing him thru t15 or 16, he said sorry for holding you up thru there, no sorry was needed as its racing but doing little things like that meant alot....makes me want to have fun in the corners or see if i can help show him a better line/make him faster more with him and not get frustrated even if it holds me up a little..or if i do the same to him id love to hear someone say try this line out and you can get on the gas sooner. (Anyone??)

 

It's a judgement issue. Not necessarily linked to experience, IMO. It's also people doing better at corralling their expectations and not reaching beyond their grasp.

Somehow, the 13/13 is not instilling the idea of taking extra care or leaving the requisite margin (as alluded to by Juan's constant evaluation and rigorous decision-making process decisively working his way through the field) to avoid incidents and reduce the risk of incidents.

Maybe that's where to start...

 

Sorry to change tack, but does anyone have any pictures?

 

I agree and there is the rub... how do you predict and prevent bad judgment? It seems you can only sanction it after the fact

 

I can say that the specter of a consistent, swift and sure application of 13/13 is a powerful force for encouraging good choices among reasonable and sensible men and women drivers.

The sanction is for those immune to that "reminder of reason."

And then there are those for whom O.S.B. (other sports beckon)...