951and944S

Simple, while signing in at the track registration, the same group that checks your identification and hands you your swag bag hands you a preassigned transponder and velcro, covered by the registration fee.
Not one single extra person required.
You don't work for the government do you...?


There were not supposed to be "novice" drivers for this DE, that was my understanding.

I can see where the idea would instill a bit more of the "race" mentality in the DE group though but putting the faster people at the front just makes good sense.

T

Veloce Raptor

You cannot have timing at a DE, as it then becomes a competitive event.

jabo

We ended up doing exactly that by pre-staging the grid, and shuffling the faster guys to the front. Two problems were revealed when we did though. First, we had to queue up at the same time as the prior run group was gridding. Second, the fastest guys would catch the back of the field due to the number of cars on track and the disparity in speeds.

951and944S

Roger, that's what I thought.

I'll bet 90% of the participants can tell you their lap times though...

Mots of them are carrying data collection devices or at least an AIM or lap timer.

Either way, simple observation or feedback from you guys could place people accordingly.

All water under the bridge anyway and this was a one off to boot.

@ jabo, thanks.

T

Veloce Raptor

Yes, on Friday afternoon, I took a client out in his GT2RS, in Green. We gridded #1. By the end of the first lap, we caught the field going up the hill into T1.

jacksonrw

The event is over. No doubt everyone did their best. I have been on the organization side a long time before retiring a few years ago. We had the luxury of many many races to determine how to execute the best event at TWS each year.
COTA is not even a year old and in time - this great venue will provide all organizers the wisdom to plod through the learning curve. I know I walked away disapponted - some - but I did get several fast laps and I for one was darn glad for those laps.

J richard

^^^^^
THIS,

And just as a point of reference, the inaugural Pirelli cup race (which was so packed all of the silver cars were excluded to make room) cost about $20k for the weekend for 45 minutes of warmup and practice and a 45 minute race....

I'd love to get some time on that track....

C4S/GT3

Pierce
Glad to hear you're ok, at least your bump and scrape wasn't caused by an unlocked wheel coming off on the back straight at 150mph - Ouch.
Come join us at one of LSR's TWS events when you get your car fixed.
Hugh

Veloce Raptor

+1. I just saw EPM's post. VERY glad you were not hurt, and I am hoping your beautiful car has cosmetic damage only.

Yes, the wheel/faux centerlock issue was foremost on my mind those 3 days, since most drivers would see more lateral g's at COTA than any other track they likely drive.

Yes, come join us at TWS sometime! or MSR!!

ShakeNBake

+1

Pierce, glad to hear you are OK. When I saw the ambulance, my heart sank.

To David, Jake, Mike, and others who made this a labor of love to make the DE happen - Thank-you. I got to hang out with friends, enjoy an amazing facility, learn a new track, and watch some great racing. I hope we get to go back.

GT3DE

I was sad when David Murry got cancelled. Imagine DE at COTA with passing ANYWHERE, ANYTIME. Open track all day long...
Yes, I was sad David Murry got cancelled. Can't say I am sad that I missed the PCA CR/DE.
Looking forward to a few years from now when the shine wears off COTA and David Murry get a chance to have a few days there.

Vonschmidt

For those of you who know me its not going to be a surprise that I penned an email to many of the national officers of PCA about what I perceive as a travesty of an event and frankly one that is more one sided against DE than I have seen in any other venue. The response from the national race director seemed to mirror his comments here. I am not accusing anyone of anything however I would like the director to publish the total track time given to each of the three race groups and the two DE groups by color for just Friday and Saturday where each type of participant paid an equal entry fee of 600.00

If the DE and CR factions got the same or close to the same amount of track time then no foul and I will be happy to publically apologize here and in a lettter to each of the oficers I sent my comments to. If that's the case it's just bad luck and a difficult facility.

I am basing my opinion on the time I spent enjoying watching the lines of better drivers than I from many vantage points around the track in the three race groups, countered by my onboard system which recorded less than 1 hour in three days, I never saw 9 laps in fact I did not see 5 and it appears the DE crowd was sacrificed for the CR side.

If this is not the case then simply publish the proof here from the data loggers and in letters to the 120 participants in the DE. However if it is as I believe the case then formal apologies need to be issued by PCA national and written guidelines put into place to prevent this in the future. Either way I think transparency requires that the times be published.

Again I want to stress that this is simply MHO. I know the director is trying to figure out who leaked or misrepresented the data not only from the personal letter I received but his comments here.

I dont think anyone did any such thing and singling out Dave who took time from his profession as a race coach to help the DE crowd for what may have been a single mispoken word is unnecessary. There is no mystery, no one told me the times were slanted towards the CR side, we all sat there and watched and saw the same actions. I based my feelings on the hard data from my onboard system and me personal observations.

Finally On a personal note I was tickled to death when I was sent out last on one of the Saturday sessions (2 laps) due to a dash error and found myself almost a full lap behind the entire field and was able to run the track full throttle and managed a 2:37:12 in a Spec Boxter. I was so blown away spent two days analyzing the Data for an error and can't find one. What a difference a clear track makes.

As for the track and the local clubs organizing the event many thanks I have had the good fortune to drive this track several times and do realize some of the changes with the insertion of the grand am barriers along pit lane completely changed the grid location and the launch and recovery options. Great volunteers, my thanks to all of you.

Publish the times.

Doug007

Charles, two questions. What did you expect and what do feel was promised to you by your entry fee?

In a 25 minute session you should expect 4-5 green flag laps not 9. Don't forget that the in/out laps count and likely run 8-9 minutes. I would venture that the average DE pace was around 3:15-3:30 and in/out laps could easily approach 5 minutes.

Also the racers paid $600 for two days not $600 for 3 days like the DE. So by your logic they should get 50% more track time.

Not sure what was going on with your data system but a low 2:37 would have put you sixth in qualifying and second to Jim Buckley for fastest lap in the first red sprint race. Maybe you should have gone racing

In any event, the organizers have to deal with circumstances outside their control. A LOT of them at this particular event with broken cars, broken track safety devices, etc. The schedule was always subject to change am no one was guaranteed any amount of track time. It sucks that the DE got cut shorter than planned but it was far from a "travesty".

jacksonrw

I sent an email as well. I ended up having to defend my position with 6 more emails through a barrage of insult. (I will never delete those emails)
Post the times.
Here here I agree.

jacksonrw

Doug,
Did you drive the DE portions?