Aug 20 event - Great course, I hated it, and a suggestion?

[Bob B.]

My thanks to the gang for providing an event to run, truly, thank you.

I liked the course, but with some tight corners it was a challenge for me.  I over drive normally so this one made me focus and attempt discipline, but even on my best run or two, I gave away at least a couple tenths.

Great fun, as usual.

Suggestion?  As opposed to the first run group getting an extra "competition" type run to clear the course (on a car by car start), might I offer a Sierra Vista club style parade lap?

Time wise I think it would be a little faster, and probably work just as well (better, imo...) at sweeping the course.  Maybe levels the field a bit too?  A-group gets an "advanced look" driving the course, but a Sunday drive through it and an extra "competition" style run are two different things.

Thoughts from the peanut gallery.

Cheers.

[smeyers]

As you consider the entire year, and that extra first group lap, recall the surface temps during the cooler months and how that affects performance. Balances things out, I suggest. 🙂  Especially for A-1.😂

Seems to me Parade Laps take more time.

Glenda and I attend all three venues…….AMP/Phoenix, Kino/Tucson, and Sierra Vista/New Site. Each has their own way of doing things, and we enjoy the variety. One size does not fit all. 

Edited August 22, 2023 by smeyers

[Manfred]

On 8/21/2023 at 11:14 AM, Bob B. said:

Suggestion?  As opposed to the first run group getting an extra "competition" type run to clear the course (on a car by car start), might I offer a Sierra Vista club style parade lap?

Time wise I think it would be a little faster, and probably work just as well (better, imo...) at sweeping the course.  Maybe levels the field a bit too?  A-group gets an "advanced look" driving the course, but a Sunday drive through it and an extra "competition" style run are two different things.

Hi Bob, thanks for the suggestion. We talked about it in our board meeting this month and chose to keep things as they are. Our thought process behind this is:

• The lot usually starts off very dusty. A parade lap doesn't clean off the lot anywhere close to the same as a round of runs at 10/10ths speed - you need tires to actually scrub the surface instead of leisurely rolling over it.
   
• Despite the extra lap, A group is seen as uncompetitive, just look at all the national-caliber drivers who prefer to run in a later group. So, given that it is already competitively unbalanced, we think the extra run for A group is what helps level the playing field.
   
• Because A group is seen as uncompetitive, we end up sometimes with lots of people trying to avoid it. Adding the extra run means more seat time and makes A group more attractive for some drivers, which means we have less people complaining about being forced in that group to keep all the groups even.
   
• Adding parade laps to other groups will slow down the event. Since only A group gets the extra run, the overall delay is limited to the number of drivers (30-40) times the launch interval (~20s). If people want the day to be over sooner, they can always skip their TOs/fun runs.
   
• Since the first run in A doesn't count for times, we use this as a check that the timing system is working correctly. More than once we've been able to catch problems and fix them before the timed runs start, without disrupting the flow of the event (e.g. icing people at the line while we fix stuff, having to give lots of reruns, etc.). The timing system can't be reliably checked during a parade lap.

Hope to see you at the next event if you want to talk about this more. 🙂 

[Bob B.]

Well hey, appreciate it was considered, that was cool.

Did not realize A group was "uncompetitive" - probably because I'm slow!

I wouldn't have suggested a parade lap for "group 2", too many cars at Tucson events (though less than Phx, I think), just as noted above.

Skip fun runs - what, are you nuts?  True enough; from the time perspective, thought of it as more of a little time bonus in the heat of summer, 20 minutes less baking type of thing.  During the cooler months, devil may care from the time perspective.

Heard on the timing lights, that is an offset to delay during competition, for sure.

Once again, appreciate y'all taking the time to not only consider but to post up the reply here.  I'd like to get out there more consistently, help a bit with activities and such, see if I can get my act together in the coming year.

Cheers.

Bob.