s200059

nope...no idea what it is.

Looking at this
http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/news/a33499/the-movement-to-certify-trackday-instructors-has-finally-begun/

https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/trss-coach-volunteer-6-10-2017-mccc-montgomery-county-community-college-132116

Now after looking into it more closely I see that the links eventually end up at the same place.

This will not solve the problems we are facing with current pool of instructors. Lets say right out of college and I go buy a fast car, I take the Certification and I pass it on first try (because I am right out of college) and now I am a Certified instructor (because I passed and it says so in MSR). BUT I have never been on track more than a few times in college, so how effective will I be as an instructor. Compare to an older guy who has 1000's of track days, been instructing since to 70's but he can't pass the written test, he has his own way of getting students to understand track dynamics but it doesn't fit well into the Certification Program. Its a move in the right direction but it won't happen overnight.

James Ray stated it best.

As important as training and certification is for professional positions, do you suppose volunteer instructors are going to pay for classes, study, and then get tested?
This will only work when track day organizations start paying their instructors and require certification before having someone instruct.
I'd do it for the intellectual challenge and personal satisfaction, but I don't think that going to be the norm.

blueosprey90

No, it is the MG pan - probably 55 years old, but I had a baffle put in. I drained the oil tonight, sanded the area down to bare metal, wiped down with acetone, and slobbered a layer of JB Weld epoxy over the suspect area. I was finished about 8:30, so it should be able to cure for about 12 hours. I initially thought it was a rust hole, but on close examination, it looks like a hairline crack.


As a result, I'm behind schedule. I had hoped to wash & load up the car this evening. Now I'll need to do that tomorrow - which may mean a late start.

s200059

Here ya go Jeff....get rid of that old MG and get yourself a Miata

spec-miata-is-now-vintage-a-great-way-to-go-racingTurnology

pgss2k

some kind of base level training can't be bad but it's no substitute for experienced instructors taking time to teach you the skills they have learned or seat time helping students and learning from those experiences too.
I for one feel very glad to have come through the Boston BMWCCA school. I had many opportunities to learn and felt prepared to take up the task when I "graduated."

A 2

My initial thoughts were very much in line with James Ray. I didn't vocalize it.

Obviously this initiative has Ross Bentleys backing, so everyone seems to think it's right.

Instructors are volunteers and it'd be best to make this a convenience for them as opposed to making it a requirement that they have to pay for.

This idea needs to be honed further. I don't see established clubs embracing this right away. They need to make this more friendly and a comfortable process. These days every job has continuing education requirements. I hate that this is only adding to the pile.

s200059

Paul brings up the point of establishing yourself with ONE club and sticking with them until they feel you are ready.
They know you as a driver but also as a person, they how you best communicate with the students and they know your strengths and weakness's.

Years ago I was out of work so I went and took networking classes to earn my certification. It took me nine months to finally pass all of the 7 or 8 tests required to become a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. I failed some test multiple times but as long as you had another $150 buck you could take another test and the failures did not count against you. I finally passed and was award my MCSE, it came with a hard card and my name was registered with Microsoft on their website and I could list this on my resume. BUT I had no experience, none, zero, zilch, I had never been employee by any company to use the skills I supposedly had from taking my courses.

Unfortunately this could happen to the Instructor Certification and when clubs get desperate for instructors they could go to the Instructor Certification directory and pick out a name and assign them a student. I am not condemning the program but I have my suspicion that more thought needs to go into it.

Aashish - stay your course and let Paul and myself guide you along, we have faith you will be rewarded when the time is right.

A 2

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....well it was worse, but it could have been even more worse at the Chin event at Palmer today. Both the car and I are back home in one piece.

I was really looking forward to today. Having run with Chin in the past, and liking that experience, I was excited as I left home around 5:30. Got to Palmer by 7:20ish with a pit stop for gas and coffee. The sun was shining and the air was cool, showing signs of warming up to be a salubrious kind of day.

Unpacked the car, registered and went through tech. Went out for half of the first session where Chin has all the groups go out for 30 minutes under a full course yellow. The idea being that they want drivers to get used to the layout of the track and dust the cobwebs off. This event had better attendance than last years and there were trains on track, especially in the corners. So I peeled back into the pits after 15 minutes figuring I could burn gas later in the day.

First session out, we got blackflagged 10 minutes or so in. Came into pitlane and stayed in the hot pits, until one of the track staff asked me to pull in saying the session was done and wouldn't be started as they had to recover the car that went off at Turn 1. I went in parked and got out off the car, when they said the session was on again. I got back in, did the pedal dance and by the time I went out, I only got to do the out lap and then the checker flew.

Second session, seemed to be going well. I was working up a rhythm, trying to rotate the car under braking and focusing on brake release. I was getting comfortable and I just needed to fine tune T4 where I thought I was a bit sloppy at times. I let an Ariel Atom by and was keeping him in sight. About 8 minutes in, I'm near the Start/Finish line and I see the Atom exiting T1. I get through T1 and as I am tracking out of T2, I notice that the tires seem a bit off on the tirewall and there seems to be something sticking out. I soon realized it was the Atom. This was in a zone where a flagger may have missed it. So I slowed down and as I went past started waving frantically to all the flaggers. They seemed puzzled by my behavior. Finally, the flagger stationed across from T4 noticed me and pulled out the black flag or someone must have called it in. Went back into pit lane and waited while they retrived the car. We got another 10 minutes and two sessions were done. Both interrupted and leaving me at a loss in terms of building up a rhythm.

During lunch, I went and topped up on gas hoping the last two sessions would be uninterrupted and also looking forward to the final all-comers session. I go out in the third session and get one lap in after my out lap. As I am coming around on my second lap, I touch the kerbing on the left at T14 and as I tracked out right, I saw the TPMS light come on.It was too late to dive into the pits, so I slowed down a tad. The tire seemed ok. I wasn't sure if it was a faulty sensor, but decided to bring it in next lap. I stayed offline and pulled into pit lane. Asked one of the BRZ guys who was standing there to see if I was losing air in any tire. He walked around and said I was losing air in the left rear and he could hear it. I pulled up to Jeff Daigle's trailer and got the wheel off. Everyone I knew was tied up and the Chin manager suggested I talk to the food truck people who were headed out for home. He said once I had the tire repaired, he'd find someone to come get me. I asked the couple that run the food truck, if they could give me a ride and sure enough they went out off their way and took me to a shop that was open in Palmer.

The shop owner said he'd fix the tire so I got it out of the van, and thanked the couple who dropped me there. They bid me good luck and took off. I now roll the tire towards the shop and the shop owner looks at the tire and says he can't fix it. He says the tire is so worn he won't take a chance and fix it. I had to tell him that the tire wasn't worn. Rather it was rubber pickup from the track. He still refused saying its against the law to patch a tire that looked like that saying he could be liable. I begged and pleaded and eventually made sense to him and his two other friends who were standing there, and he said he'd plug the tire off the record and if anything happend to me he was not going to be liable. I said that was fine, got the tire plugged and was getting ready to call Jeff or the Chin manager to ask if one of them could come get me. One of the shop owners friends, said he would give me a ride back to the track in his truck which was extremely generous of him. Once we got to the track, I got him a wrist band, and told him the vantage points from where he could watch the cars. I told him that if he wanted to get a ride in a car, to come see me so I could arrange a ride for him. He said he'd probably just stick around for a bit to see the cars go around for a bit.

Got the wheel back on the BRZ and packed up the car. I realized that the shop owner hadn't inflated the tire to the recommended spec. The pressure was at 22.5 PSI and the BRZ calls for 35 PSI. I knew the answer to this too, just as it is the answer for all questions, is the Miata. The guy parked next to me was driving a Miata and we struck up a friendly conversation. I knew he had a portable compressor. So I waited for him to come back to paddock. Once he did, I pumped up the pressure in the wheel.

I walked out to say bye to Jeff and ran into the Chin manager who asked me how I'd fared. I told him about my adventure. He asked me where the puncture was. I said it was the middle of the tire and there was no screw or nail to be found. So whatever caused the puncture, put a hole and fell out. He said, I shouldn't have a problem running the car that way as that section of the tire doesnt experience any lateral loads. For a moment, I entertained the thought of joining the all-comer session that had already started, but the car was packed and I was in no position to get everything back out. So I decided to call it a day and head home.

The only video I am posting is from the session where the Atom went off. If you start watching around the 8:25 mark, you will see the Atom ahead of me, and then at 8:43 you should see the Atom in the tire wall on the right side.


Talked to some of the BRZ guys that were there. One of the guys that has coilovers and 245s asked me what my time was at Palmer. I told him I'd run a 2:02 as my best time which was a second off of my fastest time in the S2000. I then asked him if he was timing, and he said the fastest he'd run at Palmer was a 2:03 and I felt a little better about myself for running a 2:02 in a stock car, and then it hit me - the guy was a novice. If I were starting out I'd probably be doing 2:30s at Palmer

s200059

WOW...sounds like one of my old track stories !
Glad you survived and did not give up despite all the set backs.

A 2

I think going forward I'll have to carry track tires in the car. That way I can only use them on track and not get any street miles on them. Also if I have any issues like yesterday I can just put the street tires on and finish up my sessions.

Live and learn i guess.

pgss2k

Here comes the trailer