Gregg Lee

Many comments on operations have been included in the other thread, but to make it clear that this is not a continued discussion of all issues from the other I've started this one strictly for feedback on improving operations, procedures, etc.

Repost a point if you would like to clarify or separate it from discussion on other thread. Course map for reference.

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Following are my comments and opinions, in no particular order, and written thinking mostly of newcomers. Old hands obviously have heard it before.

Overall the event went well. Even with the lunch hour and fifteen minutes, completion time was acceptable. Glitches were all ordinary

Clovis

Great comments and thoughts Gregg. I will print this thread and review before our next event in July.

Timing and Scoring:
I will admit to being the guilty party for moving the exit to face the timing display. Looking back, it would have been a better idea to ask the course designer first before adjusting any cones. Next time we will have a power extension cord for the display so that we can move it out from the timing tent (we already have 100 feet of data cable for it).

Agreed, the timing folks did an excellent job with AXware. I'm not aware of any timing issues related to the equipment or user error. Best event to date.

Safety:
We will have to further discuss how to keep car and pedestrian paths more seperated. I think it may be as easy as setting up a defined pathway for both and assign a worker to the intersection per SCCA.

Also, we need to check with insurance on minors. I know they are not allowed to be in a car on course. Not sure about the allowance on site.

Worker Assignments:
I'm not sure we have quite enough people to make setup/cleanup the sole assignments for the day. However, I think you'll notice that those who did cleanup and setup were given less strenuous work assignments.

I'd forgotten about the seperate 1st heat and 2nd heat parade laps we did last time. That was great and should be repeated. Last time we also had a 30 minute lunch break which resulted in a 45 minute total break. IMO, the 1 hour plus we had on Sunday was a bit long.

Instruction:
This just needs to be more thoroughly discussed at the drivers meeting. I had several folks whose worker assignments were to instruct.

Course Cleaning:
Again, we need to reemphasize that fun runs = you will stay for clean up.

I will bring spare gas for my blower next time. Maybe we can recruit one more blower.

Run Order:
This IS the S2000 club and IMO we should run in the 2nd and 4th heats.

Pre-Registration:
Everyone who has pre-paid for the year is being automatically registered for the rest of the year. Also, if you choose S2000 or S2000R as your class, your registration will not be subject to the cap. This does not mean that every S2000 driver should wait for us to hit the 50 driver cap and then register resulting in an 80 car event.

Great event, lots of hard work, and we still continue to improve. Nice job everyone.

davidb

I second the 2nd and 4th heats on one hand, but then again i would like to see some S's on the track when I am working. I always learn a lot by watching other drivers in similar cars and capabilities.

Why not let us mix it up if we want to?

Watching a group made up of a variety of drivetrains, power and capabilities was entertaining, but did not give me anywhere near the driving info I wanted.

After I drove the 3rd heat I ran out to turn 5 and learned more watching 3 or 4 S's go thru the course than I had the entire 2 shifts working. Of course that was after I had all my runs in.

Since there were no course maps available beforehand even tho I worked corner 5 I didn't realize that you could get there without crossing the track until I was almost finished with my first shift. I just wasn't used to being able to get to a corner while the course was hot.

I was going to suggest a pathway to/from the timing booth because it got a little dangerous to walk thru there with all the cars coming and going but now I see you didn't want people there. That is a big departure from past events so if you want to make a change like that you need to announce it.

But there is a big problem with that, all the times are kept at the booth so if you didn't get a timing ticket as I didn't on 2 runs or if you want to see what kind of times are being run then you need to get to the booth. I think we just need to make sure there is a safe pathway to the booth.

Speaking of annoucements, an announcement would have made it clear that the exit box cones counted as well. The general consensus was that since it was after the timing device they didn't count. I also saw several people exit the box at different points. If you want it run just one way then tell everyone.

That would have been great to have on the map! Gee just getting a map would have been nice. That is one way that I see we fall far short of other events. All the other events I run always have plenty of maps.

Oh yeah, more parade laps. Give at least 2. Maybe not having a map left me feeling lost and alone, but in any case one lap didn't give me the warm fuzzy feeling that I remembered the track. I did sneak back in line and get a second lap, but I think I was the only one who did.

EgoThreat

davidb,
Lots of good points, Elistan, Clovis and I spoke about a lot of these issues as we finished picking after the event.

As for the maps... our bad, we try to have enough for everyone and had them at the last event but didn't have them this time (miscommunication). We'll definately have them next time

Also, it isn't that we don't want anyone at the timing tent, we just need to set up clear paths for cars and drivers to keep things safe. We need to stress that people around the timing tent need to stand clear so that the timers/ grid and exit workers running slips all have clear line of sight for signals, etc.

I think we may also have mistakenly encouraged people to drive over to the tent by parking our cars there. In the past some of the club officers (including me) that run the events have kept our cars at the timing tent... for running radios, workers or something out to corners or to quickly hop in the car to fix something on the track. Unfortunately this was probably a bit misleading for some folks so we will probably prohibit any parking near the timing tent in the future.

It seems that as events get bigger, we get a bigger mix of experience levels with our events. Some folks just haven't seen how we had run things so they aren't sure what to do. With more people, we need to be more clear, lay down the rules clearly (like the entry and exit cone penalties) and keep things orderly.

Thanks for the input...
I'm taking notes vigorously for an update to our rules sheet

Later,
C-

EgoThreat

Oh, and if anyone ever wants to ride along... just lemme know

The only time I might say no was a situation similar to my last two runs Sunday.
I was trying... a bit too hard (as evidenced by a really fun cone bashing spin) to catch that marcus guy... (who had an excellent time by the way!) Darn it, he got me too.

I don't have tons of tips since I've only done this for two years, but I've been getting some of it right so just grab a helmet and hop in!

C-

marcucci

The course map issue is easy to fix. The designer needs to provide copies or arrange to have them made. I will gladly take that responsibility if someone gets the map to me at least a day in advance.

As for course setup, I think that's the responsibility of the designer or coordinator and those duties are usually pre-assigned. I didn't show up early as I wasn't assigned that job. If there aren't enough people then we need to adjust that.

For course working and teardown WE ABSOLUTELY MUST REQUIRE THAT PEOPLE BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE for these duties. If you are assigned a corner you work it, arrange for reassignment, OR DO NOT RECIEVE TIMES. Same for fun runs and teardown. It is not that difficult to check people off or take numbers for fun runs and make sure people stick around. If you give people an opportunity to "cheat" there will always be a punk-ass who takes you up on it, or "doesn't understand."

With all the experience we have in the group I don't think it would take more than a modicum more of organization to fix all the small problems we have. I also would like to stress that we have far fewer problems than ANY other club and still manage to run better events than any other that I've ever attended.

Thanks to everyone who does their job regularly, without really being asked, and for helping things go so smoothly!!!

Gregg, a special thanks for always doing a bang-up job on course design. Your courses are fun and you manage setup VERY well.

mxt_77

Check out the big brain on Todd! For anyone else that had never even seen this word:
[B]mo

Clovis

Per the other autocross thread, I thought long and hard about this last night and feel that it would be best to keep the autocross format and operations discussions directed to our Track Events Director Mark (Elistan). So, if anyone has a suggestion please PM or email Elistan with your idea and he will do his best to discuss with the committee and implement.

There are some really good ideas in here that I'm sure Elistan and crew will use.

Please understand that this is an effort on my part to project a positive image of the club that we really are. Sometimes, I think we have a tendency to beat ourselves up over small details giving newbies/future autocrossers the wrong idea about who we are.

Does this sound OK with everyone?

On a side note, I will make sure to make more copies of the course maps (usually I only make enough for the seutp crew) so that everyone will have one next time. This is something I have not done in the past, but will include in future driver packets.

TXBavarian

A little commentary from one of the Miata Pilots and an avid autocrosser (I participate in autocrosses put on by many DFW area clubs):

1) I feel that the course design -- including the entry and exit -- was absolutely fine. And the "pre-work" cleaning the vegetation was very much appreciated! Any "issues" with starts or finishes were human issues, easily remedied and not needing to be re-hashed over and over.

2) Course Work was a little... casual... this time. Corner workers need to spread out so that they can quickly replace/reposition downed cones. I say this not because I'm "Mr. Super Course Worker", but because I want to get the heck off the course as quickly as possible. If a cone goes down and a corner worker -- because he/she is standing in a "clump with the other corner workers -- can't get to the cone quickly enough, the next car gets red flagged. This means a re-run, and another couple of minutes that I have to stand out in the middle of that "parking lot". Have this happen three or four times (as happened in heat two), and now I'm looking at 10 minutes or so of extra time just because a corner was not well worked. Working the course/corner is just that... work. It's not social hour. Please spread out and pay attention to the task at hand.


But this event -- just like all other NTS2KOC events that I've been to -- was a model to be held up as a "Best Practice" for events in the DFW area. In an effort to continuously improve, we do beat ourselves up over small points. But never loose sight of the fact that these events are the best around!


Well, I'm not sure I'd agree with this. I understand why you want to limit the "bad press" to the outside world, but the discussion between forum members is also valuable. Things that one person write may trigger something for someone else, and while that leads to some... negative?... stuff, it also allows for collective brainstorming as well.

Just my take on it.

TXBavarian

Sorry... for some reason I could not delete this (my own) post...