PCA SDR

The weather forecast for Saturday is looking fairly unpleasant.

Just wondering how the weather will affect the event organization. It does look like a chance of the rain stopping sometime around when we'd be making timed runs -- Intellicast shows the rain probability dropping from 66% at 2PM to 32% at 4PM. You can figure out what that will do for fair competition.

I'm not against having some fun in the rain, but which tires I bring may depend very much on whether it ends up being an official points event.

13 years ago this week:


(I drove 600 miles to get to that event and ended up competing on snow tires... )

The weather predictions are looking like the rain will lighten up from Saturday morning to afternoon. Will that allow us to chalk the track for Timed Runs? Will the track surface remain consistent throughout Timed Runs to be fair for participants? A decision will have to be made either tomorrow or early Friday to cancel the event, designate the event as a non points event, or attempt to make it an official AX event. I will post a decision sooner than later after consulting with my AX Team members, including Logistics, Timing, Reg., PreReg., Equipment, Corner Working, Tech Inspection, CDI's, etc.
Kind regards,
Mark

Hey, we struggle to keep the surface wet enough at PDS to make it fun (and a good learning experience) for students....this is just a great chance to practice your car control skills! Oh, and I know there are about 8-10 large golf umbrellas in the trailer. Always wondered what the heck they were for...

I recently got to drive a LuckyDogRacing enduro at Laguna Seca over 2 days in conditions ranging from semi-dry to pouring, can't see squat, is that a river in turn 5, hmmm small lake forming in 9, can't see the car 30' in front of me from the spray. While our 4 drivers all thought the weekend was going to suck, EVERYONE of us agreed in the end that 2 days in the rain made us MUCH better drivers. From evaluating better lines in the changing conditions, the constant attention to car control, and the low-to-non-existent grip forcing you to drive super smoothly......it was an AWESOME weekend!!!

Oh, I enjoy performance driving in the wet -- I just want to bring the right car and tires. If it's not likely to count for points, I would probably choose to bring the silver Evo pictured above rather than my regular car.

The only track day I ever did was a day at Summit Point back East in that car. It rained. Great learning experience. Didn't care how fast I was -- don't even know what my lap times were.

It looks like the bulk of the storm will pass through the area by Saturday morning. The AX will go forward as scheduled. If the surface dries up enough we will chalk the track around midday for Timed Runs. The window Run Group stickers are not water resistant, so spread the word on Saturday morning to place them on the inside of the windshield in the top left corner so they remain dry and the scanner can easily reach them. Bring rain gear, umbrellas, and dry clothes to change into later. Performance driving in the rain will be a good learning experience for many of our participants and I anticipate a fun day for all, rain or shine.
Kind regards,
Mark

OH you optimists
Thankfully I am on call

Greg

Back in 2003 / 2004 when Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, and I .... oh wait, that was Carl Scragg, Gary Burch and I ... were AX Chairs we usually did not run AX events at the Q in the rain. One BIG concern was safety. Another was insurance issues (either with Qualcomm or PCA National ... I can't remember).

There was, however, an AX we ran in the Northeast Corner one year (yeah ... North-east corner) that got rained on. Many experienced AX Volunteers said to the AX Chairs "Keep it going! It's a very safe track design and people are having a good time."

So; we took a vote of everyone there at the event ... and everyone who decided to stay agreed to continue as a no-points event. We had just enough people remaining in the run groups to have Corner Workers, and we wrapped it up around 3:30 or 4:00. It was fun. The only bummer: Corner Workers got SOAKED and were pretty-darned miserable.

If the powers that be decide to run the event tomorrow, I'd suggest all those hardy lads and lasses who want to brave the elements bring full rain-gear and rubber boots for corner-working; some warm fleece jackets under the rain gear... you get the picture. Standing out in it for 3 run sessions in the rain should be well planned for.

Or you could sit on a warm, dry, cozy couch sipping Mimosa's and watching Netflix with a fire going. (I'm just sayin')

Thank you Dan for your post and thank you to all of you who have contacted me regarding tomorrow's AX. I've taken in all the feedback and advice from many experienced members. Considering the severity of the approaching storm and the uncertainty of whether we can provide a consistent driving surface during Timed Runs to ensure a fair competition, I am making the decision now to designate tomorrow's AX a Non Points event. With that being said, if you are registered and don't want to run if there aren't points involved, you'll need to cancel your registration before midnight tonight to avoid the late cancellation penalty. And for those of you coming out please bring your rain gear along with a change of clothes for later.
My best to everyone,
Mark

Mark
That's a good call, one that I hope is not severely criticized tomorrow(did that once, but it did rain later in the day).
Saves a lot of people from the long drive down to the Q in the dark and the rain.
The Safety Chair fully endorses this decision
So if you wanna go play in the rain have fun, be safe and don't do anything I wouldn't do( big window), because I won't be there...

After looking at the radar and forecast (and having a boat to look after) I think I'm going to bow out of this one.
Also, I can't find my Simpson driving swim fins.

We don't need no stinkin' rainouts

Optimism prevailed and a hardy group turned out for lots of laps. A little rain in afternoon but dried up before too much sliding

Photos are up on google:
https://goo.gl/photos/bMVUEtLHd1BGpnneA

Greg

Thanks Greg.