mrondeau wrote:Cajundaddy wrote:A little perspective on this:
One of the reasons the CC classes were developed back in 2011 was because the alphabet classes continued to expand with every new model of car until we had about 80 classes and 80-100 drivers at an event. Nearly every driver was just tooling around the course in their very own class kicking their own azz with very minimal competition except a few notable hotly contested classes. It was a fun social event but was drifting away from motorsport. The CC class system offered 16 classes that anyone could mix and match tires and equipment to be VERY competitive in a chosen class. Top 10 BRI is a good place to look if you want to see drivers who have learned to play the CC game well including car preparation, tire choice, and driving skill.
I am sort of a fan of close competition and I favor less classes rather than more. If we had just 10 CC classes with 10-15 drivers in each class, you would need to be very deliberate in choice of tire, running weight, and driving skill level to win your class. I actually think this would be pretty awesome and generate serious competition within CC classes for top dog. No I have not proposed this and I doubt it would ever happen in PCA. Too bad actually. The most fun I ever had in PCA is when there were 8-944 Spec and 2-BSX cars all well prepared and all running (CC05) within 1/2 second of each other. We ran nose to tail every session for 2 days and the Timed Runs came down to a few 10ths spread. That was motorsport bliss.
Until you have really crunched the numbers, weighed your car, carefully considered both tire compound and tire widths to optimize your car for a given class, and seriously upped your driving skills, you are simply not very competitive in motorsport. It doesn't matter which class you run because someone can always come along and beat you rather easily. Don't take my word for it though. Put Mark R. Steve G. or Adam G. in your car for a session on fresh tires and see what happens.
Any car can be a top contender in it's CC class if you are very deliberate about it's setup, tire choice, running weight, and have a keen driver at the wheel. Want to up your game? Find the most competitive class with a lot of top drivers that your car will be a good fit. Choose tires and setup carefully to optimize your car for that class and go get em. This is motorsport and when you win it will mean something. You had to beat 10 other competitive drivers to get to the top. That is a lot more fun to me than running in a personal CC class of one.
JM2C
+1 Well said and quite true. Any car that is set up and properly classed can win its class if driven well. Some classes are harder to win. That's because they have better drivers. If you're not winning your class, ask yourself the following: 1. Is my car properly set up? (aligned, balanced and good tires). 2. Am I driving my car to it's potential? 3. Is my car optimized for it's class? Of the three, the one that matters least is whether the car is optimized for it's class. A properly set up car with a skilled driver who points out at the bottom of the class can still win.
As Dave says, competition against skilled drivers is the best. I was fortunate to compete against Jackie C in our 944's for a few years and the competition was fierce. When I got the silver 911, I was lucky to compete with Steve G. In both cases, we pushed each other to be better drivers and it typically came down to who made the fewest mistakes.
I think the bottom line is to rely on superior driving to win your class, not rule changes. Have fun and keep striving to improve.
+1 to Dave and Mark. I really like Dave's idea of having less classes with more cares in each class, rather than more classes with less cars in those classes. It's seems like an arms race of new technology from Porsche vs. the calssification system of Zone 8 to "even out" the cars in class. Where will the arms race stop, and bettter
driving skills start?
In my early days with the club there were around 16 people in my class (944's). The drivers in that class included people like Jad Duncan, Ralph Linares, John Kinkaid, Jerry Mise, Matts Lindsrohm, and many others. My first year competing ... partial year.... with my 944 that had 1 mod (new, stronger, lowering springs up front) I came in 13th in class. I went to many people asking how I could get faster; what additional mod's I needed to get closer to the front of the pack. While some recommended additional mod's, the resounding response was "spend your money on learning to drive, not changing your car." The best advice I got was "Find the top driver or drivers in your class and your car, and learn from them." So I spent the next year working closely with Jad, Ralph and John. Net result: I captured 3rd in class for the year with no additional mod's to the car. yes... 13th to 3rd in 1 year, based on great instruction (not great car improvements).
And for those RS drivers: I'm not against new technology. Quite the opposite. I'm all for new technologies that make the cars faster and safer. Watching a great driver take a newer car with great technology out on the track is absolutely awesome. Watching in-car videos of guys like Patrick Long, Jad Duncan, Mark Webber, Mark Rondeau, Steve G., Greg Phillips take newer cars out and do the dance is truly great entertainment. Great technology + great driving equals sublime performance. Their smoothness, and their times reflect this.
The only thing I fear is when the new technologies allow a poorly skilled driver to think they're a great driver... until the technologies fail. Only disaster follows. When less skilled drivers recognize they're still in need of learning, it's all good and safe. Patience, learning, practice ... and a little humility go a long way to make good drivers great.
Hope to see you all at Willow Springs.