PCA SDR

Hi Gang!

Just wanted to say thanks again to those who came up to El Toro Fields and helped with our Drivers Clinic.

It was a fun day for all the students, thanks for your help and encouragement.

PLUS.............I think we "hooked" a few more with the afternoon autocross runs.

Lisa and I are looking forward to the "Streets" TT. See you then.

Have Fun! Steve Eguina - OCR Autocross Events Chair

Steve,
I had fun. Liked the venue,plenty of friendly new faces and nice surface to run on. I thought having the same student all day and following them to each exercise was very consistent in reinforcing skills and instilling confidence. My favorite part was no set up or breakdown of the track. The instructors seemed as happy as the students and that's always a nice way to end the day. Even beat the rain on my way home. Thanks for inviting us.

Steve:

Thanks for the opportunity of participating in your Clinic. I thought it went well. I do think a couple of the exercises could use water, but I know the logistics of that where you had the event makes watering exercfises very difficult. (Wish I owned a tire store .)

All in all a very well run program. Looking forward to helping at the next one.

Thanks, again.

Thanks Gang!

If our events are 1/2 as good as San Diego I'm happy. We are working on it. We are starting to develop a good core team.

I had about 500 gallons of water that was used on the three skid pads. I'm not sure the Pitch and Catch is really that effective a tool with the newer cars. I think you can accomplish as much with a BIG "D" at speed using the increasing and decreasing radius turns.

Dan, you seemed to take a liking to Curts GT3:) The Auto-X course was really designed for the instructors fun!

Again thanks for the help and imput. Steve

seguina wrote:Thanks Gang!

I'm not sure the Pitch and Catch is really that effective a tool with the newer cars. I think you can accomplish as much with a BIG "D" at speed using the increasing and decreasing radius turns.

Steve: I agree with that premise. I also think it may be a bit inappropriate in a Clinic where performance driving fundamentals are being taught.

When I was CDI, I discussed the appropriateness/need for the pitch and catch exercise in an introductory course. I hold the belief that Pitch-and-Catch techniques are more advanced and more appropriate for an Advanced Techniques Clinic along with Heel-and-Toe and Trail-Braking techniques, to name a few. I am of the minority in this belief, and the Pitch-and-Catch is still a part of the Performance Driving School in San Diego.

Dan, you seemed to take a liking to Curts GT3:) The Auto-X course was really designed for the instructors fun!

Who wouldn't?? Thanks for the extra lap!! And of course .... big thanks to Curt for "loaning me" a couple of laps in his GT3.

Again thanks for the help and imput. Steve

Looking forward to the next one.

The afternoon AX course was excellent - both for teaching and for running. Lots of good throttle steering corners and it was fast enough all the way to keep us up in the power band.

Comments/suggestions on the Pitch and Catch exercise:

I agree with both of you that it is more appropriate for advanced students, but I have also heard lots of students comment on how much fun they had, and many wish they could have more time at it.

I would suggest that it could work better to have several continuous runs around the cones, rather than a single run, then wait in line. With continuous lapping, you could "tune" the speeds and approaches a lot easier, rather than the one-shot "sprint and turn" method. And, instead of the "triangle" layout, use a simple straight line - up one side, turn, down the other, turn. I doubt we get even one student in a school who can manage to pitch/catch at the midpoint of the triangle and there is just too much going on for new students to absorb - the midpoint just further overloads the student.

Okay, here's my opinion: My student was able to pitch and catch her GT-3 and she liked it! It built her confidence and showed her she could control the car. Our group decided on continuous lapping for that drill and changed our format. I'd like to see a few more corner workers out during the AX. With maybe a radio or two. Although I think sometimes students at SDR use the green apex cones as a crutch, it does make the track more visible, especially on a flat surface like El Toro. It worked out fine, though as there were lots of sweepers!

Thanks everyone.

I think these are all good points. I should have remembered the green cones. Even chalked it's still a "sea of cones" to a new driver.

See you all at the Streets.

Have Fun! Steve

Thanks from Janet and me to Steve and Lisa and all who helped with the Driver's Clinic. I had a great time and best of all, I think Janet really had a good time at her first event. Special recognition to Jackie Corwin for getting Janet to catch the GT3, as the pitch part is pretty easy in that car! It's a fun car and I'm glad to share with a great bunch of folks who make up both the OCR and the SDR. We'll be back to El Toro.