PCA SDR

Thanks to all for a great event! Gary, Dan C, Denise, Martha, Tom C, all the tech guys and all the crew. Also a big thanks to the corner workers. Tons of track time and great weather. Thanks again,

Dan

Ditto on what Dan said. Thanks also to Dan Chambers for his excellent and enthusiastic instruction.

Jan

Let's not forget the Dente's which (as far as I know) didn't even drive so they could concentrate on running this event for us. I know I had an absolute blast.

Tom C was also a great instructor who I learned a lot from and helped me to get around the track in a fairly smooth and consistant manner.

10-4 on that. Great time y'day..... Kudos to Gary, Dan C, Denise & Steve, Martha, Tom C.... very well run event.

....And thanks for keeping safety #1 priority.

Jan Mellinger wrote:Ditto on what Dan said. Thanks also to Dan Chambers for his excellent and enthusiastic instruction.

Jan

Thanks, Jan. You drove very well. Just remember "hands like Budda, feet like a ballerina......"

Big thanks to Gary Burch, Tom Comeau, Jerry Mize, my lovely wife Monica , Martha McGowan, and all the folks that made it a great day. As Tom Tweed says, it is the best driving bang for the buck the club offers!

Dan

ps - Big thanks to Jerry Mize and Gary Burch for some of the best "cat and mouse" driving I've had in a long time!. Jerry, you need a limited slip/torque-biasing diff., my friend!

Another great event. You people who put these events on for all of us rule!

One question though. My Victoracers had 11 heat cycles on them when I got there yesterday. 4 heat cycles later, my back ones are totally corded. What is that surface made of anyway? Volcanic rock? Pumice? Recycled cheese graters?

Had alot of fun on the track with the OC AM boys and Pete and Martin in that 964.

I missed Jad being in our run group, but apparently at the autocross on Saturday he explained that he wouldn't be at the Sunday DE because he has outgrown "parking lot events". Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm?

I still like AX in parkinglots, just think the QDE's are too brutal on tires and brakes for what is a little too much like a NASCAR oval for my tastes. They are great for learning and basic seat time but I find big tracks and AX's much more challenging. With limited free time, the QDE's are out for me

Plus, the lack of competition from the 'true' AM makes them extra boring

Curt wrote: 4 heat cycles later, my back ones are totally corded.

That's what happens when you spend most of your time in the turns going sideways.

TT

Ditto on the thanks to all organizing and running the event.

Definitely a very fun event which I really enjoyed. Dicing it up with the O.C. Guys, Martin and rest of the red group was really fun since there were so many similar cars.

Gary - The track speed was fine and I was very comfortable. It just seemed longer in the track map. You may want to solicit comments from Dan A. Apparently he found the track design not to his liking, as he attempted to rearrange it a couple of times. I did my part in that area early on but sharpened up later.

Thanks for another great event !!!

Yes, it was a lot of fun chasing each other around the track with everyone in the red run group. We took turns at redesigning the course.

My old Victoracer's with about 12 heat-cycles also corded by the end of the day on the drivers side. One thing for sure, the QDE is hard on cars. I broke a few little parts, but it was a fun day with a lot of seat time.

I also had a fun time, but I was out chasing down the 944s in Orange run group. Gary Burch and Martha had fun with chase and be chased.
I also corded a tire, left front for me, could it have been all those right hand turns?

I will try stirring the pot by recommending that we look at whether our safety rules are too stringent for the QDE's. I would be in favor of allowing cars in stock and street stock to run with the same equipment as they need for autocross.
Our present requirements seem too stringent especially for the Boxsters and Cabriolets. While I feel that the risks go up slightly from autocross to QDE, the parking lot is overall a very safe venue. It is also small enough that fire extinguishers are not needed and the risk of rollovers is also very small, and probably no greater than the risks seen in autocross. Requiring a fire extinguisher and 5 points and roll bar extensions precludes almost all of the Boxsters from trying the QDE's.
Willow Springs, California Speedway, Buttonwillow and other big track are another story. But we should allow drivers to try out the continuous lapping events at the Q.
Greg

The Rules/Tech team is working on this situation right now for SDR QDE events. We have received several requests from the membership mirroring your concerns. Fortunately the process is much easier for SDR events than for the zone.

Stay tuned...

Steve Grosekemper
PCA-SDR Rules Chair

Jad wrote:I still like AX in parkinglots, just think the QDE's are too brutal on tires and brakes for what is a little too much like a NASCAR oval for my tastes. They are great for learning and basic seat time but I find big tracks and AX's much more challenging. With limited free time, the QDE's are out for me

Plus, the lack of competition from the 'true' AM makes them extra boring

You want challenging? try the DE with old used 245 kumho's in the rear, in red group...

The track was short but very fun, it didn't look like the track map. While it may be hard on tires it was still way more fun than an ax IMHO, and there were a couple of spots that were hard to get right consistently. But I can understand Jad, in an ax nobody can pass you...

Greg Phillips wrote:I will try stirring the pot by recommending that we look at whether our safety rules are too stringent for the QDE's. I would be in favor of allowing cars in stock and street stock to run with the same equipment as they need for autocross.
Our present requirements seem too stringent especially for the Boxsters and Cabriolets. While I feel that the risks go up slightly from autocross to QDE, the parking lot is overall a very safe venue. It is also small enough that fire extinguishers are not needed and the risk of rollovers is also very small, and probably no greater than the risks seen in autocross. Requiring a fire extinguisher and 5 points and roll bar extensions precludes almost all of the Boxsters from trying the QDE's.
Willow Springs, California Speedway, Buttonwillow and other big track are another story. But we should allow drivers to try out the continuous lapping events at the Q.
Greg

Greg, I agree! When Gary and I "took over" the DE program at the Q, we felt a relaxation of some rules might be appropriate (like 5-point harnesses in coupes), since the speeds were a bit slower than a true big track. Although I initially wanted very tight rules for the sake of safety, I now think time has proven the worthiness of safety at the Q, and might preclude certain safety requirements that you've mentioned. Statistical review of the average top speeds at a west-lot A-X in my car, and top speeds at a QDE in my car, over the last 2 years, indicate the speeds are near the same, ie, top-speed straight-aways run around 68 MPH up hill, and anywhere from 72 to 79 MPH down hill (ah, the pleaures of a 944 ). So, perhaps the rules for safety may be more consistant for QDE's and A-X's than QDE's and Time Trials.

I'm glad to see Steve G. on top of this. For Monica and I, the QDE's are an all-around favorite driving event. We'd definitely like to see others, including Boxters and Cab.'s enjoy the experience as well, without having to "cash-out" for a lot of safety gear.

My 2-cents.

Curt wrote:One question though. My Victoracers had 11 heat cycles on them when I got there yesterday. 4 heat cycles later, my back ones are totally corded. What is that surface made of anyway? Volcanic rock? Pumice? Recycled cheese graters?

Curt:

The asphalt at the Q was originally placed in the early 60's, when the Q was built (that's about a decade before you were born ). No new surface has been placed there since then, so your driving surface is older than your car!

FYI, as asphalt ages, the binding material - bitumen - erodes under the influence of sun, wind, rain, and abbrasion (AKA sticky race tires), leaving the "hard matrix" - gravel - standing higher than the binder, since it's more durable. So, age = rougher surfaces, and rougher edges (kinda like older drivers ... rougher around the edges ) of the overall surface.

One fix is to periodically sleuce the surface with fresh bitumen binder and sand, or "slurry." This fills in the gaps around the matrix, and reduces the course nature of the elevated matrix.

In the case of the Q, the fix will most likely come in the next 5 or so years, when the parking lot is removed, and replaced with mixed-use condo's/commercial buildings and a new stadium - complete with parking structures (verticle AX, anyone?). The parking lot will be transformed into parking structures, buildings, and a land of high traffic, high housing costs, and no more racing . Since there is heated talk about stadium re-development, the City (who currently owns the parking lot/stadium .... and is near bankrupcy ) won't consider re-paving .... or even sleucing the parking lot.

Due to the abrassive nature of the Q lot (about the same as #5 sandpaper on balsa-wood), I run street tires on QDE days. Since it's "non-competitive" I save my track tires for the days worth points.

Dan C.