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  #1 (permalink)  
Old 05-22-2006, 11:57 AM
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Thumbs up '06 WSCB - TRACK DAY Feedback Thread

Hi to the '06 WSCB Racers,

Wow, what a great time we had at the track on Friday. The best part was that friggin down pour of rain. I had just pulled out of the pits and WHHHHHAAAAAMMMMO!!!! My God !!!!! It was like...You can run but you can't hide sort of thing. But for those of us who stayed, we were rewarded with a hot and clean track. I think I got another 3 sessions in before feeling like I had had my fill. It was pushing 5:00 when I left for the Nugget. I had a great time and my car ran like a champ.

I want to get everyone's feedback while the day is still fresh in your mind. I was not running in the Novice group so I don't know how the actual driving and instruction went for you guys. I did hear from a few of you and got some really good feed back. I started a list of things I saw that could most definitely be improved on. I also think some of you may have missed out a little on the instruction I was hoping for. Also I apologize for the redundant paperwork and the long lunch line. The “basic stuff” will be way simplified for you guys next year. Thanks for putting up with it and being patient with me.

Please let me know what you thought and what your honest opinions are so we can make Track Day that much better for '07.

Duane and I will be getting together on this obviously but I want to strike while the Track-Venom is still in your veins!!!!

Thanks to all of you who participated in this first ever WSCB Track Day. I have to say, over all, I thought it was a big success and hope that I am involved with next years Track Day. ET did a great job running the actual event and hope that everyone had a positive experience with their instructors.

I want to also thank Gary Cook of GT Auto, Brian Lee, Gary Bettencourt, Ron Barsamian (Jamo), and Richard Hudgins of JBL Motorsport for all their hard work teching the cars and helping out folks Thursday and Friday. We had some good laughs too. Thanks guys!!!

I’m looking forward to hearing from everyone and seeing all of you next year for ’07 WSCB-Track Day.

Talk soon and Good Times!!!!

John Marsey
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Old 05-22-2006, 12:13 PM
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I was in the novice group.........had a wonderful time. Scott, my instructor was extremly helpful, polite and did not scream too loud when he rode with me. I think you did a wonderful job orginizing the track day function. The lunch was good and the rest was needed because it gave us time to talk to each other. As far as I'm concerned you can be in charge of the track event again Sign me up for next years right now please.


Ed
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Old 05-22-2006, 12:32 PM
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It was a great track day!! It started out a little slow--following the instructor--but sped up and the last two laps were perfect--at speed .

Keep this event as scheduled and tighten up the time frames and paper work--you've got a winner.

Mark
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Old 05-22-2006, 12:59 PM
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Default Track day improvements??

Well, lets see. I had a fantastic time. I cant think of any improvements off hand. What a rip this was, I can't wait to back on the track.. Once again!!! Now Charlie is wanting to get out there.....Chy is getting her license in a year and plans to be on a track also. Thanks alot!!! See what you've started????

Cant think of any improvements, except next year I will take a trailer out there so I have some dry clothes to be wearing!! Yea, I'm a wimp!! I admit it!
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Old 05-22-2006, 01:10 PM
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John,

Thanks for all the effort that went into the day.

My first track day ever and I wouldn`t change a thing except the rain.

Awesome driving at 6 tenths, what would 10 tenths be like?

Maurice
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Old 05-22-2006, 01:45 PM
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Maurice,

I'm so glad you were able to get your car to the track. I didn't ask you if you got your sway bar link fixed or not. Rob said he was on it and they were going to get you fixed up. Also glad that was the only damage done by the 4x4.

6/10ths is a good thing.

BTW, My room was on the 6th floor corner and had a perfect view of the corral. I also could you leaving in the mornings quite distinctly! “Yep, There goes Maurice!”….as the walls shook. What a monster.

Talk soon, John
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Old 05-22-2006, 03:47 PM
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Folks,

I just spoke with ET and let her know how much fun we had and told her to please thank the instructors for us.

She is very interested in our feedback so again, I would like to hear from as many of you as possible regarding your experience at Track Day.

Thanks in advance,

John
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Old 05-22-2006, 04:15 PM
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We need to coordinate the teching a bit, and the right side/left side brain guy, although providing some good info, was ill-timed after we were already a bit worn out from the necessary track instruction and dividing into groups. His comments may have been more beneficial after a few runs...lunchtime maybe?

Other than that, great! Our instructor ("Bob" in the red Stealth) was extremely nice and informed. Tell ET she done good!
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Old 05-22-2006, 05:36 PM
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The "Track Day" event was, IMHO, the BEST part of the whole Cobra Bash. To have an opportunity to drive and use these (race) cars for the very reason they were originally created in the first place, that was something special. I got some great instruction from ET's TNL crew, and that alone will help me enjoy my Cobra even more, in my every-day travels with the Cobra.
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Old 05-22-2006, 08:58 PM
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Default Track Day at Fernley...

While the entire event was AWESOME, the Track Day was the highlight for me!! That track is fantastic and NOT TO BE MISSED!! That is a must for any future event.
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Old 05-23-2006, 08:03 AM
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Thank you very much for the track day event. The track, inspections, ET, the instructors, flagmen, all were top notch.

I had just installed sway bars and this was the first drive. Car was fantasticon that beautiful track!

Which leads me to the first suggestion:
Need to run faster. I felt held back by the lead instructor car all day. If they want us to follow, they have to drive faster than 6/10. Maybe the B group can be 8 or 9/10? The A group can have one color sticker on windshield, B group another, novice a third color.

Second suggestion:
Safety of drivers: long sleeve shirts, eye protection, up-to-date helmets

Third Suggestion
As far as instruction, if we could group up and ride in mini-vans around the track a few times with the instructor driving and speaking, we could learn just as much, maybe more, than following a leader all day. This is just an alternate way of instructing. The way we did it was ok, but we could not try our cars out at whatever speed we wanted.

Fourth Suggestion
What about a "marque run"; say "All SPF's" or all "ERA's", etc. Or "all little blocks", "all big blocks" etc. Just a thought, maybe not enough time in one day to do this.

Fifth Suggestion
Having the scales set up was a great idea; that way people could see if their cars needed corner adjustments. Maybe some instruction on the benefits of that service would be helpful. How to adjust, etc.

Sixth Suggestion
Pictures: there were people out on the track taking hi-res shots...were those available to purchase? Not advertised, at least that I saw.
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Old 05-23-2006, 09:00 AM
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This was my first track day, I had a great time. My only suggestion would be some more instructions for the novices like myself.
Thanks again it was great. what a neat track.

Tim
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Old 05-23-2006, 10:47 AM
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Caution: Speed

The entire purpose of the Track Day was to allow those that desired, the opportunity to experience the cars at speed on the track, in the safest conditions possible. It was NOT to create an environment of "Afternoon Racers". This track carries a LOT of speed into Turn One. If you miss the apex or get out of shape you can get hurt real bad. No one wants to see anybody hurt at an event like this, (it could potentially jeprodize the track activity) but it can happen and has at other venues. These cars are very fast and can bite you in an instant and there is very little protection provided by the safety equipment in them as you all well know. Please be gratefull we were able to actually use the track as we did, and were able to all get home in one piece. Run groups are put there for a reason.
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Old 05-23-2006, 11:06 AM
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Larry,

Thank you for bringing up some very good points. Over all, I think Track Day went well considering it was the prototype kick off. There are some obvious things were are already discussing, scheduling & charts, paper work, tech inspection, arrival and first hour at the track organizing, track orientation, track configurations, run groups, etc..

Our focus will continue to be geared to the novice driver and getting them comfortable and building their level of confidence. We realized we had in between folks but wanted to give the novice and experienced folks their due time on the track. Because many of you will be returning to the track next year and already have this track day under their belt, we will be able to raise the bar a bit and run a medium speed group with no problems.

I made some comments based on your questions because they spark some good points:





Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry N Johnson
Thank you very much for the track day event. The track, inspections, ET, the instructors, flagmen, all were top notch.

I had just installed sway bars and this was the first drive. Car was fantasticon that beautiful track!

Which leads me to the first suggestion:
Need to run faster. I felt held back by the lead instructor car all day. If they want us to follow, they have to drive faster than 6/10. Maybe the B group can be 8 or 9/10? The A group can have one color sticker on windshield, B group another, novice a third color.
Yes, I agree. A slow / medium / fast - format should work well. It is a good idea though to keep your driving at 80%, or less, of your ability. The 90% to 100% is for competition only. Be smart and safe out there, please. Remember, the name of the game here is fun.

Second suggestion:
"Safety of drivers: long sleeve shirts, eye protection, up-to-date helmets"
This would be a must for Medium & Fast groups. We will be more strict next year regarding these points.

Third Suggestion
"As far as instruction, if we could group up and ride in mini-vans around the track a few times with the instructor driving and speaking, we could learn just as much, maybe more, than following a leader all day. This is just an alternate way of instructing. The way we did it was ok, but we could not try our cars out at whatever speed we wanted."
ET and I had actually discussed this very idea and had planned to make this available for those who wanted to see the track and some of the complexities. For a more experienced driver, discussing the track line is very helpful. To the novice it means very little until they actually drive it. Most of these folks had never been on a track before and it was important to us to cater to this level of driver. We will however create a faster “medium” run group for next year.

Larry, I don’t know if you stuck around for the sessions after the rain but I can tell you I saw some novice folks ringing it out pretty good. We went to an open track format with 2 basic run groups, novice & experienced. I think everyone who stayed really got their fill. I know Duane was pushing his ERA beyond 6/10ths and didn’t seemed held back from what I could see.



Fourth Suggestion
"What about a "marque run"; say "All SPF's" or all "ERA's", etc. Or "all little blocks", "all big blocks" etc. Just a thought, maybe not enough time in one day to do this."
As you could see, the time we had on the track was like a blur and it seemed like maybe some did not get enough quality driving / instruction time. I would like to focus on instruction, seat time, and making the complete day with all the necessities run better and as smoothly as possible. What about an “All JBLs” run? It would not be fare to all the other folks, now would it? One of the things I really love about the Bash is that we don’t really care what cobra you bring to the event as long as you try to bring one. If we did a Marquee Run, I think it would be for all the folks who have never been on a track before. Let’s watch them go around the track at the end of the day so we can see how well they’ve progressed. I think that would be cool.

Fifth Suggestion
"Having the scales set up was a great idea; that way people could see if their cars needed corner adjustments. Maybe some instruction on the benefits of that service would be helpful. How to adjust, etc."
Larry, I’m glad you brought this up. I wanted to have a technical aspect on Track Day this year but the planning would not allow it. To make it worth having one or two tech guys there has to be an interest. If there is an interest and we can work it into the equation, I can probably get a chassis guru there or someone of the sort. Chassis dynamics is a big subject but we could work something out

Sixth Suggestion
"Pictures: there were people out on the track taking hi-res shots...were those available to purchase? Not advertised, at least that I saw."
I know there will be a ton of pics from the track. Give it time for the photo guys to get their stuff together. Just about every time I came down the straight, and a few of the hair pins, like #12, someone was pointing a camera at me. I’m sure everyone got photographed more than once

Thanks again for your comments and questions,

Talk soon, John
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Old 05-23-2006, 11:44 AM
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Thumbs up Safety First!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Parker
Caution: Speed

The entire purpose of the Track Day was to allow those that desired, the opportunity to experience the cars at speed on the track, in the safest conditions possible. It was NOT to create an environment of "Afternoon Racers". This track carries a LOT of speed into Turn One. If you miss the apex or get out of shape you can get hurt real bad. No one wants to see anybody hurt at an event like this, (it could potentially jeprodize the track activity) but it can happen and has at other venues. These cars are very fast and can bite you in an instant and there is very little protection provided by the safety equipment in them as you all well know. Please be gratefull we were able to actually use the track as we did, and were able to all get home in one piece. Run groups are put there for a reason.
Rick,

I totally agree and you make a very good point. Turn #1 is definitely not the place to put it off the track. That is a very wide sweeping left hander. I was watching folks taking this turn way too tight which is dangerous, raises the rear of the car, and sets them in wrong position for following turns. It made me wonder what was going on with instruction. You should be way to the right and at least off the break upon entering this turn to do it safely and correctly.

Yes, we had a great day with no mishaps. Let's keep that in mind at all times. The last anyone wants to see is someone getting hurt or wrecking. The consequences are not worth it at any level. You don't need to go fast to have fun or work on driving techniques. Driving the line correctly and at a slower rate of speed is far more beneficial that simply trying to drive fast for the sake of trying to drive fast. You'll actually end up being much slower and reinforcing poor driving habits.

Well said Rick and you are right on mark as to where we should be focusing our attention.

Thank you, John
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Old 05-23-2006, 12:03 PM
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The track day was the one reason I really wanted to go! Having some professional instruction would have been really awsome! Definately on my agenda next year! By the looks of all the suggestions It was really a great event!
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Old 05-23-2006, 08:38 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Larry N Johnson
Sixth Suggestion
Pictures: there were people out on the track taking hi-res shots...were those available to purchase? Not advertised, at least that I saw.


Hi Larry,
Yes, later on. Those pictures were being taken by the photo crew. I mentioned his name a few times at the Bash, Dan LePage is working on a full on picture CD / picture show of the Bash. Part of it will include those Track Day photos. Dan will be selling them through WSCB at a low cost to cover his expenses, postage, shipping, etc. I told him to take his time and do a good job on it rather than rushing it. Maybe after Summer is over and just in time for Christmas gifts to/for friends and relatives. Take Care, Duane
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Old 05-24-2006, 10:31 AM
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The Friday track day was a blast. Seeing all those cars on the track at one time was like a trip back to the 60's. The whole weekend was fun but the track day was the hi-light for me.

I would like to make some observations regarding some of the comments that have been made on this thread. The track day was a great introduction for those that have not had their cars on a track before and a refresher for those that do have some track time. With 60 cars at the track, even broken into three groups, there will be delays and you probably will feel that you weren't able to go as fast as you would have liked. I think that if you are really serious about getting the most of your track time that you need to take one of ET's or someone else's driving schools.

At ET's school there is an excellent student to instructor ratio and you will get a lot of one on one instruction. The class that I took last fall had 10 students and 3 instructors and this year's class had ET and 4 students. ET was in my car with me coaching on the chatter box, "brake now, shift, turn in, stay out longer, accelerate, and watch the apex". Her constructive criticism was insructional and when you finally heard a "that was great" or a "perfect" you were ecstatic. When you are off of the track you learn about apex's, double apex's, decreasing radius turns, uphill and downhill turns, and banked turns. Enough information to keep your head spinning for several days, Amazingly each time that you get out on the track it all starts to make more sense. Each time that you go around the track your line gets better and with that comes speed that you can control. RFR's old portion of the track is a mostly hi-speed track which our cars are well suited for. With the addition of the new back portion which is more technical, driver and car have to be much more of a team to excel.

All of our cars are fast and most are dangerous fast. If you want to go fast on the track or off learn how to do it correctly. TAKE A DRIVING SCHOOL and preferably one where you drive your own car.

Dick
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Old 05-24-2006, 10:52 AM
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Dick,

Good advice!

John
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Old 05-24-2006, 03:21 PM
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I ran in the A group on Friday and had a blast. It is not often that you get a 4+ mile track with only about 10 cars on it and all the drivers had there act together.
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