[trackbird]

Ok guys, I have been at Beaver Run all day with the AV8SS guys. I also had a chance to sit down with the race director and assistant race director and discuss ideas for events. We talked about all kinds of things and I need input.

First. Would anyone be interested in a time trial event at the road courses. Off the top of my head, we were discussing something like a warm up lap, fast lap, cool down lap and doing multiple runs per day (think "large scale autocross", several runs, etc). And, if you would be interested in such a series, what kind of entry fee might get you guys to come out. Meaning, if it's $500 per car, and 2 cars show up, there's no point. If we make it less (and we'd be planning on it....trust me), at what point would people be interested in coming to try it, and would people be interested in such a format? It would not be a "coned off" road course, it would be a single "flying lap" with a warm up and cool down on each end.

Second. HPDE time. I'm trying to work something out for an HPDE format that would be affordable, but we'd need cars to keep the prices down. I know we like HPDE's here, don't we?

Third. I was discussing the frrax track day idea that we've been bouncing around for the last year or so. We talked about pairing it with an AV8SS weekend. We'd need to find where to hold it (Summit Point, Nashville, and VIR were discussed, but we'd be open to others). Any input?

[CamaroFS34]

I love my car on a road course.

And that's the problem.

I haven't done an open track event in a couple of years. I am not willing to put a roll bar in my daily driver, and I can't upgrade the brakes, etc. because it's an FS car. But, I've gotten to the point on a road course where I can't push myself the way I want to because the brakes only last 4-5 laps at Summit Point before I have to give it up due to serious fade (and this is with fresh high temp brake fluid). I can't drive as hard as I really want because in the back of my mind, I'm thinking of what could happen in one of those gravel traps without at least a roll bar.

It has nothing to do with expense, and everything to do with how much I'm willing to risk. And I'm not going to have as much fun driving at 70-80% to compensate for the lack of brakes and bar.

Karen

[trackbird]

I love my car on a road course.

And that's the problem.

I haven't done an open track event in a couple of years. I am not willing to put a roll bar in my daily driver, and I can't upgrade the brakes, etc. because it's an FS car. But, I've gotten to the point on a road course where I can't push myself the way I want to because the brakes only last 4-5 laps at Summit Point before I have to give it up due to serious fade (and this is with fresh high temp brake fluid). I can't drive as hard as I really want because in the back of my mind, I'm thinking of what could happen in one of those gravel traps without at least a roll bar.

It has nothing to do with expense, and everything to do with how much I'm willing to risk. And I'm not going to have as much fun driving at 70-80% to compensate for the lack of brakes and bar.

Karen

Would it make it one lap? I fully understand your thoughts (they are similar to my own), but what's your thoughts on the "autocross on a road course" approach? We've been known to drive all over the country for 5 runs at 50 seconds each. If you got 4-8 runs at a total of 3 laps each, would it be worth the drive (and how's that fit into your thoughts above?)?

Again, nothing's firm, I'm just looking for input. The series is interested in ways to get more people involved and these were some of the things we discussed. So, I'm asking for help.

[CamaroFS34]

Would it make it one lap? I fully understand your thoughts (they are similar to my own), but what's your thoughts on the "autocross on a road course" approach? We've been known to drive all over the country for 5 runs at 50 seconds each. If you got 4-8 runs at a total of 3 laps each, would it be worth the drive (and how's that fit into your thoughts above?)?

Of course it would make it one lap. But you're also looking at speeds in excess of 100mph at most of these venues, and average speeds are a heck of a lot higher than the 40ish at an autocross course.

Again, I love my car on a road course. But, like I said earlier, it's not just the brakes; I just can't do it any more without the safety equipment. All it takes is one mistake or one failure, and you're going to have a much bigger issue than at most autocrosses. To tell the truth, I'd be more likely to do it at a place like VIR where there are no gravel traps (seen too many cars roll in a gravel trap where they would have slid on grass), even without a roll bar, but soft dirt/mud would be just like gravel in promoting rollovers, so it would also be weather dependent.