I'm not sure when I'll be able to leave town, but I'm just curious what the details of this are... unless us poor non-trailering people aren't allowed.

 

We'll let folks know as soon as we figure it out ourselves... which may well be Thursday, knowing us.

 

Well, this is as good a place as any to organize... We should meet a bit "downstream" of RTP, since some will be coming from Cary. Somewhere on I-40 east of Harrison ave with a big parking lot and a trailer-friendly gas station? Maybe
NC 54? Hwy 70? Or down at exit 312? Plan to leave at 12:30?

 

I really should quit checking the weather... it gets worse every time I look.

http://www.weather.com/weather/local/USGA0506?whatprefs=

I'm extremely unenthused about spending the weekend in the rain... at least the Nopi fools will have beer to keep things interesting.

 

Don't underestimate an HPDE in the rain... you can learn a LOT, if you let yourself.

 

Yea, I was thinking that until I saw Carguys yellow flag my entire rain session, leaving me in a slow-moving train.

I welcome the chance to actually drive in the rain, just don't look forward to staying soggy all weekend.

 

So they wouldn't let you pit for space either huh? How terrible.

 

0wn3d

 

You're right... who needs to pass anyway. Maybe we should lobby to run this entire weekend under yellow. You wouldn't mind would you?

 

I ran 2 laps in the rain at Car Guys. I saw what I wanted to see and parked the car. I was stuck in traffic, and while I could have pitted, I didn't figure as a novice testing the limits in the rain was the best plan - not to mention, I wanted to drive the car home.

Scott

 

I think you've missed my point. I assume you were in Green or Yellow? Probably many people's first time in the rain, and as I recall, it wasn't a light rain, it was pretty heavy. IMHO, yellow-flagging the first rain session in inexperienced groups is not a bad idea, given that you've thrown the huge variable of rain into the equation. People do stupid **** in the rain... listen to the traffic report on a rainy afternoon after work. This doesn't suddenly go away when people hit the track. Maybe you were comfortable going faster than most. If that's the case, pit and have the pit out guy put you out ahead of the pack. Then you are liable to have clear track for many laps.

My point was this: You are responsible for your fun on track. If you get in a train (wet or dry), and get frustrated, pit for space. You might lose 1 minute on track, but isn't it worth it for the lower frustration level?

r2x ~ who is now positive Jeff is one of her students for the weekend.

 

LOL... what's this supposed to mean?

Actually, I understand exactly what you're saying... My statement, without any knowledge of the situation, sets me up as an easy target. Just for argument's sake... and since I've already hijacked the thread... I stayed 2nd in line as we slowly made our way around the track. The flagging has been pretty inconsistent, going from 1 to 4 laps under yellow so I sat content for quite a while waiting for the green. When I finally realized that it wasn't going to change I checked my mirrors and realized how many cars were behind me. At 50mph, it would have taken over 2 minutes of sitting to get clear track. About a lap later, I decided to pit anyway and as I rounded Oak Tree the checkered was out. The whole session was maybe 10 minutes.

It's not nearly as big a deal as I may make it out to be. What it did do is leave me wondering what a "rain or shine" policy means exactly, and what effect that might have on a "rained out" weekend.

Jeff - who is quite the layed-back person, despite his internet tirades.

 

Dont remind me Jeff

Evan
-whose subaru was unable to experience the beauty of all wheel drive when it would have been sooooo much fun

 

Diane there really wasnt much clear space on the track, like Jeff said there were lots of trains, and intermittent very slow cars that would have been caught up to very quickly. And even if pitting in for space was possible or a good idea, the thought process at the time was that we were waiting for green. We had already sat in the pits for 10 minutes, so half the session was gone and I know I was very impatient to get some real track time for the session.

Evan
-who thinks Car Guys should follow their "rain or shine" policy, and who wont be paying $500 again for yellow flag track time

 

So 10 minutes of yellow track during a driving rainstorm has turned you off to Car Guys? Interesting... I suppose having your session red-flagged due to somebody into the wall outside of 6, or off through the uphill esses, or off the middle of the back straight into the trees (yes, this has happened), or on the inside or outside of hogpin would have been prefferable to 10 minutes under yellow? Interesting...

r2x ~ who doesn't understand how novice students think they know everything, but sees it all the time.

 

No. When did I imply that someone balling up their car would be preferable to running in the rain?? **** happens, people screw up, and put their cars into walls, its part of the game. So I guess we should just run all the sessions full yellow every time? Point is, when there isnt an incident, there is no reason not to run a normal session.

What it comes down to (and what I think Jeff was saying too) is that it was frustrating running full yellow for a whole session. Thats it. I dont know why you are getting so worked up about this.

Evan
-who is not a novice, and doesnt think he knows everything.

 

We will need to agree to disagree on this one. I'm not worked up really, just curious as to why 10 minutes of yellow in a rain session upset you both so much.

I'll be interested to see what your opinion of how rain sessions at the end of a Satuday should be run when you have 70 days on track and are an instructor. For now, try to give the event organizers the benefit of doubt in their decisions in running their events. They really do have the participants best interests in mind.

 

I have had some of the most fun on track in the rain both as a student and instructor. The speeds are significantly lower and you can really play with under and oversteer with out having to worry about smacking a tire wall at 80 mph.

Take VIR for instance. When it rains (yellow flag or not) and there is no traffic directly behind us, I'll have the student use turn one as a skid pad. I'll have them very gradually increase their speed and turn in to feel the car understeer. Then if they are comfortable with that mabye a slight lift to feel the car oversteer. I basically take a session that could be considered a throw away (very heavy rain) and try to make it interesting and a learning experience for the student.

You can make a session what ever you want rain or shine!!