[BillJ]

And I was not addressing something you did not say. What I am saying is that the person with the problem could be YOU on ANY given day and I bet the song would sound a tad different if you needed an hour to fix an issue. Would you like to go out first in that scenario?

[KevinOyler]

Here's a proposal that may help addresses the time complaints. Haven't thought about the implications, just throwing it out to chew on. What if the event were divided into two sections--first thing in the morning for red and black driver runs and remainder of the day for the white, blue and green? The red and black who aren't instructors can leave before the day is over if they choose, and the white, blue and green don't have to show up early and they have their run sessions compressed with less time between runs. Instructors have uninterupted track time in the am, and can then focus fully on the instructing portion of their day. It won't create more track time, but it may feel like more because it is concentrated, and for some doesn't require a whole day's time.

This dual system would mean twice the work for registrars and techs. It will also create a division within the club participants with all day regulars vs. the morning/afternoon transients, which for me is a major negative. There will also be less chance of making repairs if something happens to your car, and there will be less time for socializing and relaxing. If it rains in the am and turns sunny in the afternoon, one group may feel cheated as well. Probably works better for home events.

[Vicegrip]

Originally Posted by MatP

I still don't understand what the issue here is. Regardless of what time grid tech occurs, it is still required that all drivers attend the 8am drivers meeting. Best case scenario, you get to the track at 7:45, go thru tech and are ready for the drivers meeting. Worst case, you get there at 7 when tech opens. The difference here is less than an hour.

Good point. This is where am right now. Tech would be easy to restructure and there are many ways to handle Tech for all members. Tech gets the brunt of the rath for the "I gotta be at the track" gripe only as it is first. Spot on, Mat, show up and tech at 7:45 and roll right into the meeting. If you are in line before the metting you get inspected right after the meeting. This really messes with Reg as they have to stick around for the late folks on day one but day two or day three no problems.
Lets say Tech is non issue and can be covered another way. How do we handle the next steps, drivers meetings and reg?


BTW Funny thing, we get a bunch at the start of tech and a bunch at the end with a bit of a lull in the middle. (This is when we scoot to get our coffee and fat pill allotment ) We almost allways find more issues in the later group than the early group.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by 1973914

And I was not addressing something you did not say. What I am saying is that the person with the problem could be YOU on ANY given day and I bet the song would sound a tad different if you needed an hour to fix an issue. Would you like to go out first in that scenario?

The song would not at all be different if it were my mechanical issue. Why in the world would I want to make everyone else show up early, so I would be forced to do so too and thereby have more time to fix a mechanical issue before start of session? Every driver is responsible for their own car. If they lose track time for mechanical issues that could have been spotted and fixed at early tech, too bad. I don't think anyone would blame someone else for this.

[TD in DC]

I like the idea of keeping the main tech the way it is now, but then having a rolling tech like RL suggested for those rare cases where someone needs a late tech. The first time I took my 944 to the track, I showed up late. Was it my fault? No, not really. My shop didn't leave my key where they were supposed to leave it, so I couldn't pick up the car on Friday night when I showed up to pick it up in advance of a Saturday/Sunday event. I left a slew of messages, and I didn't get a return call until mid morning on Saturday. I showed up as soon as I could. Under these circumstances, it wasn't really my fault, so a rolling tech with people specifically assigned to handle late techs would be helpful in preventing Kurt from getting harassed all day. Now, if people somehow "abused" this courtesy late tech too often, then they could be talked to privately without losing track time (I mean, that's what the rolling tech is for).

[Rick Lee]

I'd rather have a rolling or late tech for those who don't want to come 3 hrs. before their first session. I don't care about the reason for showing up late. I just think we should have rolling grid tech or designated grid tech inspectors who you can come and find if you miss early tech. I'd sure be happy to do it for anyone who asked.

[BillJ]

Maybe the answer is to stop being so "Me" and "You" centric and think more about the program? That what we are discussing, right?

The rolling tech idea keeps the tech inspectors and registration required to be available at all times, and thats not a great option for the volunteers. The dual system is intriguing, but in the early and late parts of the season the morning sessions are typically cold track, so that would not be overly fair to the upper run groups. Plus the ability to show the students different approaches in the instructor car intermixed with their sessions is often helpful. But it works for AX, so maybe its worth further consideration for DE. I prefer the current system.

Reducing the number of entrants does not seem to solve the issue at hand, which is people showing up late and missing time on the track. That was the original point IIRC. Whats the big deal about showing up at the prescribed time? Its not like tech is open for 15 minutes at 6:45. Its an entire hour from 7 till 8. How hard can that really be? And besides, people are usually caught by the time their run groups come up. Is this such a big deal? Mandatory driver meeting is at 8, so you have to be there early anyway. I am as much a capitalist as the next guy, but pulling out the wallet doesnt "earn" you the right to inconvenience an entire corps of volunteers under whose system you benefit.

[TD in DC]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I'd rather have a rolling or late tech for those who don't want to come 3 hrs. before their first session. I don't care about the reason for showing up late. I just think we should have rolling grid tech or designated grid tech inspectors who you can come and find if you miss early tech. I'd sure be happy to do it for anyone who asked.

I would be happy to help if I thought I knew enough to catch those odd things. I am not Eagle Eyes.

TD

[BillJ]

Kurt - it may be a good idea to have a designated location where late techs could occur, and a list of people that will man that station during the day. Along the lines of "In front of the white trailer that has the sign marked 'Tech'". This would be clear and we would make sure only one person would need to be there for any given session. I would be happy to help set up that kind of system. It needs to be understood that it is incumbent upon the late arrivee to find the station. Then of course they would need to get registered, so someone would be required to man a defined late registration station. While it is a service to our club members, we still need to recognize that everyone makes some level of sacrifice to be there and should expect return for their time and money. What do you think?

[Rick Lee]

I'd just designate a few techs as the go-to folks for the late arrivals. Let them find us. No point in making up more schedules and having folks have to stay somewhere.