LOL Rallycross meeting for 2003 season.

[sparrott]

All,

There is LOL SCCA general membership meeting this Friday (November 15) at 7:00 PM at the Thunderbird Hotel in Bloomington. The plan is to have a rallycross meeting after the general membership meeting to discuss the 2003 rallycross season. The meeting agenda will include discussion of dates, locations, rally-masters and anything that pertains to next years rallycross season. There are several possible sites that could be added to next year's schedule so we need everyone's input on how to proceed with the planning for next year. Let me know if there are any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

Scott Parrott
952-492-3695

[breon]

Do you have to have an SCCA membership to attend both meetings? I will join ASAP if I must.

Thanks
Breon

[Greg Donovan]

scott i sent you a note to your inbox here on the forum site
greg

[jblewis]

No, you do not need to be a member to attend the General Membership meeting. I doubt you'd be barred from the Rallycross meeting either!

JBLewis
LOL Comp Board: Rally Chair

[sparrott]

>scott i sent you a note to your inbox here on the forum site
>greg
Replied your note.

Scott

[Mike Anson]

Hi Scott,

As a part-time LOL rallyx competitor, I'd like to put in my 2 cents, although I won't be able to make the meeting. The commute from Chicago is a little far. :)

Is there any way you can make the courses a little longer? From the events I made it to and results I've seen for other events, it looks like a bogey time of around 30 - 35 seconds is the norm. Down here, we shoot for a minimum of one minute runs. We'd actually like to do longer runs, but land and a lack of cones limits us. Assuming the Arkansaw site remains viable, there's plenty of space and cones available for some really long and fast courses. I know you're trying to keep the entry fees low, but I'd be willing to pay more for longer courses. You betcha.

Hopefully, I'll be able to convince some of you Minnesotans to come down and enjoy a Rally Cabal rallyx next season.

Mike Anson
In the Midwest? Join the Rally Cabal!
Now with forums! http://www.rallycabal.com

[mayhem83]

>Is there any way you can make the courses a little longer?
>From the events I made it to and results I've seen for other
>events, it looks like a bogey time of around 30 - 35 seconds
>is the norm. Down here, we shoot for a minimum of one
>minute runs. We'd actually like to do longer runs, but land
>and a lack of cones limits us. Assuming the Arkansaw site
>remains viable, there's plenty of space and cones available
>for some really long and fast courses. I know you're trying
>to keep the entry fees low, but I'd be willing to pay more
>for longer courses. You betcha.

Mike, your comments are just what we need, constructive criticism. Having been the rallymaster for 3 events this year, I will respond to your comments.

First off, the rules state that the maximum anticipated speed should be 30-45 mph for these events. What that generally means is most cars will never get above 2nd gear at an appropriately designed course.

As to the length of the course, at Arkansaw, we are hindered by the gentle crest in the middle of the field we use. The entire course must be visible from one point. At this venue, if the course is too long, we cannot maintain visual contact with the car at all times.

As far as the costs go, we could run a long, fast course for the same money except it wouldn't meet the rules. Then it WOULD get more expensive!

I am NOT trying to shoot down your comments, they are valuable to us to improve the events. I am merely trying to explain why the courses were laid out the way they were.

I would go on to ask you to act on behalf of all the members of SCCA to help assure that the courses in your area are designed with all the safety requirements fully met. If there should be a problem and if that problem were due to disregarding some of the safety requirements, our sport will suffer.

Sincerely,
Mark Utecht

[Bruce]

>
>As to the length of the course, at Arkansaw, we are hindered
>by the gentle crest in the middle of the field we use. The
>entire course must be visible from one point. At this
>venue, if the course is too long, we cannot maintain visual
>contact with the car at all times.
>

Someone asked awhile back if the "point" from which the whole course must be visible had to be on the ground. What they had was a field like Mark described, but with some sort of tower in the middle that COULD command a view of the whole course. I took the question to the ClubRally Stewards and the PRB, and nobody could see a reason why a site like that - used correctly - couldn't work. The safety steward onsite agreed.

Find yourself some scaffolding, Mark, and maybe you can do longer courses at Arkansaw.

Bruce

[breon]

There are a lot of hunting stands that extend into the air. i'm sure some in the area has one of these stands.

http://a1460.g.akamai.net/v/1460/1339/6h/www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/content/Pod/00/48/92/p004892hz01.jpg

I found this on at cabelas.com. it retails for $249

[Mike Anson]

I'm rereading the rallycross rules and I found this line:

All portions of the course shall be visible to at least one course marshal who can communicate through signals or by electronic means with the starting line.

It doesn't say (at least I couldn't find where it said) that the course has to be completely visible to one person. That said, would it be possible to move the start/finish to the top of the crest so the whole course is below and visible? It's been a while since I've been there so I don't remember the topography with any precision.

And, for the record, our last course was about 0.6 miles long with times coming in just under a minute - well within the stated speed guidelines. (That statement is really more to make Bruce happy) We are very safety conscious when designing our courses because we have a group of competitors who, if left to their own devices, would kill themselves in about 6 minutes. We have to keep them as restrained as possible. I believe my courses are safe, for no other reason than I keep getting crap about how much faster they could be! :7

Mike Anson
In the Midwest? Join the Rally Cabal!
Now with forums! http://www.rallycabal.com

[jblewis]

I don't know.... Mark's van has quite the nice deck on top!!! Just park it out in the middle!

:-)

JBLewis