Need I mention that the south course configuration was changed after Patti
Yeo almost ran into me? The first left-hander was marked much more clearly
after that near disaster. :) Imagine a Corvette smacking a Lotus 7! Ouch!
True, it would have been on the passenger side. :)
National courses are not perfect, and Roger Johnson takes great delight in
fooling and playing games with the drivers' view.
As for preparing drivers for nationals, that's always been a goal of SFR.
Vernon's course was changed, BTW, part-way through for clarity.
--Pat Kelly
----------
>From: "Talley, Brooks" <brooks@frnk.com>
>To: <ba-autox@autox.team.net>
>Cc: "John Kelly" <76067.1750@compuserve.com>
>Subject: RE: Nationals Course--not!
>Date: Wed, Oct 3, 2001, 12:01 PM
>
>John Kelly wrote:
>
>> I think courses with "unclear areas" do a disservice to our
>> members, especialy new people who have been known to DNF all
>> three runs and go home disheartened. This is NOT the way to
>> continue building a program, especially a financially
>> successful one. Only the tobacco industry can get away with
>> killing its customers.
>>
>> And, unclear areas are dangerous because it leaves
>> the potential for a driver with foot on the floor to travel
>> into another vehicle on course.
>
>I think it's important to separate safety from making beginners feel
>good. They can be realted, but they are not inseperable. I don't think
>anyone wants a course that lends itself to people getting killed. It
>also doesn't seem like we've got a problem with too few participants.
>
>I think it is just as much a disservice to our members to design every
>single course to be beginner-friendly. It's only by challenging
>ourselves that we improve. "Unclear" is in the eye of the beholder, but
>I don't think that making the course "clear" should be our highest
>priority (safety issues notwithstanding, of course).
>
>I had a blast at my first nationals this year, but man do I wish that
>more SFR courses were nationals-style as far as layout, composition, and
>speed. I was simply unprepared for the speed of some of the corners, as
>well as unused to reading more challenging courses. I fisished #32 out
>of 44 in my class, and was lucky to do that well!
>
>Then this weekend I had a great day at GGF. I felt very comfortable with
>the course. Sure, partly because I drove the south course at nats, but
>also because that experience taught me to look farther ahead, to be
>comfortable with tossing the car around at higher speeds, and (most
>importantly) to be patient sometimes and go a bit slower in one part to
>set up a faster part better.
>
>To me, it seems that our local events should prepare people for
>nationals, not the other way around. Surprise and challenge me here so
>I stand a chance against real competition, please!
>
>Cheers
>-b
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