Mike,
I feel the same way about ride-alongs, fun factor, and teaching, though
obviously you're going to get more thrill seekers for the Z06. I'll almost
always grant a ride-along on my first run (except to someone who I think might
go faster than me - for some reason they've never asked anyway ;-) If I am
worried about scoring, which is most of the time, I may not do so on 2nd. 3rd
(or last, depending on run count for that day) I pretty much want to go my
fastest for my own sake, so not then either. And the folks doing the asking
seem to understand just fine.
Fun runs, just about whenever.
In fact, I'm betting that my competitors have been sending the would-be riders
over to me when asked. Not a problem, really.
It's just the other aspects of ride-alongs that detract from the idea.
How much time do you think a passenger costs? I've heard 1/2 sec, 3/4 second.
Of course it probably varies with the car, and course. Sacramento on Sunday
was mostly right turns, and the ride-along on my first two fun runs probably
helped balance the car. Of course, I finally got the course right and picked
up 1/4 second (on a 32 second course) even with the passenger! With my big
boat the percentage of performance lost for another +/- 150 pounds is smaller
than, say, in somebody's Lotus.
Paul T #35 (it's an old joke) Team Grocery Getters
----- Original Message -----
From: MWood24020@aol.com
To: john@harlie.idsfa.net ; pault151@comcast.net
Cc: ba-autox@autox.team.net
Sent: Monday, August 22, 2005 9:26 PM
Subject: Re: regarding drive-alongs
Or...another take:
We autocross to have fun...going fast is fun...riding along with somebody,
going fast, is fun and helps illustrate/teach how to go fast, increasing said
fun...therefore, we should have drive-alongs...:-)
BTW, in the past, people have just come up to me and asked if they can ride
along...primarily because they just know the Z06 is gonna be fun...if its my
first run, I always say yes...if its my second and I'm worried about winning
class, I say maybe...if its my third and I still have to go faster, I say "no"
;-)
So, cones and stickers are good ideas, but I think that it just should be a
given that its OK to ask and also OK to say "no", with no hard feelings!
Mike Wood
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