Fellow driving enthusiast,
Please give me some feedback on the following event proposal. This message was only created to find out if there is enough interest (student/instructor/autocrosser) to support this event. Please forward this to your track/autocross friends for their input, too. I apologize if you get multiples of this messages, as you may be on more than one of my group lists.
Thank you,
Ronn Hale
DEC, Sandlapper Chapter BMW CCA
The Sandlapper Chapter BMW CCA is currently contemplating hosting a one day dual event at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC. Proposed is a driver school utilizing the East Course (Turn 1 thru 9A) for up to 4 student groups of 15 cars per group, and an autocross on the West Course (Turn 10 thru 14 with the Pit Straight) for up to 80 drivers.
The projected date is Saturday, June 19th. Other optional dates are Friday, June 4th; Saturday, June 5th; Sunday June 6th; Friday June 18th; Saturday, August 1st; Sunday August 2nd.
Cost is projected to be around $85/$95 for driver school students, $45/55 for autocross drivers. Lunch will be available to all participants and crew/spectators at their own expense (the idea is to keep it a relatively inexpensive event for the Chapter.) Our beautiful chapter apparel will also be for sale.
The events will be run independantly with their own staff groups. Cars will be allowed on track at 9am, end time is 6pm unless if more time is purchased.
The driver school will be run in normal fashion with mandatory tech, in-car instructors and classroom time. Touring laps will be held during the lunch hour for everyone to enjoy. Sign-offs are at the descretion of the in-car instructor and Chief Instructor. Passing will be limited in the student groups but unlimited in the instructor group. I'm expecting to get every group at least 4 on-track sessions with a possibility of 5 or 6 by the time I've completed the session schedule. All drivers need to be at least 18 with valid state issued drivers license. Helmets M or SA 95/2000 are required. We have 5 rental helmets should you need one. Open top cars are allowed but MUST meet our safety requirements first, prior to the day of the event.
The East Course is not nearly as hard on tires or brakes as the normal Full Course. It is also the faster side with the higher speed combination corners and 3 main straights.
The autocross will be run in the same fashion as our December autocross at Michelin Proving Grounds. Depending on the number of entrants, there will be 3 or 4 groups of 15 to 20 drivers. Drivers will work the course where needed. This will be approximately a 1.00 minute course or slightly longer for most of us, so we should still be able to fit in 6 runs for all drivers plus fun runs if time allows. Remember, we are running in the summer this time, so we should have plenty of daylight but we are limited to how long we can use the track (unlike Michelin in December where daylight determined when we left the track, well most of us anyway.) All drivers need to be at least 16 with a valid state issued drivers license. 16 & 17 year-olds need to have at least one parent or legal guardian present to sign the minor waiver, NO EXCEPTIONS. Open top cars are allowed, rollbars/rollcages are not required for autocrossing.
I've heard a lot of talk from many people that say we run a great program and were also wondering what we were going to do after our February VIR school was snowed out. Well, this is it. Those of you that were interested in participating in our next driver school or autocross, it's time to step up to the plate. Please show me that there is enough interest out there amongst you for us to host this event. We MUST have ample interest in both events plus enough staff to make this happen. If you are interested in being part of (or would like to get someone involved in) our staff, please let me know. We need help in areas of registration and tech for both events, grid coordinators for the school, and someone to play salesperson at our chapter apparel tent (perferably one or two of our chapter officers.)
What I need from you at this point is your interest in which event or if you would like to be a part of the staff, and a prefered event date with second/third choices from the dates listed above. As always, instructor availability and majority rules on the event date.
Thank you for your time, and hopefully we'll see you out there!
Best regards,
Ronn Hale
These guys were at Phil Wicks and were great!
You can email Ronn at:
scbmwcca@rjsonline.net
