How long is some of ya'lls day for auto x.. We usually have alittle over 100 people running, and usually get 4 runs in. We have to be tech-ed by 9:30 and drivers meeting is at 10:00. 1st car off about 10:30.. Last car finished around 3:30-4:00 usually.. They then do FUN runs for $1 a lap for those who wish to stay.
I only do local events so I leave the house about 8am, arrive by 8:30, unload car, get tech-ed, pay, walk course a few times, wait for drivers meeting..
We have the usual 4 run groups that rotate thru for the day. This puts each run group around time wise of 1 hour to 1.5 hours each.Most times fall in the 42-48 second range for the faster drivers.. Granted if your "working" the course for a big group 1.5 hours of standing out in the sun and chasing cones that st a long time!! I have heard of clubs out west having 200 drivers.. How do ya'll schedule the day?

 

You only have 100 competitors and only get 4 runs?

The local SCCA has 150-250 and gets 4 runs. The BMW club limits its entry to 100 and usually gets 7 or 8 runs, I was feeling short changed to only get 6 last weekend and get away by 2pm.

The SCCA runs morning and afternoon run groups. Morning has a drivers meeting at 9am and runs starting 9:15-9:30, now they've limited the morning to two run groups, they can be finished by 1pm and you go home. If you're running in the afternoon, you have to be registered by noon, and it can go on a bit. Hopefully you can get away by 5pm but once or twice its been nearly 7pm, depending on which run group you're in, there are up to 4.

For the BMW club, you must be there by 8:30, drivers meeting at 9am, first car out about 9:30. If you run 1 and work 2 you can get away about 2pm. If you run or work in run group 3 you'll probably be away by 4pm.

 

There's a handy guide to running large events on the local SCCA's website: http://www.sfrscca.org/images/conten...tionsGuide.pdf

Do you overlap cars? Most courses we run with are designed so you can overlap cars. You can send the next car while the previous one hasn't finished. That way you can double the number of runs you get, you only need about 20s a car for a 40-50 s course. You can have one starting, one finishing and one in the middle.

 

We do sometimes get 5 runs in and do usually have 2 cars on course at a time. Sounds like your club is more efficient time wise. I wish they would start earlier but they say they have some people come from a good ways off and that would make it tough on them. Down side to that is for me and a lot of people I know, the long day of it by not starting 1st car till 10:30 keeps people away.. Your Sunday is pretty much done by the time you get home. An 8 hour day of it sometimes, assuming you don't wait around till after the FUN runs to hear the winners named etc..I feel for the guys that stay to clean up. 10-11 hour day with setup and cleanup.. I'm just not that dedicated to it... Wish they'd do the 2 different groups like your club.. That would be great..

 

My longest day was when I helped chair an event. You have to get their for 7am (so get up at 6). Then the event ran long and we just made it in before sunset around 7pm.

We don't name winners at the event. There are sometimes fun runs after the event, but I've never stuck around for those. If I want extra runs we can purchase extra "fun" runs, we use that for comparisons. Running in the morning, then running again in the afternoon can make for a long day as well.

Most of the time the guys still around at the end of things to help clear up only got there for noon, except for the event chairs and the solo chief. They're there all day.

 

Also the BMW club will do tech before everything else, so the tech people have to get there early. That's why I don't do tech at BMW events, the site (Marina) is over an hour away, I'm not getting there for 7:30. With the SCCA only the first run group needs to be teched before the start, all the other are teched during the previous run group, its a regular work assignment. You only need one morning tech person. If I volunteer for morning tech and then run in run group 1, I could be finished by 11am.

 

I would do more events if I could be done by 12ish

 

Doing my first track day at Inde this weekend, 14 cars split into two groups running 15 minutes each from 4-10pm. Better bring a full tank of gas,... and since the lap record for any car is 1:42 set by a Formula one car I don't think I will even get passed although I will be down at least 200HP from all the other cars.

 

that seems long.. i'm not a fan of any 4 heat format personally. i like the 3 heat format: run, work, rest with fast changeovers. a lot more efficient that way imo

 

Our club does the 4 heat thing Work, Rest, Run, Rest so that they can be getting the next workers positioned when the run group is ending so there is not much down time in running. They start getting the next group of cars lined up as the last group of cars are winding down out of grid.