Dirt Missile rebuild begins

[SSLance]

Originally Posted by rrunner68

The first lap is a no passing/"gentleman's agreement" lap usually the sub 1:50 guys are in the front and bunch us up towards the end of the lap, and REALLY bunch us up from 8 to 11 ESPECIALLY at 11.
Unfortunately from what I saw, the pace vehicle pulled in after 10 and Dirt Missile TOOK OFF, hahaha.
We were still bunching, and I was in 10 when I saw the Missile disappear into 2. The regular fast guys hadn't even nailed it out of 11 yet. I knew the Missile was screwed and would be into the TT6&5 cars before they got up to speed and after looking at the video, it looks like I was right.

I noticed the exact same thing from up on turn 9 terrace...I remember thinking they should have held the green flag for one more lap to help get everyone bunched up before releasing the hounds.

Are you saying that either way (green then or on the next lap) that it is common courtesy for everyone to stay in line for the first lap after green to get everyone up to speed and warmed up...then try to make your one or two hot laps?

I could see that helping to stem the problems Darrel had all weekend catching the end of the pack too soon, but not sure if it's good or bad for the top third of the faster cars in the group? I always like to get in front of those slower than me before starting my hot lap but I've never been on track with 73 other cars with such wide variations of lap times at the same time so...

[rrunner68]

Originally Posted by SSLance

Are you saying that either way (green then or on the next lap) that it is common courtesy for everyone to stay in line for the first lap after green to get everyone up to speed and warmed up...then try to make your one or two hot laps?

Yes. We are gridded according to best lap times of the weekend, so as long as everyone is bunched well, that SHOULD give the fast guys 2-3 clear laps before they catch the backmarkers.
Looked like it was just a rookie (to Norcal NASA TT) mistake. making the TT meetings throughout the weekend can definitely help with that. We usually do one Saturday and Sunday mornings, first thing (drivers a.m. meeting) and then after the first session. As long as everyone plays/drives well, that'll be it for the weekend. If you guys ever need help, hit me up.

[Vegas69]

There is NO way a Miata belongs on the track with a car like this.(Or a majority of the others in the video) It's just asking for trouble to have such a range of speed on the track.