Lateral-G Open Challange Event

[Derek69SS]

Originally Posted by Kris Horton

I believe the "dragstrip" he's talking about is the long straightaway portion of the road course.

It looks like the long straightaway doubles as the return road for the drag strip... or are the pits separating them???
http://brainerdracewayandresort.com/.../trackmap.html

Look up Keith's videos of him passing vettes on the road course at B.I.R. He posted them a few weeks ago.

[KAA]

Originally Posted by Kris Horton

I believe the "dragstrip" he's talking about is the long straightaway portion of the road course.

Exactly. That's why I was wondering how we'd run the road course while the dragstrip was being used.

[XcYZ]

I'm only passing along what Tom told me. I've never been there, I don't know how it all works out.

[67Sally]

Originally Posted by Mean 69

........I think you are referring to the "Stig?" I have never seen the show, but I can tell you, after reading his book on how he clawed his way to drive F1 (the book is called Flat out, Flat Broke: F1 The Hard Way, it is a must read), ............Mark

Thanks for the title Mark; I'll add it to my Christmas list as a library addition.
W.

[Tom Fuehrer]

Hey guys, I thought I'd speak directly about one possibility for the G-Machine Challenge.

First, a quick background about who I am. I'm a closet Pro-Touring fan (Yes, I too own a '69 Camaro Pro-Touring project) and I also race a '95 Mustang in SCCA and Midwestern Council race events. I'm the Regional Executive of Land O' Lakes Region SCCA. I have also been the main organizer of 3 race events over the last 2 years, one SCCA Driver's School / Regional race and also 2 un-sanctioned race/lapping events.

I wrote to Scott a couple months ago suggesting an event to showcase the abilities of the current crop of G-Machines. I'm sure I'm not alone in the thought that an event to prove the capabilities of these cars is way overdue. Show cars have car shows. Pro Street cars have drag racing. What do Pro-Touring cars have?

Many of you have brought your cars to lapping events and that is a great way to see first hand what your car (and you) can do. I'd bet many of you have autocrossed, another example of using many of the capabilities of you and your car.

While lapping gets you onto a racetrack, running timed laps is usually frowned on in an officially capacity, usually because insurance companies who cover the organizers of the even like to think of this type of event as learning experience. Start adding "competition" and it changes the potential for people to hurt themselves and decreases the willingness for typical insurers to cover your event.

Autocross is a timed event, but a typical Solo event isn't a good match for these high horsepower, relatively heavy vehicles. Wheel to wheel racing isn't going to work without everybody having cages and other safety equipment and also a competition license though some sanctioning body. Not to mention the risk of contact between cars damaging your car.

What I think is a great type of event to see how these cars compare against each other is timed event on a portion of a track, using the SCCA Time Trials program (or something like it). Many of you may be familiar with the SCCA Solo 1 program, basically an autocross on a race track. SCCA will sanction and insure this type of event. TT events are open to non-SCCA members and the level of preparation is similar to Solo 2. You can run street cars and modified cars. We could use the TT classes and rules or create our own.

What I suggested to Scott is to use the back side of BIR as a 7 turn “course”, think of it as a flat hill-climb. If you are familiar with BIR, picture a standing start somewhere between turn 1 and 2, run through turns 2,3,4,5,6,7 and somewhere in the turn 8/9 complex have a finishing line. Leave the track at the convenience store area, and follow the service roads back to the starting line to make your next run. This segment of track is probably over 1 ½ miles (BIR is 3 miles total).

This course has a couple fairly long straight sections, simple corners and has a pretty fair amount of run-off area. You can do you best Stig impersonation on the same asphalt that Mark Donahue, Swede Savage and George Folmer battled on in the original Trans Am series.

This type of event could be held at many tracks across the country. BIR is my choice since I’m close and I’m directly involved organizing other events there in 2006. If BIR lands the Fun Ford Weekend deal over Memorial Weekend holding our event in conjunction with it has a lot of merit. It would allow spectators a huge variety of cars to look at and there would be magazine people there to cover the event. It would also give some of our vendors an opportunity to take part in whatever manufacturer’s midway the FF people set up. There is an assumption the FF people would allow non Fords onto the grounds of the track. The G-Machine Challenge wouldn’t be directly organized by them but close coordination would be essential.

There are a ton of details to work out for something like this, but an early start and a bunch of enthusiasm will work in our favor.

If this doesn’t work for Brainerd I’d be happy to help others organize this type of event in other parts of the country although it would be tough for me to be directly involved.

I think it’s important that “somebody” stage an event like this!

Tom Fuehrer

[Mean 69]

Tom just IMMEDIATELY got my vote as event concept organizer. The appeal of such an event without significant time on a road type course, really loses its luster for us, this idea is a terrific one that would be the best compromise I have heard yet. If you've been to a track day, you will undoubtedly complain about the lap that "could have been" if there wasn't traffic, or the car wasn't overheating, this that or the other. As well, you don't really know what the other folks are going to do, don't get me wrong, it is a blast, but there are distractions.

I like the concept, it is a really good one and would satisfy our desires for characterization of the cars. Without something like this, we'd be a whole lot less interested.

M

[Huxsol81]

Originally Posted by Stuart Adams

Is there a section for posers?

are you calling me out Stuart?? lol