Great Course - Kudo's to the designer

[Arthur Grant]

Remember I'm a newbie of sorts, and have never seen this layout, course or paddock before, but really liked it. Liked having the gate at the top and just the general flow, high speed transitions of the course. Don't know who the designer was but had a lot of fun. That was a nasty first turn and last slalom. Well done, especially the stand on it finish.

[KJ Christopher]

That would be Eric Clements. Technical courses with minimal cones are my favorites.

[Theo O.]

Yes. Eric did a great job! I haven't seen a layout this different in a while. I LOVE the fast back stretch and the sweeper into the finish.

[Jeff Wong]

Yes. Eric did a great job! I haven't seen a layout this different in a while. I LOVE the fast back stretch and the sweeper into the finish.

The course was a blast!

Was it safe though? I overheard that George Lynch wouldn't finish his runs because of a spin caused by the massive bump? I know I did not enjoy banging up my exhaust both days but I understand it was my choice to drive the course still



Tom Berry almost got this much air.

[Mike Simanyi]

Our Safety Steward, course designer and Event Chair all went out to that spot to observe for any safety issues after hearing from me that a number of people were complaining about going airborne.

They didn't see a single example of it and decided to not change the course so we wouldn't disturb team points, overall indexed points, etc.

I watched as well, throughout the day. In the fourth run group, one Civic actually lifted the back wheels off the ground. That's all I saw that went airborne, though I couldn't watch while I was running.

Mike

[Jeff Wong]

Our Safety Steward, course designer and Event Chair all went out to that spot to observe for any safety issues after hearing from me that a number of people were complaining about going airborne.

They didn't see a single example of it and decided to not change the course so we wouldn't disturb team points, overall indexed points, etc.

I watched as well, throughout the day. In the fourth run group, one Civic actually lifted the back wheels off the ground. That's all I saw that went airborne, though I couldn't watch while I was running.

Mike

Mike,

I saw Event Chair observe briefly but unless he had binoculars built into his eyes, I would imagine it would be hard to see from that far (was near where we paddocked).

I personally watched, yours, The Larson BMW, Berry Evo and Richard Hayters MX-5 have at least 2 wheels off the ground.

A certain CSCC member with a spotter took some footage but missed the Tom Berry 3rd gear 4 wheels in the air nose dive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXBDbGEjgJA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Enjoy

[Arthur Grant]

It may be that I am not fast enough to notice, but I felt the bump, was concerned about the airborne comments as I had been warned by a couple of guys that it had caused the trouble but to be honest I didn't bother me at all. No sideways, if I got any air at all I couldn't tell and I was pushing that section as hard as I could. Appreciating the safety of the workers, it would have been cool to get a shot of a little air under the car. There are a number for road courses where that happens but would expect it at an autocross.

I enjoyed the layout, there is no question that the surface is detriorating and it is highly unlikley they will repair it any time soon, that's a challenge.

[Marshall Grice]

Our Safety Steward, course designer and Event Chair all went out to that spot to observe for any safety issues after hearing from me that a number of people were complaining about going airborne.

They didn't see a single example of it and decided to not change the course so we wouldn't disturb team points, overall indexed points, etc.

I watched as well, throughout the day. In the fourth run group, one Civic actually lifted the back wheels off the ground. That's all I saw that went airborne, though I couldn't watch while I was running.

Mike

Mike,

I saw Event Chair observe briefly but unless he had binoculars built into his eyes, I would imagine it would be hard to see from that far (was near where we paddocked).

I personally watched, yours, The Larson BMW, Berry Evo and Richard Hayters MX-5 have at least 2 wheels off the ground.

A certain CSCC member with a spotter took some footage but missed the Tom Berry 3rd gear 4 wheels in the air nose dive.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXBDbGEjgJA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Enjoy

I looked at the data from that run and all 4 wheels were freewheeling at one point...going 70ish mph! I'll post the video here in a bit. I don't know who the course worker was that was in the frame but they were crapping their pants running to hide behind the pole.

edit:
video,thanks Christine!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hju3OOsUxoo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Eric Clements]

[quote="]
A certain CSCC member with a spotter took some footage but missed the Tom Berry 3rd gear 4 wheels in the air nose dive. [/quote]
Not to bust on Tom but... Was he setup and at a speed where he was going to make it through the third chute? I didn't see Toms run (or any video) but many of the cars that reacted more to the bump were going faster at the bump sacrficing the entry to the third chute.

I was in three cars Sunday, C-mod car wasn't upset except on my third run when I tried the fast now/slow later line. F125 shifter pounded the bump hard like they always do SK MR2, what bump?

[Greg Peng]

Bob Endicott and I both bottomed out the rears of our cars. The wheel and tire on one side were compressed fully into the fender well making a solid impact with the metal body above and rubbing away the undercoating enough for me to smell it immediately after the hit. I can't blame Eric though, since I was there when the course was being reset and didn't see anything that looked like it would cause that big of a bump.

[Doug Teulie]

I clearly saw the bump Sunday morning when I was walking and I pointed it out to our Novice coordinator. He told me that it was an issue for prep cars on Saturday but stock cars were OK.

Sunday I was told by a worker that I got at least 6" of air. I had no trouble staying between the cones and making the shoot. If you set up for it you could make it.

My in car video footage shows my 3rd gear tac well into red line and my helmet well into the roof on the jump.

My suspension is clicking, front wheel/ shock is loose and I need to look into that.

I think the bump in the fastest part could have been avoided with a jog / box of some kind. I had fun but I don't know how much damage the car received.

[Arthur Grant]

It does occur to me during one of my runs the muffler hanger on my passenger side broke clean off. welded piece and all.

[Don Salyers]

It does occur to me during one of my runs the muffler hanger on my passenger side broke clean off. welded piece and all.

I do not believe that anything on the Sprite broke. I'll find out later in the week after my back gets to feeling good enough for me to get out of bed and get the car off the trailer. I did not know what damage it did to my body until yesterday morning when I needed help to get out of bed. I know that there is nothing I can do about being old (one of the causes of the pain) but I do hope the bump will be avoided in the future.

Don

[John Coffey]

FSBD - The Flaming Speed Bump of Death!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5fKAwaPUjE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[George Schilling]

It does occur to me during one of my runs the muffler hanger on my passenger side broke clean off. welded piece and all.

I do not believe that anything on the Sprite broke. I'll find out later in the week after my back gets to feeling good enough for me to get out of bed and get the car off the trailer. I did not know what damage it did to my body until yesterday morning when I needed help to get out of bed. I know that there is nothing I can do about being old (one of the causes of the pain) but I do hope the bump will be avoided in the future.

Don

Sorry to hear that Don. I hope you recover quickly.

[Steve Lepper]

FSBD - The Flaming Speed Bump of Death!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5fKAwaPUjE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think I've found that bump that at Qualcom.

Was Sunday's bump a problem? Yes, for some. Was it dangerous? Personally, I don't think so, but then again I was told of it before my runs.
My MX-5 got light enough to spin up the rear tires a bit, but I went straight over it so found it uncomfortable but not a problem.

Seems like this would be a good time to think about pre-running courses again? (... now where's that flame suit?)

I had a great time and enjoyed the course. Now if I can just find another gear between 2nd and 3rd, I'll be all set.

[Jesus Saucedo]

I worked last run group on Sunday, and was positioned in that bump area. I did see a few cars get some air, but only ONE got all four (from what I can tell) off the ground. That one only happened once. The others got one or two tires off. It was interesting to watch, actually.

That bump explains my engine rev'ng the way it did

[Bill Martin]

Question for Eric if you were the course designer. Were you aware of the bump when you laid out the course? I must not have been paying attention because I didn't even notice it during my course walk. If the course ran over it unintentionally, a spray can of yellow paint can fix that for the future designers.

Safety concern or not, I'd certainly like to request we bypass that bump if that's practical. It damn near ran my shocks thru my hood. One of my macpherson strut brackets bent at the bottom. If I want more camber, I'll set it myself, thanks.

[Arthur Grant]

Avoiding the bump of course is the best course of action, especially if it risks putting cars out of action and costing drivers serious money. Could really hurt the shoestring operations or multi driver cars, where assignment of blame might cause issues. I am sure it was incidental, I am still green enough that my saying I didn't see it as an issue durring the course walk doesn't mean anything. I do however agree with the one suggestion that perhaps a little more speed control design is going to be needed on the backside of the course there. After all we are seeing the surface break up and now the bump, which for all the times we have run there never seemed to have come into play. May be becuase that has almost always been a sweeper to a sweeper.

If someone does pre-run the course it should be either a car like Bill's or Don's, even better a Kart, they are fast enough and feel everything.

[Pete Loney]

Avoiding the bump of course is the best course of action, especially if it risks putting cars out of action and costing drivers serious money. Could really hurt the shoestring operations or multi driver cars, where assignment of blame might cause issues. I am sure it was incidental, I am still green enough that my saying I didn't see it as an issue durring the course walk doesn't mean anything. I do however agree with the one suggestion that perhaps a little more speed control design is going to be needed on the backside of the course there. After all we are seeing the surface break up and now the bump, which for all the times we have run there never seemed to have come into play. May be becuase that has almost always been a sweeper to a sweeper.

If someone does pre-run the course it should be either a car like Bill's or Don's, even better a Kart, they are fast enough and feel everything.

I agree about the speed management comment against the course layout.
It just so happened that THE fastest part of the course was AT the bump.
I was in third over it.

[Johnson Mac]

I looked at the data from that run and all 4 wheels were freewheeling at one point...going 70ish mph! I'll post the video here in a bit. I don't know who the course worker was that was in the frame but they were crapping their pants running to hide behind the pole.

edit:
video,thanks Christine!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hju3OOsUxoo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That was me haha, kept me on my toes!

[John Coffey]

What a bunch of smooth surface whiners...