S A U N S W - Wakefield Trackday, Number 3 For 2011

[fatz]

fixed just paid then

just one though

fatz wakefield

[MBS206]

Guys, just so you're aware, passengers "Small fee" is a fee of $0 (Yes, Free)

[Pezhead]

Whoa there big fellas - easy.

Seriously, Matt is just trying to lay out some of the financials and the alignment of our track days as a Club. There are a few guys like you that are really looking for track times. However for most of our club members a track day is just a fun day to get out and flog the car with a few of your mates along for the best ride ever. This topic has been heavily debated and one of the reasons that the partnership with RENEW didn't go smooth sailing.

When we ran the club challenge days together each club had responsibilities and timing was managed by RENEW. Official timing hasn't been a focus for SAU due to the strong "Casual Racer" following we have in the club. I've gotten the business contacts to find out the costs and booking involved. However, the additional cost of having official timing adds to the day and for the number of people where it is absolutely a deal breaker is pretty few (yes, you may be one of them Michael). We are looking into the cost to have official timing there but if the costs are prohibitive, then we will just be running this as a normal SAU fun club day. I am already concerned about numbers as we aren't gettting the take up we need.

Running track days is a very hard job. There is lots of competition with other clubs and vendors as well as ensuring we are meeting the core needs of the majority of our members. That is the job of the committee with feedback from people like yourself and others to ensure we are staying true to our focus.

If getting times is all important I suggest you stay in touch with Circuit Club and some of the other "race" oriented clubs. They put on great days and include Natsoft timing. Also, because those organisations don't specialise in one make/model of car (like we do) they pull larger numbers which means more cars but also more affordable days and spreading of the costs, but also a few more cars/less sessions. Price performance you get more track time at our events because we run them just to break even, keep the number of cars low and groups small.

On the off-topic of my GPS timer, I am in no way saying it is the end all beat all. However it did show me a few things I could clearly see I did better which helped me string together some much better laps.

1) I divided the track into sectors so I could see sector splits and which ones were my best - therefore my theoretical best time

2) I could bring up a lap and use the mouse to see my exact speed and time in the lap at that point

3) Using those first two items on my best laps I could see how at a few key corners I was trying to carry too much speed through the corner. I thought I was being "Smooth and Fast" by carrying the speed. In reality my speed around that corner was faster, but because the car was still sliding out (slightly) there was a few 1/10s where I couldn't get on full power/full traction. This hurt my speed at the end of the straight and another key area. Slower entry into the corner, resulted in my ability to get out smoother and ultimately be faster down the line.

4) I can compare two laps with very different approaches and styles to see exactly where I gain or lose time.

Now, am I doing this to become the ultimate racer? Naw, I don't have the skill or budget to really chase down that goal. However, I am really interested in getting better and better. I've found this as a tool that allows me to do just that in my style of analysing and critically assessing what I am doing. BTW I also took some in car footage where now I look at my sloppy driving and will be working on that too. I Spend way too much time holding the gear shifter anticipating the next shift rather than being more precise with my steering.

This is an approach that has worked for me, and the few people that I shared it with at the MDTC day (including a tarmac rally team) thought it was a good investment for $200. There's always more than one way to approach things and this is just one way to improve your times.

Now, I hope I've answered the discussion items. I'm happy to discuss but boys, take it down a few pegs. This is about fun - remember?

And the committee will be getting back to you folks as soon as we can about the format of the day. I know it is important but I don't have enough information at the moment to lock it down.

[Pezhead]

Whoa there big fella (pun is funny - am I right?).

I know that so many of us pour our soul and personal finances into supporting the club. While most of our members appreciate it I know that they don't know how much it takes to pull these things off. It's really kudos to everyone involved cause it looks so easy when it is all that hard work behind the scenes.

As for paying for passengers, I'm not a fan. So long as we can make the track rental through drivers I'd rather not go there. However, if we have difficulty rasing the funds we'd need to look into other funding options. We cannot afford to run events at a loss, and tracks are very expensive to rent on weekends.

I have similar frustration about the photo DVD deal. We have two top notch Photographers who are willing to do near charity work for us and yet most are unwilling to pay and would rather have lower quality shots done by friends.

I know so many people on SAU here expend a lot of themselves both in time and finances - many times choosing to come to help out rather than entry fee for an event.

Things have gotten out of hand on this topic cause of a few vocal folks. Like it or not, our constitution is clear that we don't pay our volunteers and that we run our club events as a non-for profit deal. We have a unique offering and we should be proud of how we run our events. We can't make everybody happy, but we do a dam fine job.

I'm proud to be representing such a fine club. I ask that all members and SAU community remember that all of this stuff happens because of the volunteer work and our strong supportive member community. Please consider that and support the club that supports you.

Now, back to getting on topic folks. Track days are great fun and SAU runs a fantastic one. Come along and find out.

[zebra]

lots of energy in this thread....only 3 entrants so far means im gonna get a sh1t load of laps

not if you keep running out of fuel like its going out of fashion

[bored33]

If I get my car back I MAY join in. But I'm a polar bear, we don't like the heat hahaha

Holly shit, is it really only 3 entrants?!!

[Staz88]

lots of energy in this thread....only 3 entrants so far means im gonna get a sh1t load of laps

Yeah me too!!

[hamiltonau]

yea just follow me around

if you can keep up ill tell you my time

if i am faster you wont want to know

lol

hehe awesome post.

what times do you usually get? i dont have a timer and will be glad if i can keep up with someone in the 1.13-1.15 range.

not paid up yet but will get around to it Eric, other execs please dont stop doing what your doing just because of one or two ill advised posts from randoms. at least 99% of members DO appreciate your work and love the club in the most part because guys (and gals) like you do what it takes to make it the fun, supportive community that it is!.

anyway will be doing my best to keep up with Fatz and tiny blue car man on the day..also hoping the entrants list is just long enough to make the day viable but short enough to make me worry about fuel lasting the whole event

[fatz]

December is the best time to hit the track

all the fags who think its two hawt for their 200rwkw skyline dont turn up and every one at the track gets 300 laps

last day in december jenna and i did 160 laps in a stock r32 gtr skyline no oil cooler and stock radiator

yea baby i love summer

[Duncan]

Posts regarding timing etc removed on the author and club's request, as they were getting off topic for this event thread.

[a20089]

Posts regarding timing etc removed on the author and club's request, as they were getting off topic for this event thread.

Thanks for that, I was reading this just now and wondered what happened to the posts.

Again I say communication skills help in these type of disucssions. Agressive keyboard warriors really annoy people and more people should take note of Eric considered responses throughout the forum.

Looking forward to attending and will book as soon as I get my car back fully repaired.

Has the club looked at inviting (more formally) another club or two. Considering the date, numbers will be a bit of an issue.

[Pezhead]

Thanks for the vote of confidence.

To those that haven't seen the discussion that went on in here - needless to say there was a simple misscommunication that has now been resolved. We do try to put on events that will appeal to most of our members at the absolute best price possible.

Our members do deserve to know some more detail on how we structure our track days so here is a run-down:

SAU:NSW Track Day Guidelines:

#1 Objective: Provide a fun & safe envronment for all our members & guests to enjoy a great light hearted day.

Financial:

We target track days at break-even (that's $0 earned) for 90% entry rate. Anything earned above that goes back into the SAU:NSW account to help cover days that don't break even, cover club running costs or else invest into equipment to make our days even better (example are the cabana's at the Texi days - believe me, nothing worse than standing in the rain all day or getting burnt to a crisp on a sunny one).

At our track days we have scruitineers, flag marshal, sign-on coordinator, group marshal, etc. All these people give their time and the costs to get to the track out of their own. NO club executives or helpers are paid as per the guidelines in our constitution.

Safety & Timing:

SAU:NSW targets our track days a driver training days. As such we are allowed to have passengers as instructors or instructees. It is our insurance guidelines that allow this on a Non-competitive day. As soon as timing is done for competition (excludes personal timers) then we cannot have passengers, full stop.

Timing of an event changes the nature

A) of people driving really pushing the envelope & competiting and

B) the rules on insurance required to cover the event e.g. no passengers.

Most of our track days are not timed for this simple reason. Personal timing devices are allowed.

Allowing passengers is at our discretion but must comply with the guidelines of our insurance cover (e.g. min 13 and above + parent/guardian sign off, etc).

Safety is one of our most paramount items. We make sure like experence and speed cars are grouped together. We ensure that newbs have ample opportunity to get an instructor for their first sessions to understand the basics.

What really impressed me with the first SAU track day was the way scruiteneering was conducted efficiently and methodically. I've been to several other track events from other organisations and most had little or no scruiteneering done. I was shocked, how do I know the other cars driving around me are safe?

Why do we focus on light hearted fun track days rather than competition?

Simple, it is more attractive for more of our members. There are lots of options if you want to compete for lap times. Or even if you just want to go to a fully timed event. There are few options where you can just rock up with a bunch of your mates or fellow club members and not only drive your car but get to ride in theirs and others for experience. Want to see what it's like to ride in a 300KW+ GTS-T/GTT/GTR? no problem or S15/180/200/300zx/etc. Want to compare the experience of different suspension/tyre/power levels - no problem. There are few times or other events where you have that kind of opportunity.

If you're interested in timed events check out Circuit Club, SuperSprints and loads more options. There are plenty of fully timed events where you can compete solo or even door to door.

Friendly club Atmosphere - that's what this is about:

Anyone I've ever invited to one of our club events has been amaze at how open and friendly our club events are. One friend had a number of mechanical issues at a Wakefield day and a few of us missed our session to help him out. He was amazed and thankful. And it was a good thing too, because his brake lines were scrubbing his rims - he was only a few sessions from a brake failure!

I've been to track events of other organisations where you didn't get that kind of help. Where people are only interested in getting their time on the track and barely make time to have a nice chat.

I know this is a long post, but I need to make sure that everyone can understand why there is so much passion from the execs and helpers about our events.

This is just a fraction of what goes on behind the scenes. I'm sure many of you didn't realise so much thought, planning and decisions go on behind the scenes to make it all seem to just happen and flow when you rock up to an event. That is by design. The SAU:NSW Committee, execs and helpers to all this to make sure everything seems so simple for you when you come to our events. Personally, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Eric Yamashita,

President SAU:NSW 2011-2012

If you want to push your car's limits, take it to the track.

And remember to support the club that supports you.

[Duncan]

Speaking of timing, "The Lap Timers" thread is over here. Only 2 options so far but I'm sure there are lots more to come.

[lanky71]

hey guys,

so theres so far only 3 confirmed entrants or has the opening page just not been updated? Not like a SAU trackday to be so empty... I'm hoping that I can get at least one of the cars if not both entered just waiting to see how much the gtr is gonna cost when it comes back.

[Pezhead]

Drew, lots of open spaces left. I think just cause it is near the holidays people are holding out.

I've instructed the committee to look into getting some other folks to join us for a great day out. More updates on that soon. So if you want to get a spot get in as soon as you can cause once these other's start coming through it should fill out fast.

I think some of the RENEW boys are going to come out for a play again too.

[MBS206]

hey guys,

so theres so far only 3 confirmed entrants or has the opening page just not been updated? Not like a SAU trackday to be so empty... I'm hoping that I can get at least one of the cars if not both entered just waiting to see how much the gtr is gonna cost when it comes back.

I believe that there is more then that entered, but the list isn't up to date. I'm getting the updated list shortly and will update it.

[lanky71]

cool, should be able to make payment tomorrow -- and eric if you want your o2 sensor tool back let me know how to get it to you if you need it before the trackday!

[BunsenBurna]

Just thought I should state I'm dead keen for this Wakie session but completely strapped for entry money for a while a longer while I throw stupid amounts of cash at my GTR.

So please register my interest (and attendance) and make a massive leap of faith that I'm good for the cash. Which I am. Great!

[lanky71]

just faxed and paid cash, might have another entry but won't know for a week or so.

[dnissi]

i'm a track whore

and i have to outdrink fatz at this event, so i'll probably dust off the mankini for the summer sunshine and have a few happy laps