A reminder that you are eligible to enter a Practice Day with a current Novice Licence. Your next opportunity at Mission will be on Friday, May 24th. This is the VRCBC's Practice Day prior to the BCHMR weekend. It is open to all OW and CW racing cars, not just Vintage and/or BCHMR entrants. Registration is through MotorsportReg.com. http://www.motorsportreg.com/index.cfm/event/event.advert/uidEvent/CD6742CD-D5FB-AE14-5AAA95C5237D554A

What a great opportunity for a test and tune day before the next race w/e June 22, 23, that does not have a Friday practice attached. Thanks BCHMR for opening this May 24th. up to the masses.  :)

Hi I am registered for the practise day in time attack , but my car is full race prepared i run cw1 and cw2 on race weekends  .In the practise schedule it shows open wheel  closed wheel and time attack   I was just wondering wich run group for practise i would run and also i am sure some of the novice drivers would also like to know which run group for practisse as well. I would like to run with the open wheel guys as there is only 1 time attack car  registered for the practise  {me} and would seem to be unfair to alternate ow , cw  and then time attack  for just my car  { if in fact i am the only car registered by practise day} Thanks So much Todd #124

Todd, On practice days they usually put all CW and all OW together, regardless of which "sub group" you registered for.

We just realized that the only entry options we have provided on MotorsportReg.com for the May 24th Practice Day are the actual BCHMR entry groups. Soon - probably tomorrow - we will be adding two more options for racing cars: 'Open Wheel-Other' and 'Closed Wheel-Other'. That should work. Thanks for the interest.

Thanks  so  much                 Todd #124

Quote:

What a great opportunity for a test and tune day before the next race w/e June 22, 23, that does not have a Friday practice attached. Thanks BCHMR for opening this May 24th. up to the masses.

correct me if i am wrong bob but the Next CACC race is June 8,9.

also... just curious why we dont have a practice every weekend?

There are several reasons why we don't have practice days every weekend.
1. Track availability
2. Cost vs. attendance - if we run more than a couple practice days per year we don't get enough turnout to cover the costs
3. Staff - practice days are put on by the RDC, and it's tough to get enough members out to man the corners if we have too many days

Ya.....what he said. ;)

And yes...you are correct....June 8/9 is CACC #2. My bad  :P June 22/23 is Driver Training.

Perhaps more practice days could be discussed at  a club meeting , I am sure there are a few people out there that would like more practise days . How many cars do you need to make it viable ? If we could get some type of idea of cost that would help the decicsion process for drivers , as what to expect for cost and how many drivers we need to make it affordable . Thx Todd #124

Its almost irrelevant how much it costs to participate on a practice day for the participants when you can't get enough RDC members to man the track for you. The RDC is made up of volunteers who are taking days off work to come out and volunteer to man the track so you can practice and not many of them/us can do that too many times a year. We used to have more in a season and it was hard to get the volunteers and also the participation level waned to the point of un-profitability

What if it was mandatory  for all attendees to be flag workres and such alternateing when they are on and off the track or must they be rdc members ?  Thx for the info I understand that volunteers are essential to all of the track operations and i did not think about what it takes to run a practise day . Sorry .Thanks for the heads up  and for taking the time that you all  do  so we can have those practice days. Todd #124

I think the logistics of getting guys out of their cars and out on the track would be near impossible and would likely cut your on track time in half to say nothing of the fact that many of those drivers do not have the experience and expertise to be able to man a corner (sometimes solo) and keep things safe and smooth running for you participants

bunracer wrote on Apr 29^th, 2013 at 10:20am:

I think the logistics of getting guys out of their cars and out on the track would be near impossible and would likely cut your on track time in half to say nothing of the fact that many of those drivers do not have the experience and expertise to be able to man a corner (sometimes solo) and keep things safe and smooth running for you participants

I think that as a concept it's worth discussing.

Yes: it would cut into track time, but if a good system could be worked out, I don't think it would have to be that much. If you're alternating run groups with no break, then you can get about 3 sessions an hour and you've got about 3 hours before lunch and 3 hours after. If each session was stretched apart by a 10 minute break to get new crew out to the turn stations, you could get 6 sessions in with 4 turnover breaks in 2 hours, 40 minutes.

If that meant that you could schedule a couple of additional practice days each year...

And, yes: the first thing that would need to happen is that people would need to be trained and/or mentored to learn how to man a corner before they were allowed to work one solo, but it would give drivers a greater appreciation for the folks who are making it possible for them to drive.

Just thoughts from an admitted-newbie.

:)

I will be organizing the Vintage practice day, please contact me directly of you need any information. (karace90@shaw.ca).
Experienced turn workers have already volunteered for this practice day.

Note; open wheel and closed wheel do not practice at the same time. Any groups with extreme differences in lap time may be separated.

We also have a separate group for TimeAttack as they have restricted passing zones.

As a recent newbie, I understand how you feel about practice days. But the reality is, other than the handful of new drivers who are incredibly excited about being on the track every single minute they can, very few people actually want to come out and practice before every weekend.. After a season or two, you'll come out to the first practice day to shake off the spider webs and make sure you didn't break anything in the "winter rebuild". After a few years, you won't even bother with that.

A lot of the people that run at Mission, only run at Mission. So they're not changing gears every weekend, having to relearn the track, changing ride heights and alignment settings.. Once you find things that sort of work, the 6/7 weekends a year will be enough!

edit: one other thing is that once you run the track enough, the actual driving on the track isn't all that exciting.. It's the racing that keeps you coming back! And there ain't no racing on Fridays  ;)

Tiago, thank you for your opinion.
Having attended and officiated at dozens of lapping days I can assure you that lots of people get great satisfaction from 'just driving on the track'.
Of course a lot of them are lapping a lot faster than you ;).

I  can understand how some might not want to practice  due to time and money restraints as well as getting the track volunteers to run it , But I am sure there must be people out there that want to practice  to get better , there is always room for improvement . I understand i am a new driver and my excitment and enthusiasm  is high , but i love this sport and i can not honestly see that ever change no matter how many years i have been racing. I will always want to strive to be a better and safer racer  and will want to set  a new personal best each and every time out  on the track . The best way to be a better driver is seat  time seat time  seat time . I am sure I am not the only driver out there who wants to improve their racing skills . I know I have lots to learn and the best way is practice practice practice . It is not only good for you but your fellow racers as well,  the better race drivers we become the safer it is for all of us on the track . I know I am personaly a better driver now than my first novice race and it is all due to seat time ( practice and race ) I remember turn one of my first sr  race ...holy sh....  that was a lesson all its own  i thought  to myself" they are all mad men behind the wheel "... now i want to be one ...lol      Todd # 124

Keith Robinson wrote on May 1^st, 2013 at 11:21am:

... lots of people get great satisfaction from 'just driving on the track'. Of course a lot of them are lapping a lot faster than you ;).

Good to know! I guess I just never noticed all the buzz and excitement on our Friday practice days..

Tiago
There will be 30-40 cars on May 24th, come out and practice or come out and help on one of the corners, you never know what you might learn. There's a BBQ at the end of the day :-) :)

In response to inquiries I have been receiving, please note the following:

- This practice day is being operated solely by the Vintage Racing Club.

- The SCCBC and it's Committees, including the RDC, are NOT acting in any official or organizational capacity during this practice day.

Steve

Keith Robinson wrote on May 2^nd, 2013 at 11:02am:

Tiago There will be 30-40 cars on May 24th, come out and practice or come out and help on one of the corners, you never know what you might learn. There's a BBQ at the end of the day :-) :)

Just now read this post.. If I could, I would! No racing for me this year, but I will try to help with the flags at some point.. It was a great learning experience every time I had a chance to spend a day at a corner station! Best seats in the house..

Thanks to a merry mob of META corner workers, Kevin Skinner, Al Harvey, Norm Shaw (track manager) Dennis Repel and Pam Stec the Vintage run practice day was  good fun.
There were a few 'strange' incidents but having received several positive comments to date and as there were no on track problems (other than a little oil spill) I think I'll call it a success, thank you all. :)

I would like to  thank everyone who made it possible for last Fridays practice . I also would like to send out a special thanks to you Keith for organizing the practice day.  thanks so much  I had a blast  Todd #124 :)

Vintage Racing Club of BC were your hosts Todd.
Your car looked good and I'm glad you enjoyed the opportunity to get in some laps!