Jimbox said:
hi everyone,
it's me Jimbox. i feel real bad that many of you especially ken did not enjoy the weekend.
i had relay the mentioned complaints to SpeedTrial:
1. schedule was delayed on purpose due to track ambulance does not come in till 9am...hot track cannot begin until they arrive.
2. chief instructor and the rest of the instructors where either SCCA or NASA drivers/instructors. there teaching techniques are for a reason. also there was no guarantee of a one on one instruction.
3. overbooking of the track is a tough one. for a 3mile track, i and along with many other experienced track guys felt it was ok. eye of the beholder i persume.
4. spin-offs....yeah once your a bozo always a bozo.
5. yeah true, if u want more track time, go some other event...i agree...if u dont mind the extra cost.
i have been going to speedtrial for many years and i've had my share of rough times, but for the most part i have had safe fun so far. and for those of you unsatisfied, i appologize.
peace out,
jimbox
Hi Jim,
I actually had fun hanging out with all of you Southern CA NSX owners, it was nice getting to know you all.
I did not have problems with the advanced group being crowded, It was actually the one that was least crowded and the one that was actually the safest given that *most* drivers had a clue.
I say *most* because there were a couple of drivers who clearly did not belong in the advanced group at all who were allowed to run in the Advanced group on Sunday.
There were like moving cones at the track being completely off the line and driving *way* over their heads and becoming a danger to themselves.
I recall the 911GT2 owner who drove in the intermediate group on Saturday and moved up to the advanced group on Sunday, that guy was all over the place, off-line, keeping the car unsettled and being a moving cone that we had to dodge at the track.
There was also a White STi that was loose all over the place and barely keeping the car on track because of the 4WD nature of the car. He was also a moving cone and a real pain to deal with.
Fortunately the organizers were a bit more proactive on Sunday and moved those guys down to the Intermediate group, or told the drivers to drive at their own pace and actually allow people to pass.
Another example: There was a Red 360 Modena running on Hoosier slicks on both days, he was probably 10 to 12 seconds faster than me on Sunday. I was aware of his prescense way before he even got close by to my car, and I would always let him pass in regions that would slow him the *least* because it was aparent that he was that much faster than me and he was trying to get good laptimes. At the end of the day on Sunday the driver came to look for me and brought a couple of "sodas" along to say thanks for being such a good sport and being an "aware" and "clueful" driver, he was able to get his best laptimes ever at BW that day in the last session of the day. The morale of this story is that we *all* need to cooperate in order to have a fun experience at the track, it's the responsability of the organizers and the drivers to ensure that the track event are safe and in control, and being pro-active about drivers who are driving above their means.
The screening process that SpeedTrial uses probably needs quite a bit of work prior to assigning drivers to different run groups.
Instead of looking at the situation as a driver with experience just think about it as a driver who is a newbie at the track, perhaps that will give you a different perspective.
Just imagine yourself taking the NSX as your track car for your 1st or 2nd track event, would you do so with 100% confidence that your fellow students are going to keep their car in control during a Speed Trial event?
I am just looking out for my fellow NSX owners who are interested in tracking.
I'm very glad that you are getting the folks involved in tracking their cars at the track events, but I would seriously prefer if you organized the NSX folks to attend something else besides SpeedTrial (West) that offered a bit more strict rules and instruction.
I received a PM from a NSX owner from Southern CA that *warned* about running with SpeedTrial, I was hoping that all the rumors were not true, because his experience goes back almost *2 years*, but it turned out that he was right.
Both Kenji and I attended the event knowing well the *reputation* of SpeedTrial, we went there to meet the other NSX owners and to also share a bit of our knowledge in regards to driving the NSX at BW, based on the possible lack of instruction by the folks at SpeedTrial. We just wanted our fellow NSX owners to have a fun and useful experience at the track.
Hopefully all the feedback that you have provided to the SpeedTrial folks will be beneficial to their program, and their program will improve in the future.
Like it or not, there is a level of resposability that you should feel about your fellow NSX owners and their cars when promoting a particular track event.
I'll end this here, I don't have any qualms with you Jim, so please don't take this personally.
Safe driving,
Ken
BTW: Why were you not running in the Advanced group? Kenji's NSX broke down so I did not have another NSX to chase during my sessions, had to make do chasing STi's, 240SX's, Evo's, E36M3's, etc,
I'm bummed - wanted to run BW. It doesn't look like I can get in now that Sunday is filled up 
