Drop me onto the waiting list, fundage is a bit limited currently. If somebody gets my spot, so be it.
Bump: This event will soon be upon us. BMW was just there last weekend. Here are some pictures of what DCTC has to offer. http://www.flickr.com/photos/northstarbmw/sets/72157612440135487/
UPDATES FOR PARTICIPANTS Start time for Saturday's class is pushed back to 6:00pm. This way we can have the space a little longer if needed. Full payments can be sent at any time. Please include paypal fee if using paypal.
UPDATE FOR PARTICIPANTS Updated the first post with your instructor's name next to your name as well as which group you will be in (A/B). I will be sending each participant an email with important event information this weekend, so please be on the lookout for that. Let's hope for snow!
Course Layout: There will be 5 stations. There will be 5 groups ("A" and "B") per run session. There will be at least 2 run sessions. Each group (1 instructor and 2-3 students per group) will start at a different station and rotate periodically. During each run session, there will only be 1 car per station on course. This is to minimize traffic and maximize instruction while keeping seat time in mind. During your run session, we plan to budget enough time so you will be able to experience each station. The stations break down as follows: 1) Skidpad - Traction circle exercises 2) City Blocks - Impromptu (reaction) maneuvering. Instructor will tell you to turn left or right. 3) Concrete Skidpad - Lane change one way. Slalom the other direction. Speeds will be strictly monitored on this section, especially at the ends of each straight. 4) Northwest corner - Straight-line braking (including uphill and downhill elements). Can run in both directions. 5) Carousel - mid corner braking. Yellow asterisks denote intersections that will be closely monitored.
The weather is forecasting a very pleasent weekend for this event. Above zero and close to freeze temperatures. There are some opportunities for snow in the next two weeks as well. Great job with the track map I really like the different colors you used, it will really help out. Because I can't wait I am going to get warmed up for the event by going to the lake by my house for some fun. See you guys and gals out there in two weeks.
Sent you an email regarding payment. Verified your payment and updated first post. Thanks! Verified your payment and updated first post. Thanks!
So how's this going to work on dry tar? Seeing as how everything's pretty well melted away and there's no snow coming this weekend.
As of last week there was still a good couple of inches of hard pack on top of the tarmac in most places along the course. If indeed we are left with dry pavement, we (the instructors and event planners) are of the opinion that the ambient temperatures alone will provide a limited grip situation that adequately simulates what one would encounter on the roads. That said, we'll be assessing the course Saturday afternoon and deciding if there's anything we can do to slicken up the surface in key areas (if deemed necessary).:biggrin:
I'm still running on my RE92's so I'm pretty sure I'll be good have low grip regardless of how much snow is left :laugh:
Judging by how the hard pack is doing by my house (in alleyways and whatnot), my guess is that it will be extremely slick out there. All the hard packed snow has turned into glare ice that keeps melting bit by bit and then freezing at night. :ugh:
My only concern is that there is a group running on Saturday during the day. I'm pretty sure they won't be plowing the course, but if they do, we may have our work cut out for us on Saturday afternoon... and by we I mean you, Nate
If you want a challenge I have some unmounted re070's with about 3/32" left that you could borrow for the weekend :biggrin:
Unfortunately we cannot predict or forecast the weather. Snow or no snow you can rest asure you're in good hands. If you seek more, just ask for more from your instructors, they have enough experience to push your confort level and skills where you may just wet your pants. LOL Be safe, have fun and try something new.
Eh, I'm always for an autocross brush up. Some guys up in winnepeg or edmonton did an autocross last week. Looked fun.
TONIGHT'S CLASSROOM SESSION STARTS AT 6:00! Davanni's pizza private room in Arden Hills 3673 Lexington Ave N Arden Hills, MN 55126 http://www.davannis.com/index.asp?pa...&LocationID=12
Sheen, should people arrive early if they are going to get dinner at Davanni's, or are they going to be able to eat and learn at the same time? :yumyum:
It never hurts to arrive a little early! We have the room booked from 6:00, so I planned to spend the first 15 minutes getting settled (eating and such) before we jump into the learning materials. So long as they also get a chance to eat, I'm sure the instructors won't mind an informal eat 'n teach session!
HUGE THANKS to all the students, volunteers, and instructors! I had a blast this weekend! I hope everyone had a good time, learned something, and left wanting to come back next time. I don't think we had any damage or injuries... aside from Eli melting in the scorching February sun.
Had a great time and learned quite a bit. Would like to say thanks to everyone who helped put this together. Can't wait for our next event
Thanks to everyone who made this happen. I had a great time. It was fun meeting everyone. More fun tearing around the track in the RS, though I don't imagine the tires would agree with me on that point. Very informative and I had a great time.
And the mass cone-icide. Bikerboy, I would imagine you will be getting a letter from the "People for Ethical Treatment of Inanimate Objects" soon. From a volunteers stand-point this was a great time and I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I.
1. Big thanks to the instructors, volunteers and others who help support the event. 2. Those cones had it comin'. Little orange Lolitas they are whispering "...come close, but don't touch me...". Rubbish. 3. My partial dismount into the infield was intentional (not). 4. Major lulz when the wrong Top Gear/Ariel Atom vid was pulled up - "Rubba my...". Classic. 5. I see this becoming addictive.
Couple of things. First off, Eli is not the only one that got a bit too much sun. My face is almost as red as Eli's hair. Second, I ended up with 600 or so keepers, some are poster worthy. I will work on getting them up. Third (and off topic). For those that were around at the end and heard Mark talking about his mustang and the dirt, and I talked about my 3 picture sequence, here it is. Russ
Hey wait a minute! I think I hit three cones all day. You must be talking about the one I drifted into :laugh: after the lunch break? At least I can say I didn't get someone elses car stuck, or my own for that matter. A huge thanks to all the people that helped to make this event happen. I hope all the students came away with more knowledge that they started with!
Jen and I had a great time, and a big thank you to Mike U and all the rest of the people responsible for putting this one on. And I think *I* killed the most cones today :ugh:
+1. It was a great event and well put together. Thanks to the organizers, volunteers and the attendees.
You kids make me tired! LOL Its very uncommon for me to get her loose and slide, spin and go side ways as I did today. I think today I've done more of that than I've ever done with all my years volunteering for BMW. I think its because of the fact that I'm finally among a large group of Subaru's. Probably letting my guard down, letting it loose just a bit. No one got hurt and it was a good confidence builder for my students on how to recover and what its like. LOL I can assure you no one had to change their shorts. TIM and NICK, you may want to double check. I started the day really early, Mr. Sheen where were ya at 7:30am? I was the first to get there and so I took the Prius around a few laps. Helped get the classroom setup and sat around watching YouTube videos. We used the morning hour to get everyone psyched up introducing Ken Block, Top Gear-Ariel Atom and Drift King. By now all the drivers were getting antz in their pants. So it was time to get everyone out for a parade lap. Everyone was divided accordingly and us poor instructors where stuck with some of the baddest and craziest Subaru drivers on the planet. Ok not exactly, but very close. The day went off without a hitch, except for mine when the BIG BOSSMAN showed up to hook me up with Russ's truck and pulled me out. We were stuck with all four off the ground. I had a great time meeting everyone today, especially my students who showed great interest in learning what I had to share. Tim you'll need to dial down that boost, just a hair son. LOL Nick you may want to bring some ginger next time around, I hear it really helps with motion sickness. Kim-I think you're going to be a great female drifter someday. And Jason I'm glad you finally stopped driving with one hand. Well that's just the funny stuff, you guys did a great job of teaching me a few thing as well. These are the others I got a chance to ride with. Joel-you're making great progress, I can see the confidence levels increase since last time. Alexis-I was still thinking about the delicious cookies you made, but you're doing a great job. Quintin-Great start, take it down a few knotchs and you'll find yourself a few steps ahead. Well I've been wanting to see this day and it has finally come true. It was made possible by everyone on the forum for showing interest and everyone who helped participate. A lot of hard work from the board members, staff and Instructors went into planning, preparing and motivation drivers to want to become better drivers. So we recognize everyone involved directly and indirectly who have helped make it possible. I look forward to another event with the MNSOC hopefully in the summer where I can chase Shibb off the track and make him think I'm trying to run him over; thats right everyone needs to take 20 steps back when Cheech is on the track. JK, you course workers rock! You boys did a awsome job, next time we definately need to bring out the grill. I hope next time we'll have more of everything positive that came from this event. Thanks again, Cheech
Hey if it makes you feel better I always tell my students to just get it over with, kill them all, 2 points for each and yes if you don't want to see your fellow course worker end up on the unemployment line, do him a favor. Besides he's looking kinda blue and cold. :laugh: And Russ I can't wait to see the pictures you took.
Thanks everyone for putting on this event. Thank you Brent, Choung and Mark for the instruction and demonstrations. And thanks Rich for letting me try out your Neon. I probably had the most fun on the circle part of the track doing left foot braking. I hope I learned more about what to do and not to do in slaloms. And the skid pad was finally fun at the very end of the day, I had a few minutes of fun out there doing some figure eights. Here's a few pics I took. I'm glad I had some old tires to beat on for the day...
