Watkins Glen with Potomac . . . . Who's Going ?

[George3]

Riesentoter was well represented at Watkins Glen this past weekend.

A good time was had by all !

[Mike Thomas #828]

I had an incredible time at this event. It made me think about the 3 sessions a day vs 4 sessions a day debate. Now having done both i think RTR has it wrong. Potomac ran 3 sessions a day vs RTR's 4. Usually two 25 min and one 30 min session. The old argument that RTR always cited was that "what if there is a problem on track..if you have 3 sessions  you would lose too much"...WRONG! There was one instance on sat where 25 minutes were needed to tow a car off track and complete track repairs...no sessions were lost...the time was just compressed evenly until lunch or the end of the day...that kind of thing is going to happen regardless if you have 3 or 4 sessions so it doesnt matter...what does matter is that the longer sessions allow you to do more than 5 or 6 hot laps in one run group. That is particularly important on a long track like the glen. Another thing that potomac did that RTR must implement immediately at the glen is "hot swaps".  Someone told me that RTR has done this before at the glen but i don't think so..it is very doable at the glen and if RTR insists on 4 sessions then hot swaps become an absolute neccesity to try to save track time. There is a lot of resistance to the 3 run group schedule in RTR for the glen but trust me, it's better. What do you think?  

There was also a 50 minute combined red black session sunday afternoon which was amazing. I hope RTR has intentions of doing something similar. I turned 22 consecutive hot laps..something ive never done at the glen before. An incredible learing experience.

 

[George3]

Mike,

That's a discussion that can go on and on.  No one has the right answer because there are pro's and con's to both the 3-session vs. 4-session event day.  My preference is 4-25 minute sessions.  It's feasible and do-able.

One thing I would like to comment is the hot swaps.  At the Glen, they went seamlessly and without incident.  The Glen has experienced staff and people working pit-in and pit-out... rather than relying mostly on volunteers on work assignment.  I know RTR and NNJR and not many other clubs require work assignments.  There was a very bad incident at Pocono this past weekend with NNJR, which is getting alot of attention on Rennlist.  There was a bad impact as someone was pitting out the wrong way.  No one really knows the reason it happened, but I know the Glen's layout of pitting in and out bodes well for reasonably safe hot swaps.  Maybe not all track layouts are sutiable for that.