PCA vs BMWCCA

[michael lang]

Yesterday I decided to blow off the usual Sat. routine and give the Mrs. the afternoon to do whatever she wanted. So I loaded a cooler full of snacks & water, packed the littleheads into the truck and off to Summit we went. It was BMWCCA club race weekend. The race started at 3:30 so there was about four hrs for us to kill, it was also their DE event.

The first thing I noticed when I was watching was that the drivers really weren't going that fast. It appeared as though they were just out for the ride. What I mean to say is that I didn't really feel like the drivers in the event were trying to improve their skills while on track. It was very apparent in T5-T9. Please don't misunderstand me, I am in no way discrediting or knocking what those guys were doing, there were some really fast drivers on the track. Let's face it, they were on the track and I wasn't. Most of the drivers really didn't have that mindset. I decided to talk with some of the drivers and the common denominator was that they didn't have any real interest in track driving and that they really were just out for the ride. I wanted to find out more and what I found out is that most of the drivers I talked with seemed to lean more towards not doing an event again. I found that hard to believe since I became instantly hooked my first FATT event 2 years ago. It definitely appeared to be different than my experiences with PCA DE. It feels like everyone is trying as hard as they can to do the best that they can, get better, and doesn't want the event to ever end.

The race was very exciting from just about every spectating spot no matter if it was from the front to the rear of the field. There was alot of very competive driving. Sort of makes me want to get a track only car and see just how good I can get.

On the way home, with the Lucifer & Beilzebob asleep, I was thinking about what I watched and the conversations I had with some of the guys. The one thing that stood out in my mind was how conservative they were on track. Is it possible that BMWCCA teaches that in their DE Program? Is it because most of the cars that were in the field are also these guys' everyday car? ( I know some of us use our cars everyday as well, but most Porsches owners don't) Or is it just the difference in car marque? I'm curious about what you guys think, maybe someone has experience with other clubs and can share the differences between our club & others.