Schattenbaum DE Schedule

[Brian Minkin]

Lainey wrote:

Ok, three drivers for Lime Rock... I'm sure my Cayman S Turbo buddy JT will come too... Who else is in? We are doing VIR with David Murry (David Murry Track Days) in April... He's a pro-driver that does his own HPDE - he's awesome!!

Lime Rock is on my wish list. Keep me posted on plans and lets register early so we get in.



Zone 2 is at VIR March 18,19 & 20.

[Lainey]

Ok Brian, duly noted! We can do a caravan. I will introduce you to my buddy Coho at the wedding - he is in the N'or Easter PCA region and may have a crew of Bostonians interested.

[ninjabones]

Keep in mind the ridiculous sound restrictions at Lime Rock... If you have a modded exhaust, you may get sent home.  May be worth a $20 radio shack sound meter to check your car before you go.

I don't think I'll pass any more... furtunately the LRP club race is officialy unmuffled again this year (and you thought my car was already obnoxiously loud).

 

[Brian Minkin]

So Glen it appears that part of your race strategy is to create harmonic distortion so that anybody that tries to overtake you feels that their car just doesn't handle like it did 30 seconds ago.  

And I might add that yes when I am behind you I wonder if I am driving a  Hybrid since I can not hear my car over the roar of yours.   Good thing I have trained myself to sense vibration

A sound meter is probably a wise thing for me to do. The question is how do you get full throttle readings in your driveway.

[MikeKling]

Looks like Schattenbaum has increased their events again this year.  Nine vs the eight in 2010.  Also, it appears that their one day NJMP events, that they tried last year, must have worked.  There are several on their schedule this year.

I think our Watkins Glen approach is more user friendly for those of us who still need to contribute to the gross domestic product.  Schattenbaum's schedule is Mon, Tues.  Only 2 days vs our 3 and then you have to go work on Wed.  No time to decompress.

I do enjoy their November event as it falls close to my birthday annually.  I enjoy turning 39 every year at NJMP.

 

[Dan Yonker]

Personally, the Schattenbaum events usually work better for me.  As a sole proprietor it is easy to get out for a one day jaunt during the week, and NJMP is close.  By the time it is all said and done, the RTR WGI event is 3.5 days long and it is over a weekend in the summer, which is always a hard sell to the boss (wife).  Don't get me wrong, I love going to the Glen with the RTR folks, but it is a commitment, for sure.

My conundrum, as of late, and I know I speak for several in the group, is how best to balance racing with DE.  If you think DE is addicting, racing is like crack 10 times over.  Races are always over the weekends and almost always three days long (SCCA, NASA and PCA).  Therefore, it is often easier to practice during a 1-2 day event during the week and race over the weekend. 

[Darren]

Bill Lehman wrote:

Schattenbaum recently posted their schedule here: http://www.schattenbaum.org/DriverEd.aspx

I hope you are going to their forum and advertising our events also.

Our events were under-participated last year -- that may be worth some consideration when y'all are working out your schedules.

[MikeKling]

We really live in a good news-bad news area of the country.  The good news is this region has many clubs and many tracks all within easy driving distance.  The bad news is this creates a very competitive enviroment and each club is vying for the same customers (drivers).

Last year Schattenbaum's fall events saw dramatic fall off in attendance.  Metro NY-PCA cancelled one of their NJMP events for lack of registartions.  From this one might conclude that NJMP has reacged its saturation point for drivers.  So its interesting to note that Schattenbaum actually INCREASED their commitment to NJMP events.  But, they have added single, weekday events.  Is this low cost alternative to multi day, weekend events the wave of the future?  We should watch closely. 

Our consumers (drivers) have choices, and all clubs will need to try new venues to continue to have successful programs.  This year RTR is seeing some of those changes.  Our leadership should continue to be congratulated in trying ideas to improve our DE program.  From Taste of the Track to a revised schedule, it looks like RTR is focused on the future.

All that and a bag of chips.

[rbasales]

Just for the record, Metros event at NJMP that had lack of registration was due to the fact the event was scheduled at Lightning during the Rolex weekend at NJMP Tbolt. A club race was also held on Sunday at Rolex.
NNJR had a similar issue when they scheduled NJMP during labor day weekend when the Pro Bike Championship.
No drivers wanted to be near NJMP with 60K biker fans. They cancelled the event

[CarreraS]

As much as I like to be a home team guy, I agree with Mike in that I look at the DE schedules from both SCH and RTR and see what works with my MM schedule.  (Makin' Money schedule.)

I like both groups, although there is clearly a different vibe between the two.  I can't speak for Black/Red run groups, but I can tell you that Blue/White run groups are decidedly faster at RTR than SCH.  For someone still relatively new to this, I have found the instructors in both groups to be very knowledgable and extremely helpful.  I mean all instructors except for the guy who wears the Australian porn star hat.   

I wish I could attend every RTR event exclusively, but I feel we are fortunate to have non-RTR options available to accommodate us.