Drivers Etiquette @ TCHR
 

Etiquette
This last weekend @ TCHR I have noticed something that has really discouraged me from racing a TCHR. "Driving Etiquette", has really fallen off as of late in qualifying on the On-Road side.
I am used to being able to run in the expert stock class fender to fender with out being punted in Qualifying. This past couple of weeks, almost every corner where someone is gaining on me from behind in the corner, they dont let up then I get hit in the quarter panel, and spun out. These kinds of crashes are unnecessary, very distracting, and sometimes destructive. What I would ask is you please consider passing clean in a "safe area" and communicating that your intention to pass. It is important to note that Qualifying is NOT racing so position means nothing. Not letting someone pass really does nothing to advance you since there are 3 rounds for that person to out qualify you. (Which may or may not happen). And lastly if you feel you have been hacked, "getting even" is not a ok way of settling the score, instead piont it out to the race director after the race. It is important that you not take it out on the other drivers who may or may not have been involved in your misfortune.
Why do mentions this do you ask? Well maybe it because I want the culture to change at our track from the I am going to get you mentality to lets just race and have fun. I like racing, I like being a good citizen to the track, and mostly I enjoy hanging out with the people. Remember our track image is only as good as the racers who race. Just food for thought.
SWG

SWG-

I totally agree. it's not a life or death situation, it is a hobby. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but one thing I try to do is tell someone where I'm going if I know they are the leader. For example, saying, "I'll stay high (or low) in the next corner," to some one who is lapping me or, to a car who is obviously faster and out driving me. I also try to recognize the faster cars right away and keep track of who's lapping me, and who I'm lapping (but that's not very often). I'm not saying I'm the greatest driver, these are just some things I do to save my butt. I also apologize for anytime I've hacked you, because I enjoy racing, as do anyone else that we race with, and I don't want to do anything to lessen our little friendly racing community.

-Pete Simons

Pete ..I agree
 

I do alot of the things that you mention too. Sometimes though you will just get hit and accidents are prevailent. Those we cant aviod( unless you are gifted with super reflexes ) =0P. I would not be bothered but alot of the stuff I am seeing has been over agressive driving (using cars as track boards) and that kind of stuff.
Anyway, I just need to get that thought off my mind so I can enjoy going to the track again.
SWG

bummer... do you have alot of new drivers or are the usuall drivers getting extra competitive... there is nothong worse than being punted in the corner by someone trying to get past... and what makes that worse is alot of the time they are not any faster they just entered the corner too fast... i am with you if you can not pass clean do not pass... blocking a faster guy in a qual is pretty uncool also, all they need to do is ride a turn wide and a better driver will duck right under you........... it is all raccing though i see it with the real cars too.. but they tend to exchange more than words sometimes ha ha...
maybe you should bring it up at the drivers meeting... and just make everybody aware??? sometimes even the best drivers forget what it is all about...... not just winning:)

I think you will find this same kind of driving at any on road track, it's just the nature of the beast. It is hard to pull out of your rythm to let someone by you, often times when you do this about 4 other cars pass you because everything is moving so fast, I do have one question: why not run ifmar starts? so you don't pile in the first corner and by the time you get going the leader is a half lap ahead of everybody.lets face it, with shotgun starts you are racing against the clock, but if some one is ahead of you on the track, you can't beat their time unless you pass them.

I agree with Eric on the IFMAR starts for qualifying. TCHR uses IFMAR for 1/12 mod and TC mod why not all classes? Just a thought.

that would make alot of sense....... you will to some extent have the same issue when the better drivers catch the less fortunate... fyi........... it is usually the faster guy coming to pass the slower guy that causes the problem, crashes on the start are another issue.....

I agree with Eric on the IFMAR starts for qualifying. TCHR uses IFMAR for 1/12 mod and TC mod why not all classes? Just a thought.

Hey all I guess it is time for a Drivers meeting. I personaly have no problem with IFMAR starts for all classes. I'm not sure you will get rid of all of the hacking but it may solve some of the issues. We changed to IFMAR for mod classes because the racers wanted it. So I guess if most of the racers want IFMAR starts in the stock classes also then lets bring that up at the next meeting. How does Monday march 4th at the track sound ?


Mark OB :cool:

I don't really think IFMAR starts would help beyond the first lap.

I think the majority of the problem is from a lot of the people that are bumping up from sportsman into expert too early. Have you noticed how the expert class has grown very large over the past few months compared to where it was just a few months ago? They want to get out of sportsman because of all the hacking that happens when you race against novices or generally less experienced racers. I mentioned to Shawn and a few others that I think an intermediate class would help. But then again, that spreads things a little too thin so there aren't as many cars to race against. Maybe having a Novice class would help the other sportsman to stay in sportsman longer??? Just some thoughts. . .

- Ben Pren.

Hi Ben

The Sportsman class is or did replace the Novice class. I don't see any reason to add another classification here. But educating the racers is important, we should be discouraging any rough driving that is happining.

:eek: happening that is:blush:

Alright Guys,
 

I am glad that I am in good company here on this board and actually have a civilized conversation. =0) Erik.. You make a good point when you say that hacking will occur at any track in the US during the mains. My goal though is wanting to have one good qualifier of clean driving. Gmain .. That is what this post is all about educating the racer. If we the "racers" dont say what needs to be said, then it is very diffucult for the beginners to pick up what the implied rules are. I think what has been happening lately is the implied rules have not been voiced to the recent crowd of bump-ups in expert stock. This post is an effort to educate.
Here are is a list of other implied rules of the track.
- When you car has been rendered broken or battery has gone dead, please pull off the race line to the nearest marshal.
- If your car is having a technical issue but can still run, dont expect the marshal to fix your car, Ie. Antenna comes loose and you want the marshal to insert ot back in, or body gets jammed up because of missing clip.
- If you cars gets spun out on the straight, Please yell straight away!
- If you car has been renedered disablied or having problems, Dont leave the drivers stand to go fix your car. Step back from the rail and wait till the the qualifier or race is over. It is considered rude to do anything to distract other racers on the drivers stand.
- Be considerate to other racers, when on the drivers stand be sure your not blocking another racers view from parts of the track.

Can anyone think of any other implied rules of the road?
Post them here!
SWG

please do not stand on the drivers stand yelling as hard and aloud as you can at your pit man and the marshalls..... if your car broke, that sucks but it happens, if you are upside down regardless of who's fault ( ie you were hit, or you hit a board), your having techy issues, brush hanging up bad speed controller...... yelling only disturbs those you are racing with and takes away from there expeirience so be considerate if it is stuck or broken just relax, and if it dies, just step back everybody else is trying just as hard to do there best also........


if you see someone realy struggling to get there ca around the track, help them out, give them setup info tire info etc... everybody has more fun when all the cars are working and you are just all out racing, if a car has a hard time just being on the track it will be in everybodys way, you are not nessasarily helping them beat you, you are helping yourself to do better because you do not need to spend half your race choosing the safest point to get past......... more fun to have 30 people on the same lap during quals than two guys racing for the win and dominating......

I agree, we shouldn't split things up further, larger classes are a blast because of all the cometition.

We need to talk about these things at the track so all the other racers can be equally informed. This info could be handed out at the track before the heats and kept up front as a "flyer". Just some simple pointers to be aware of to keep racing as fun as possible and respectful to other racers.

- Ben