|
|
|
|
Dear Porsche Enthusiast,
|
|
Welcome to The Nugget,
the email newsletter of the Golden Gate Region, Porsche Club of America.
If you have any trouble viewing this email, you can click here to go to the online versions of
this newsletter. For comments or feedback, click here
to email the editor.
Thanks for reading.
|
|
Click the button to
subscribe (The Nugget is free!), and click here to join the Porsche Club of America.
|
|
|
Letter from AX Chairs
|
|
--by Matt & Carl Switzer, Autocross Co-Chairs
2009 has certainly been a challenging year for GGR's autocross series. We
offer special thanks to everyone for your patience as we work through the
site and schedule difficulties we're dealing with this year.
It looks like things may be smoothing out soon, but we are still unable to
lock-in a firm calendar for the rest of the year. We do have a few events
on the calendar, and a few in the planning stages.
As we've worked through these difficulties, a number of members have
mentioned that better communication regarding events would help them in
planning attendance. Communication is perhaps more difficult this year
because scheduling difficulties have prevented us from publishing the
entire year's autocross schedule in the late winter as we would normally
do.
Accordingly, we are putting out this special edition of The Nugget to
update the members on all the news as of now, and to let you know how to
stay in touch with the latest news as the rest of the season unfolds.
Read on to learn more, and we hope to see you at an event.
Matt & Carl
|
|
Staying in Touch with AX News
|
|
With The Nugget only coming out once a month, we use three methods to keep
members up-to-date with the latest autocross details. They are:
In contrast to The Nugget (which goes out to all GGR members),
GGR announcement emails only go out to those members (or non-members!) who
have signed up for them. Autocross participants often mention not receiving
any GGR-announcement email messages.
Here's how to sign up for GGR-announcement emails if you're not already on
the list:
- Click here or follow the E-mail link at the
top of the GGR home page.
- Enter your email address
- Choose "Yes, I want to
become a member of the mailing list ggr-announce@pca-ggr.org"
- Hit send.
- After a short while, you
will receive an email from "mailing list manager
<majordomo@ml.kundenserver.de>" in Germany. Click the
hyperlink in that email to confirm your enrollment.
NOTE: If you do not click on the
hyperlink in the email you receive, then your address will not be enrolled.
Adding your email to the GGR-announce list (supplemented with visits to the
autocross sections of either the GGR Forum or GGR web site) are the best ways to stay in
touch with the latest news as the season develops.
Next is what we know so far for this year's autocross schedule.
|
|
Upcoming AX Events
|
|
June
Saturday,
June 20, 2009 will see Autocross #4 for the 2009 Carlsen Porsche, PCA-GGR
autocross series at Alameda Point. You can find more detail, and register
for this event at the AX#4 page
on MotorsportReg.com. Fees will be collected at the venue for this
autocross.
July
We are on-track for our first annual Bear Valley event on Saturday, July, 11, which will count
for the GGR point series. We need a minimum number of registrations by June
18 in order to prevent this event from being canceled. If you are
interested in this event but are waiting to register... why are you
waiting? Register now to ensure this event is a success! You can find more
detail here, and register at the AX#5 page
on MotorsportReg.com.
Please
register for the Bear Valley autocross by June 18 to prevent this event
from being canceled!
Note: Registration and collection of fees for this event will take place
via MotorsportReg. There are no plans to accept late registrations at the
event due to scheduling requirements for this venue.
August
Please hold the weekend of August 22-23, which is our
tentative date for a two-day (possibly Zone 7) event at Alameda. We will
update you with more information in the coming weeks.
|
|
We're Working On It!
|
|
We keep working on making the autocross series better and more enjoyable
for the participants. Here's what we're currently working on:
Online Registration
This year we started using MotorsportReg.com for advance autocross
registration. This helps immensely in populating the timing and scoring
database (required for the new timing system) before the event. It also
helps us plan the event when we know how many people will be there (number
of run groups, etc.).
Until now, the online registration was optional and you paid your fee at
the event. However, starting with the Bear Valley autocross and henceforth,
MotorsportReg will be used for registration and collection of fees. This
will further expedite registration and setup on the day of the event and
get cars running sooner.
Late registrations will still be accepted at the event, but (on the advice
of our consulting economist) the fee will be higher.
New Timing System
GGR has a new computer-based, wireless timing system. If you've been to an
event this year, you know how much it speeds up runs and results. Instead
of calling in car numbers and the frantic time-card mambo in the timing
trailer, cars are issued bar codes which are simply scanned at the start.
The wireless links to the starting and finishing electric eyes and the
computer do the rest.
The system was tested mid-season last year and it went surprisingly well
for a new computer system (you know what we mean!).
However, the tests did point out needs for better organization,
communication, and listening among the participants (please don't walk
though the starting or finishing beam!). We worked hard for the remainder
of 2008 to improve the organization and communication at our events, and by
the end of the year we were ready to use the new system on an ongoing
basis.
In 2009, we brought the system online and it worked well for AX1 and even
better for AX2. As people become more accustomed to the new system and its
requirements, our events will run even smoother. There are additional
enhancements that will be brought online as we go, at the rate of
approximately one or two per event to minimize the level of disruption with
each addition.
We look forward to continuing to work with the GGR members to make
autocrosses faster, smoother, and more fun!
|
|
That's all the autocross news for today. Show up and drive one day! No
preparation required except for a helmet, and we have loaners!
As always, thanks for reading.
|
|
