Thanks for all that input Sean, and thanks for the compliments.

OGP is around $1800 to rent, but I believe that includes EMTs and staff (which may have been part of te deal of us renting their facility, or just that they are the ones with the equipment and experience on their track, I don't really know), plus it's an awesome track. With that said, I will agree that it doesn't facilite a learning environment as much as a sea of pavement would - although technically perfect and fairly kind to tires, the track surface is somewhat narrow and the circuit is somewhat short for having multiple cars out there at once. A giant slab of pavement allows any spun driver to roll out of the way and a long windy circuit to allow for more spacing between drivers, which equates to more drivers on the track at a time.

I've really only been in the FL Boss position for about 3 weeks or so, but I've already contacted several potential venues about holding events, and am working my ass off between work and school to find some additional places for us to play.

I think that at this point in the game, with drifting not yet matured in the US, it is really only reasonable that insurance rates be high. This plays a factor in why DG tends to stay away from banked ovals with big walls, although these venues can be done with the proper layout and safety precautions. I know that not everyone in every org. is particurlarly keen on running cars at high speed near walls, but I would offer the conjecture that this may be partially due to preventing insurance claims until the rates go down a bit (drifting matures and is recognized as a "here to stay" motorsport) - once again it may be hard for me to say...

As I'd imagine the Ter-Tech guys will agree, finding a venue that will support an event isn't as easy as calling them up and renting it. It may seen silly or strange to us, having been involved in drifting for a number of years already, that people in the motorsport world still don't know what it is, but I am often answering questions like "what is drifting" or stuff like "we already run sprint cars"

OGP has really extended its arms to us, and Gorge (the owner) seems fairly open to modifying the facility to better suit our needs. Even if additional venues were found, we would probably keep the DDays at OGP and just add to the schedule, but here again, it's all hypothetical.

Motorsport is just expensive, and the more serious you are about it, the more money you are going to have to dish out. The numbers Sean posted regarding track rental fees and other associated costs are accurate.

With orgs like TT and DG keeping things safe and fun and drivers continuing to be supportive, life for Drifting can only get better.

 

just make sure they know what they are getting into so we can go back and not get kicked out for good.

 

I think we all have a much clearer vision about drift events now.

 

you will never get gainsville witch is a shame it's such a good track perfect size
at auto x if you drop in to the grass 3 time you can be asked to leave


p.s rember lakeland was only $30 so go shove that up your arse so don't give me no bullshit about insurance
it can be done for cheaper !!!!!

 

ive brought up having drivers work the course before, same as sunriders, and scca autocrosses. seems like a good idea. but thats not where the extra money is going.
sure, it needs to be cheaper, and should be and blah blah blah.
but i doubt outside of internet forum posting anyone will do anything about it.
also.

 

nice.

 

i am telling you... u put 2 people on at the same time at OGP... time will make up

 

Well not that I ever post on this forum, but someone brought this post to my attention and I have alot to say about it so here it goes... Sorry its so long.......


Pricing -
Yes Drifting is exspensive and like others have stated you have to pay to play. But It doesn't have to be..

1st) I think one of the easiest ways to cut costs is for drivers to volunteer to do the track work. Such as cornerman, flagman, sweeper, and etc etc. If you split the drivers up into morning and afternoon and have them rotate you wouldn't need to pay anyone to work the course and that would lower the driving cost a minumum of 10 per person. I know I would be willing to work a little to drive cheaper. And maybe not Drivers but also spectators would be willing to work for Ride alongs. I know plenty of those kind!!!

2) Emt and medical personel - I know with Florida drift we have atleast one or two people who are state certified EMT's and when I spoke with them about doing a FD event thet said they would be more then willing to donate their time as A track EMT for a few Ride alongs!!! There has to be some others in this state who would be willing. Find them or go get certified yourself and that cuts cost even more.

3) Insurance is the biggy - I've found it for as cheap as 1500 event. Thats not cheap at all considering when my father used to hold mud hop events (where trucks flip over and people die from drowning in mud..... No thats not dangerous) to only be 400 an event. SOmething needs to be done about this.. And not just the promoters and organizers need to speak up but the whole drifting commmunity drivers, spectators, tracks, organizers, sponsors, shops everyone needs to be writing letters asking questions and demanding better prices.

Organization -

Where track time is pretty much our ultimate goal I see alot of unused track times at event..... This past sunday was a prime example of wasted track time. When we pay 100 dollars for an event and then spend 35 mins sitting on a track waiting for something to happen that irritates me a little cause at that moment all I want to do is be driving..... So what went wrong this weekend at OSW.
1.) Staging the cars on the track may have been a good idea in which
TER-TECH thought it would be easier to find drivers, but my
thought on this is BUY a bull horn and announce its stageing
time, and 2 if you as a driver aren't paying attention or have
someone with you paying attention and you miss a lap thats your
fault and the promoter shall not be concerned with you making
that lap up. Either get with the program and be on time and
where you are supposed to be when you're supposed to be there
or don't drive. You are holding up other people who paid good
money.

2) Not that this is a huge issue but Photographers leaving and entering the track seemed to take a minute here a minute there which over the course of the day could = 30mins. They should be announced as well. All photographers wishing to enter the track should do so 10mins prior to cars driving and do not leave the area until the driving is done. Not hey hold the line we have another photographer entering the track. Screw that guy I'd rather driv,e I paid to be there not Him........

3) Tech and etc etc.... At osw it was printed that the first car rolls no later then 9:10.. When in actuallity the the first car didn't roll till closer to 10. WHY???? Is it cause drivers are taking there sweet time getting to tech, is it cause the organizer was not very organized, or was it really a combination of both. I believe both parties are responsible.. As an organizer you should have tech people and track people. Not both doing the same job. It only takes one person to tech a car. And for the people who took their sweet time getting to tech, WTF... Thanks for wasteing my money. I was the First through Tech, I always try to be cause like I said earlier, only one thing on my mind that day and thats DRiving. Had people gotten there earlier and through tech on time we would have had an extra hour of driving. I believe you should roll through tech then str8 to stageing lane, to drive. I understand every event organizer likes to hold a drivers meeting and explain the day. Well maybe we should skratch that and have something written out the night before and gone over with each driver at tech instead of as a whole this way once again we are not waiting for people. Once you are done with tech you can get str8 to driving instead of waiting for the 2 people who decided they didn't need to show up on time.

At DG Trials OGP events seat time is always an issue. When I first started attending I used to BUY 2 SPots just because I felt like 1 spot = roughly 15 runs wasn't enough at the end of the day. So you're complaing about 100 bucks damn I paid $180 like 3 times just for extra seat time. Now I shouldn't have to do that. Nor at this point can I afford to do that anymore. People suggest more then one car on the track at time. Thats a good idea we've done hotlapping there and It was awsome. I was probably the weakest link in the advance group and spun in the hot laps numerous time's but it pushed me and by the end I felt I had actually improved cause of the pressure. In that instance I did my best to get my car off the track so I didn't have to make the person behind me stop they could keep sliding past. I think people need to a better job recovering from mistakes so people can continue.

Also it would be nice to split the time up better. Instead of letting the advance go 4 runs each then the novice run 4 runs each you designate time. Like the advanced get the first hour to run then the novice the next hour. No offenense to new comers but they eat track time like its cheerios sprinkled with cocaine.. The advanced would get so many more runs in 1 hour then the novice. SO why should the advanced be penelized. If they are better, then so be it.

Ok I think this is enough ranting for me. My points are valid I don't care who wants to argue with me. Everyone needs to work at this to make it better. Drivers be on time and ready, organizers be organized, and spectators get out there and watch!!!!!!!

RoB

 

If people are willing to have a bunch of crappy laps when the guy in front of them spins and slows them down, or backs up the line, then we may give it a shot again (5 cars at a time on track at DD6 was the shit, but some of those drivers were limited by the guy in front of them too). There are also some "sensetive" areas of OGP where collisions could occur, like if someone goes off of the tree hairpin a bit too fast and meets someone going down the straight, or if someone slides off into the infield right when someone else does too. I assure everyone we WILL get to multiple cars on track, but maximum efficiency will only come with precise timing of start and people staying on track.

BTW - We pay our corner workers in ride-alongs and the occasional T-shirt

As a related thought - how did people feel about skipping the first hairpin around the tree like we did last time? We arranged it that way with the mentality that people were spinning in the back section because of those turns, but it seemed to net fewer laps for people (but then again, there were more off-track excursions this time around even from consistent heavy-hitters). Keep/ditch the 1st tree hairpin section?

Already working on it. Talking about what people want to have changed at the events is a very good way for me and DG to figure out what to change to make the events better. For those who come to the OCT 15 DDay, there will be some minor changes in an attempt to make the best use of the time that we have the track by making sure everyone gets max track time and gets the same about of time as everyone else (nobody with 8 laps when everyone else gets 16, etc).

As for beating a dead horse: improvement is never finished.

To answer previous questions:
There were some reforms in insurance which led to the rise in pre-registration costs and bumped up the number of drivers required to hold a full "public" event.

An event with no insurance could be run, but it won't be run by DGtrials (and I trust Ter-Tech as well). Insurance in general is one of those things that you spend a lot of money on and gets you nothing for a long time until you need it, and if you don't have it by that time then you're pretty fuck*D

 

At DDay 6 we ran the heat of advanced in 15 minutes, the novice took 1:45. Doing a time schedule is definitely something that we've discussed, but generally default to the # of laps system, which will have some modifications for the Oct 15th event.

I'd like to give everyone a fair crack at the track, though (equal laps if possible). Novice will argue that they paid the same as the advanced guys and deserve the same amount of track time regardless of ability.

Any thoughts?