Startline Volunteers Needed

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David Leikvold
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Startline Volunteers Needed

Post by David Leikvold »

Hello everyone, Chris Hanlon and I were recently discussing how to manage both Speedweek startlines in 2015, which is now less than four months away. We think the best way to manage them will be to get a group of volunteers who can do the whole week, just as my brother and I have done for the last two years. We hope to both be back again but my brother has a new job and may not be able to get leave. We need people who ideally aren't part of a team so if you've never been to Speedweek and want to see what it's all about, this is the best way. Even if you have been before but know that you aren't ready to compete we'd love to have you along to help us for as long as you can. We probably only need four full-time people for each course. We would welcome people who want to help for shorter periods at any time.

We are hoping to train a group of people to competently run each startline for as many years as they want the job. The job is quite simple and we are hoping to try different practices to make it more efficient. The basics are as follows: When competitors arrive at the startline they are more or less lined up in running order. This data (running order, driver and car/bike number and class) is then transmitted by radio to the timing van. When the track is clear the timing van give us permission to send the next competitor off. That's basically it.

In 2014 I spent my time running around trying to organise people, primarily because everyone liked to hang back rather than line up near the start line. This year we hope to better organise competitors by lining them up in order in groups of ten as soon as they arrive. We want to have two lines of ten and when one line is empty we will call for another ten from Pre-Stage. Everyone starts with their vehicle ON the start line, not back from it. With that organised we will better be able to cope with unforeseeable problems as they occur. This would be things like breakdowns, fires, etc. This system will also stop people wondering who goes directly before them, it's the bloke in front of them.

In 2014 we tried to do without Pre-Stage but that just resulted in far too many disorganised competitors queueing in the sun for hours longer than they needed to. Ideas for solving this dilemma would be most welcome. New for 2015 is the start lines will only be about 100 metres apart so we can swap between the two if the need arises.

I welcome any comments and suggestions for improving the start lines in 2015. I also welcome early volunteers. This will help us develop an efficient system. My brother and I volunteer because we can't afford to race yet and we want competitors to get the maximum number of runs.

Cheers
David :mrgreen:
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RGV
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Re: Startline Volunteers Needed

Post by RGV »

Hi Dave, I cant volunteer for the entire week as I will be competing, but am happy to help out on a couple of 1/2 days on the start line.

Thank you both for your time and effort. (we need a big thumbs up smilie)

Dave.

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boyracer
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Re: Startline Volunteers Needed

Post by boyracer »

I'm in for a couple of days/ half days.
See you in March.
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David Leikvold
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Re: Startline Volunteers Needed

Post by David Leikvold »

Thanks guys. Ideally, we would use people with no other commitments but all offers of help are very welcome. I think we could get some help from competitors if we arranged priority runs for guys like you Dave. Boyracer, are you intending to run anything in 2015?

I had envisaged getting volunteering competitors to the start line first thing in the morning for their first run of the day. Then spend the morning helping run the start line, go back to the pits to get your bike or car (or park it at the start line if you like) and get another priority run at midday. Repeat the process and get a third run late in the afternoon. Three runs a day isn't bad, more would be nice but we won't know how likely that will be until we see how many people stay on the short course now that it has proper timing.

The rule was under 175mph means competitors stay on the short course but we think we will average it out so that everyone gets a fair go. It depends on who turns up in 2015. I can't see why we couldn't have short course competitors doing short runs on the long course they way we did this year.

Clare can volunteer anytime she likes. She was excellent last year and really took the pressure off us when we were starting to fall to bits late in the week.

Cheers
Dave :mrgreen:
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GodSilla
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Re: Startline Volunteers Needed

Post by GodSilla »

Hi Dave, I can do some half-days at a minimum, I might also volunteer for the timing van for some half days too. Afternoons are good for me, 'cos I sleep in a bit after a lot of beer. :wink: I'll catch you out there on Sat or Sun before the event, if not before.
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boyracer
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Re: Startline Volunteers Needed

Post by boyracer »

No i'm not racing, just helping out. I did startline a few years back and enjoyed it.

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David Leikvold
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Re: Startline Volunteers Needed

Post by David Leikvold »

Thanks again everyone. A few more wouldn't hurt. Don't forget the short course needs people too so don't be shy, put your name on the volunteers register. If you can't spend the time helping out, at least find me (I'll be in hi-viz again) and I can show you how we like to do things. That way next year you will WANT to do the startline. I listen to suggestions too, we can always do things a bit better every year.You can get me here or on 0434 910 474 right up until we hit the dirt. I love that road, it means the journey is almost over and in a couple of hours I'll be on the salt.

Cheers
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Re: Startline Volunteers Needed

Post by DLRA »

G'Day David,
Here's a little bit of info for you based on pre - entries sorted on the record for the class they are competing in.
18 vehicles under 100mph
31 vehicles 100 - 170mph
62 vehicles 170 - 250mph
8 vehicles 250+mph
48 vehicles on Open records

So we are looking at slightly more vehicles that will be using track 1. With this in mind we are strongly encouraging entrants to complete as much of their licensing runs on track 2 as they can to try and reduce congestion at the start lines.
For new cars with parachutes we are now allowing practice parachute pulls on track 2 even though cars are restricted to 150mph on track 2. Then when they are ready they can move to track 1 for their 175mph licensing pass with parachute pull.
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momec3
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Re: Startline Volunteers Needed

Post by momec3 »

Interesting stats Greg. The other thing is because of licence progression the short track starts busy early in the week and ends quiet.
I suspect this will be much more even this year.
Chris
David Leikvold
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Re: Startline Volunteers Needed

Post by David Leikvold »

I think it will be very interesting this year with the start lines close together. Again we will be figuring things out as we go, but we will be working hard to maximise the number of runs everyone gets. Scott Andrews, president of the SCTA, said last year that he was very impressed that we could ALWAYS supply a competitor when we got the call. A lot of that credit goes to the competitors who cooperated well and were ready to go. Hopefully we won't have the salt problems we had last year.

Chris is right, the long course gets busier later in the week. When the short course goes quiet it is a great opportunity for competitors that reach maximum velocity quickly to get heaps more runs. Bikes in the range of maybe 180 to 200 mph or so might find the short course more useful than queueing for the long course for every run.

A quick note to competitors, if you want plenty of runs this year get up early and get to the start line early. At the start line we are set up and waiting by 0700 every day, just waiting for everyone else to be ready. Be there first. I'd also like to suggest that we run until dusk, stopping early wastes so much valuable time.

Cheers
Dave :mrgreen:
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Greg Watters
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Re: Startline Volunteers Needed

Post by Greg Watters »

There may be less migration to track one this yr with track 2 able to run records
looks like a good split between the tracks ,
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Re: Startline Volunteers Needed

Post by DLRA »

David Leikvold wrote: I'd also like to suggest that we run until dusk, stopping early wastes so much valuable time.
I'd agree with you David but we are only supposed to be on the lake between the hours of sunset and sunrise.
Just looked this up and offically;
Monday 23rd March 2015 Sunrise 7:21am - Sunset 7.24pm
Tuesday 24th March 2015 Sunrise 7.21am - Sunset 7.22pm
Wednesday 25th March 2015 Sunrise 7.22am- Sunset 7.21pm
Thursday 26th March 2015 Sunrise 7.23am - Sunset 7.19pm
Friday 27th March 2015 Sunrise 7.24am

We could talk about twilight eg Monday 6.26am - 8.18pm

Last year we were trying to keep people off the lake until 6.00am and have them gone by 7.00pm
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momec3
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Re: Startline Volunteers Needed

Post by momec3 »

Dave, I think the 0700 start may depend on light this year as we will be into late March.

I'm all for as early a start as possible but some of the setup stuff and final track inspection depends on the sunup time.
Be great if all volunteers and officials are on site and ready for an early start. This means being out of bed way before sunup so bring your alarm clocks. :D
Chris
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dplecko
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Re: Startline Volunteers Needed

Post by dplecko »

I really don't want this to be taken the wrong way, but it will no doubt be more difficult to fully compare flying 1/4 mile times with flying 1 mile times such as the approximate (small bike) comparisons in this graph below. It has been discussed to extend the track 2 finish point by half a mile to give a full timed mile (i.e. move the start to 1.5 and the finish to 2.5 mile). I have no problem at all with the 1/4 mile ratified time but think a slightly longer track is worth consideration for next year and might encourage a few more to stay on the 'short' track?
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oskarjay
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Re: Startline Volunteers Needed

Post by oskarjay »

I agree with Dave Plecko, if the short track got extended and have a "timed mile", I would spend all week on the short track. Which means less congestion on the long track.
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