Driving schools coming up in February and March

[TheChadVIII]

I'm #4 on the wait list, stepdad is #5, I think we'll just head out there anyway and just watch even if there isn't an open spot. Or bring one of the volunteer forms and do that!

[Maniac Mitch]

Going out to the site is a great idea. Come prepared to take the school anyway. Let registration know that you're there and on the wait list, and if they have any no-shows, you'll get in. You'll have to wait until it is starting to get a no-show slot, but it happens. BTW, 4th and 5th are not far down the list...you may hear offically before the event. Be sure to check your email before leaving Sunday. Remember Saturday is the ladies/Teens school and Sunday is everyone.

Good luck!

Maniac Mitch

[TheChadVIII]

I got a Q!

What time are we supposed to show up for this thingamajig?

[rudedog]

I was told 7:30 AM.

[Maniac Mitch]

7:30am sounds right for an arrival time.

I have to mention something considering the weather forecasts....
I live in Wise county which is NorthWest of DFW. Back in December when the DFW area got a "little" ice I got quite a bit such that I missed work for two days. My biggest problem is getting down my 250ft driveway...it has a sharp off-camber curve that puts you into the fence if you miss it.

*IF* the weather does get bad as predicted, I may not make it to the event. I'm notifying the event chair right after this. Hope to see you guys there, but it will depend on Mother Nature. I guess you all saw the email from Wendy with Subject "AX School Weather" so you know that they plan to have the event. Will cancel only if Pennington is iced up.

I doubt it can be rescheduled as Pennington is an extremely popular site.

Maniac Mitch
fingers crossed.

[rudedog]

Yeap, I saw the e-mail and I'm ready.
I'm not ready to course marshall though
But, iit's part of the job

[tailchaser]

It's gonna be a cold weekend. Anyone not attending, volunteering or instructing is more than welcome to bring coffee, hot chocolate, a heated RV, etc. to those of us who will be...

[rudedog]

It was cold and snowed some but I had a blast.
Thanks to Maniac Mitch for the instructions and Tailchasers advice.
I want to do it again with better tires.

[Maniac Mitch]

Jack,
Now that I've met you, I don't see how "Rude Dog" fits.

I enjoyed working with you. You were one of my more aggressive students, not afraid to try everything we wanted you to do. I think you got a lot out of the school, which makes my time very worthwhile. Yes, better tires would be very nice...but remember what I said before you got yanked away to another corner station when we were working...80% is the driver. I think you did great!

Travis,
If you are reading this, what did Cathy think of the second day? Guys, we had a 16 year old Girl who has had her license for only 6 months take the Ladies AX, then the regular AX101 on Sunday. It was cold but dry on Saturday, then cold and WET on Sunday. Cathy improved by 3 whole seconds on Sunday...in the WET!

Chad,
Sorry I didn't get to talk to you more...how did you do?

BTW folks, there were only about 4 Mini Coopers there...not the 13 I had heard. We had 3 Miatas there...Chad showed up and made it in!!!

Maniac Mitch

[Miatamoto]

When will we be hearing about our registration status for the AX102?

[Maniac Mitch]

notification on AX102 & TT103:

I contacted Wendy Shoffit about this, since you're supposed to receive notification 2 weeks before the event. However, we have to give her some slack. She WORKED at the AX schools last week-end so she is a little behind. She hopes to get the notifications out either later today or tomorrow.

I hope a lot of Miatas made it in. When you get notification, please sound off so I can have an idea of who to look for.

And I know it's a lot further than Pennington, but as Chad can tell ya...showing up ready to run if you still on the wait-list can pay off.

Maniac Mitch

[rudedog]

Manic Mitch your instructions were most welcome. I'm still talking about the school here at work and more than got my money's worth.
Thanks.

[Bolix]

I just got an email telling me I'm on the wait list with with 14 other people! Not sure where on the list I fall though.

Dear Autocross School Registrant,

We are truly grateful for your interest, support and enthusiasm for the autocross schools conducted by Maverick Region. You are clearly not alone! Unfortunately, we are unable to confirm your place in the school at this time. We will hold your entry until the day prior to the event to see if a slot opens up for you. We will contact you as soon as a slot becomes available.

We received more registrations than we can accommodate. Every entry was entered into our database in order of submission date. The process then followed the established acceptance priorities. That order is Host Region PCA Members; other PCA members; other Porsche drivers (who may become PCA members); then all others.

We do not wish to be exclusive and very much want to accommodate all entrants, but that is simply not possible under the current circumstances. It is in our experience that a smaller group makes for a better school experience.

We are looking for volunteers to help out with the school. There is quite a lot to be learned just from watching the driving exercises. Further, instructors and workers get the opportunity to do laps on the autocross course at the end of the day. In the past, some people who have come out to volunteer to help have been able to fill the slot of a no-show student. There are no guarantees, though. We would truly appreciate all help we can get. If you would like to volunteer, please fill out our online form at http://www.mavpca.org/autocross/scho...svolunteer.htm. OR you could just show up and we can put you to work!

If you do not want to be kept on the waiting list, please let me know. We have 15 names on the list, some of whom would love for the opportunity ahead of others.

Lastly, we offer full instruction at every Autocross and Time Trial event during the regular season. While it is not as down-to-basics and thorough as our schools, we like to help as much as possible. We're addicted to autocrossing and want everyone else to be, as well!

Again, we appreciate your interest and look forward to seeing you in the near future.

That's the email I got.

I'm going to show anyway to see if I can grab a spot, but if not maybe I can get some runs in at the end of the day.

[Maniac Mitch]

I've never seen the school rejection/wait-list email. I wonder what lawyer wrote it for them? Sorry you didn't make it in Bolix...and anyone else.

Well I hope you can come on out to help...and hopefully get a slot. If the email doesn't say NOT to reply to it, you might try asking her what number you are on the wait list.

Be advised however, the runs at the end are for workers...so you'll have to volunteer to work to get that.

Who else got an email?

Maniac Mitch

[Miatamoto]

Does anybody have a guesstimate on how many runs we'll get at AX102?

[Maniac Mitch]

How many runs? A lot depends on how many students show up. I think the cold played a part in keeping the total run count down last week-end.

Jack, how many runs did you get at the AX school on Sunday? Four seems right, but I swear I saw some cars more than four times. ;-(

You do excercises in the morning, some different from AX101, then we setup a pretty large AX in the afternoon. I believe you'll get at least 4 runs on the full AX course. Seems the AX times are in the 80s. Just remember this facility (Mineral Wells) is different from Pennington in a lot of ways. The biggie is a heck of a lot more room! The downside is long drive and tiny gravel. I heard they were going to sweep it again. I hope so.

I always enjoy working the TT103 school more. Higher speed, more open. But I hope anyone taking the TT103 has some AXing experience to their credit. The TT times are 90+ seconds...IIRC.

Maniac Mitch

[Billy Blaze]

Crap Crap Crap!

I am on the waiting list too, I dont know how much faster I could have got the money in and registered it was a long time ago though.....oh well.

I can still make the ER events and a few PAC events this year.

[TheChadVIII]

Man that AX101 school was great, I'd been feeling iffy about the limits of this car since it was much more capable than my old eclipse, but now I feel comfortable around it.
I was driving the entire freakin day! I was pooped out at the end from the amount of runs we got.

Every time I was going to go talk to mitch they had me called up to run, so sorry I didn't stop by more. Haha, best time I ended up coming down with was a 52.9, which didn't seem too bad coming from my 56 something I got on the first couple of runs. Its amazing how much better times you can get /without/ the instructor in the car haha. My poor friend in his civic sicouldn't get down past a 56s, though that Ed Mayo landed a 53 flat in the hatch on his first run. Then the porsches surprised me by running mainly pretty crappy, save for like 2 of them. (56s+) So that was a real confidence boost.

I just wish I had signed up for the AX102 class haha, /sigh

But yea, if its cold and you want to go but are on the list THEN GO! Because alot of people won't show up, and some people even leave during the event, so volunteer or something! Hell, at the 101 class our friend that came with us to watch even got a free meal because there were some that were unclaimed.

[rudedog]

Manic Mitch, at the slalom I was running every three minutes so I don't know how many I did there.
On the AX I did two or three with you, it took four more to get my 52.24, and then I know I ran three or four more! A lot.
I didn't mention it but I just had rotator cuff surgery about six weeks ago and my right shoulder was really hurting when I got through.
Well worth the money and fun!

[Maniac Mitch]

Thanks Jack and Chad for the details on the event. I knew 4 runs was real low, but I didn't want to guess high.

I've never met a student of one of these schools that didn't get a lot from it. I just wish that they hadn't changed it to favor Porsches first...but hey, it's the Porsche club!!! I'll post again next year when they have it again...just jump on the registration immediately after you see a post. Too bad we don't have a way to email everyone.

Also don't forget, like most other AX event, the Porsche club will provide you an instructor at any event. He/she will walk the course with you and ride with you as much as you want. It's not as good as a school with special excercises, but it will help a lot. Just get there early, and tell them at regristration that you're a novice and would appreciate help. This is not just for the AX events but also for the Time-Trial events.

Maniac Mitch