Are our members SAFE, On the track Options

[Randal]

To be honest I was stunned to learn that not all "track day" groups require driving suits and other safety equipment that we take for granted with GGR.

With GGR they allow you your DE days while earning your license to drive "unprotected" so to speak, but after that you have to be fully suited up.

So what safety equipment is required by the different clubs?

If you know please post.

[TimT]

My PCA chapter:

SA helmet '95 or later

and.......

thats about it for PPE

also a 2.5 lb extinguisher in the car..

I think its pretty lax, and I usually have full gear on

[Brett W]

With the latest developements in the Carrera GT crash, this is something all of us need to take into account. Especially if you have a family.

[Trekkor]

With Trackmasters it's helmet and a smile. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I was out at TH in the 111 degree madness and I still wore my Nomex suit, gloves, socks and balaclava.

Other guys were near-naked (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)


KT

[Sammy]

I got teased and laughed at when I put on my SA2000, nomex driving suit, shoes, and gloves for an AX at irwindale speedway.
I had a racing seat with 5 points also.

Someone said something like "this aint the indy 500".
No, but I was hitting around 70 mph on the banked turn with that great big wall next to me.

Guess what? At the end of the day I wasn't hurt or burned or anything.
Nothing happened but if it did I was safer than the guy in the t shirt.

Let em laugh.
the guys who don't wear any protective equipment except maybe a helmet are the that need to be teased IMO.

[Andyrew]

I wear gloves, sa2000, and neck brace for autox...

But I have the suit for track events... Just need shoes..

5 points are a must in this car... whatever the driving purpose.. IMHO.

[tomamafone]

My dad and I have a HANS device for the bigger tracks like California Speedway. 130+ up around that banked section can be hairy and better to be safe than sorry (mom requested it too) Anytime we are on a "track" and not just a parking lot with cones there's a driving suit involved. things we aways have: fire extinguisher (soon to be fire system), 6 pt harness and the cage.

[lapuwali]

I got teased and laughed at when I put on my SA2000, nomex driving suit, shoes, and gloves for an AX at irwindale speedway.
I had a racing seat with 5 points also.

Someone said something like "this aint the indy 500".
No, but I was hitting around 70 mph on the banked turn with that great big wall next to me.

I agree with your position, but I do have to ask if you wear all that stuff on the street, too? I regularly drive 70mph right next to long lengths of Jersey barriers, often surrounded by 4000-5000lb cars being driven by people talking on cellphones or putting on makeup, who probably couldn't drive well even if they were concentrating 100%.

IMHO, driving on the track with no helmet at all is safer than driving on the highways with full safety gear much of the time...

[nebreitling]

Most driving clubs (even at big tracks) require a Helmet for track days. THAT'S ALL.

i had been wearing only nomex gloves/shoes/SA helmet, but just recently invested in a high-end kevlar/nomex suit which i will wear religiously now on the track. Also have a nomex neck collar, arm restraints, FIA-approved seat, etc... Have a 10:BC extinguisher in the car within reach, but that's more to save the car than myself.

Depending on where i go with motorsports (car vs. karts), a HANS device may be in my future.

Having been with a few other clubs recently, I was surprised to hear that they felt that PCA-GGR was a bit draconian in their safety rules -- particularly in terms of the suit-requirement.

Honestly though -- a driver's suit is way overkill for AX except for the most extenuating circumstances. It's FAR more dangerous to work the course than to drive it. IMHO.

Being in the CaymanS when it caught fire really woke me to my senses. fire is fucking HOT -- even when you're 3-4 feet from it. and if a 6 month-old car can catch on fire, then you know a 30 year-old car can.

[Randal]

Most driving clubs (even at big tracks) require a Helmet for track days. THAT'S ALL.

i had been wearing only nomex gloves/shoes/SA helmet, but just recently invested in a high-end kevlar/nomex suit which i will wear religiously now on the track. Also have a nomex neck collar, arm restraints, FIA-approved seat, etc... Have a 10:BC extinguisher in the car within reach, but that's more to save the car than myself.

Depending on where i go with motorsports (car vs. karts), a HANS device may be in my future.

Having been with a few other clubs recently, I was surprised to hear that they felt that PCA-GGR was a bit draconian in their safety rules -- particularly in terms of the suit-requirement.

Honestly though -- a driver's suit is way overkill for AX except for the most extenuating circumstances. It's FAR more dangerous to work the course than to drive it. IMHO.

Being in the CaymanS when it caught fire really woke me to my senses. fire is fucking HOT -- even when you're 3-4 feet from it. and if a 6 month-old car can catch on fire, then you know a 30 year-old car can.

Draconian for having stringent safety rules? Oh boy. Guess you can think that way until someone gets burned.

I wonder how many car fires there are a year during "Track Day" events?

Also a GREAT point Nathan about course workers. I continue to be amazed that no one has been hurt at our local events. Your course partner is supposed to watching your back when your run for cones, but most aren't; but this is simply education.

[Chris Pincetich]

Honestly though -- a driver's suit is way overkill for AX except for the most extenuating circumstances. It's FAR more dangerous to work the course than to drive it. IMHO.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)
I'm still a newb on the autoX scene, but having been to one I've got agree that working the course is no walk in the park. Folks sorta knew I was there for my first event, encouraged me to get out there and ask questions if needed. Who's there to ask questions when you are stationed out on some lonely corner with cars flyin bay and a tattered red flag to wave to hopefully stop the runs before somebody else knocks 8 cones over that you are still trying to pick up?

Nomex gloves sound cool.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[chilli]

With Trackmasters it's helmet and a smile. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I was out at TH in the 111 degree madness and I still wore my Nomex suit, gloves, socks and balaclava.

Other guys were near-naked (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)


KT

This is exactly why I quit being steward for them, even though SVR was co sponsor of the events. Was at Sears a year or so ago and the the first group was the "so called"experts. Three of cars in run group crashed. Could not figure out the track was cold and tires had no grip

[nebreitling]

Trackmasters

This is exactly why I quit being steward for them, even though SVR was co sponsor of the events. Was at Sears a year or so ago and the the first group was the "so called"experts. Three of cars in run group crashed. Could not figure out the track was cold and tires had no grip

damn! three separate incidents? or one incident that gathered three cars? either way, that's a big F-up for a non-competitive track day...

[DanT]

With Trackmasters it's helmet and a smile. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I was out at TH in the 111 degree madness and I still wore my Nomex suit, gloves, socks and balaclava.

Other guys were near-naked (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)


KT

This is exactly why I quit being steward for them, even though SVR was co sponsor of the events. Was at Sears a year or so ago and the the first group was the "so called"experts. Three of cars in run group crashed. Could not figure out the track was cold and tires had no grip

As Chili always Says...."you don't have to be smart to own a Porsche" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Crazyhippy]

SA05 helmet (my SA95 is too old for me to trust now) long sleeve cotton based shirt, long pants and close toed shoes.

I wear gloves for feel, and a neck collar so my neck doesn't hurt the next day.

BJH

[Sammy]

Nope, on the street I don't wear the protective equipment. I also do not push the car to the edge.
When I am on a track, whether it is a cone filled parking lot or willow springs, I have the car at the limit of adhesion, maximum acceleration, and maximum braking.
I have never spun a car out on the street but I have at irwindale speedway, and qualcom, and Fontana, and streets of willow. etc.

I always feel safer on the street where I have plenty of safety cushion.

[John]

When I started doing PCA track events 18 years ago with the East Coast regions, the attire was SNELL rated helmet M or SA, Long Sleeve cotton shirt, Long pants and closed toed shoes.

The east coast regions that I normally drove with (Potomac, Reisentoter, Northern NewJersey Region) seemed like they were somewhat more strict than the clubs were in the Midwest (The Ohio Regions).

When I got to Chicago, the attire was virtually the same long shirts, long pants, shoes, and a SNELL rated helmet.

When I instructed for TrackTime, they required the long pants and SNELL rated helmet, but eventually allowed short sleeve shirts (and provided them).

When I moved to Kansas City, the regions here (Kansas City PCA, Audi, BMW clubs and Omaha PCA) have the long pants, shoes and SNELL rated helmets.

I have been to events where they allowed shorts to be worn.

I typically do not wear my NOMEX driving suit for Drivers Ed events. These events are not intended to be RACING events and it is not required to push 10/10's to have a lot of fun. I typically run 8/10's and let the wild ones go. I sometimes catch myself pushing the limits, but within reason.

At club races, the NOMEX is mandatory and for good reason. These are RACES. The RACES are not DRIVERS EDUCATION events and as such tend to have more "incidents" (at least in my experience).

My typical Drivers Education/Instructor attire consists of shoes, Long Cotton Pants, Long sleeve cotton shirt, SNELL SA rated helmet, and my NOMEX driving gloves. I have only witnessed one car fire at a Drivers Education event and it was a 914/6 in the pit lane. (Lukily it didn't burn too badly but it did take a bunch of fire bottles to put it out). Hopefully, I won't see any more fires.

Our clubs have adopted the short sleeves mainly due to heat. If car fires were more common, we would re-think this, but we feel that heat exhaustion poses more of a threat at our track events than does vehicle fires. The heat coupled with the fact that our events are not RACING events, and that RACING is not tolerated, allowed us to lax the personal safety equipment requirements for Drivers Education events.

At a summer track event, temperatures in and around the paddock area typically exceed 100 degrees and temperatures inside the cars can go much higher while waiting on the grid.

We do not prohibit or ridicule drivers for utilizing personal safety equipment. On the contrary, we recommend it, but do not require it.

Just my $0.02