Do I have to retake drivers school or can I just be a novice again for a few races? The car's still in pieces but since winter is coming a guy has to dream.

You must do two regional races in a license year to keep it. Sometimes you can get a waiver to keep it. That is what I had to do once.

I wonder if they'll give me a waiver for the past 12 years?

NO!

Back to school for you. You will maybe only need to do one school.

Hi John,

Yup you will have to go back to SCCA school at min for Sunday practice and heat races, worst case both days. But what the heck, it's been 12 years and it's more track time! I've gone through the Re-License thing with CalClub Region down her in SoCal and did the Sunday, but it was only a year.

Unless something has changed at SCCA, even if you could go back to "Novice" status, it would just mean you would have to run a big X on your car while running with the other regional guys anyway.....so I don't see a benefit. I'm sure you don't wanna' be the guy everyone is thinking "Look-out, he doesn't know what he's doing!"

I've been working on the handling of my V8 914 for about 5 years now and it was CRAP to start out. With the genius of AndyZ, it is pretty darn good now and I am dying to take it out to Willow Springs to test the new rear swaybar. From my experience I'm thinking more track/test time with a new car may be very helpful for you. Of course, with the V8, I was starting from scratch, but even with help from previous 914 racers, I would expect some dialing in would be necessary to get the car to where you like it (IMHO).

Lastly, I reviewed your photos on rebuilding the car and was VERY Impressed with all the careful, tedious and skillful work you did...WOW!! It inspires me to take on bigger projects myself! Are you a professional body man? GREAT JOB!!

Terry

Thanks for the info and compliment Terry. No, I'm not a professional bodyman. I follow directions well and got good advice from a professional. I used to be an aircraft mechanic back when it paid the bills. I worked for a fairly major airline that would buy European aircraft and then modify them to conform to FAA regulations. I got pretty good at taking things apart and rebuilding them.

You correct in thinking that additional time on the track would be a good thing. I just remember it was fairly pricey when I got the license the first time. I was hoping to save a couple of bucks.

There is no probabily that after a 12 year layoff you will just be handed a regional SCCA liscense. The question begs to be considered, why would you want to even if you could. After so much time you need to approach getting your license with a degree of caution. The worst possable scenero for you is to assume you can remember everything you used to know....and try to prove it to your instructor,s. Just challenge youself...by assuming you know nothing. Anything that you might know or remember Is just gravy. Get and study the SCCA rule books. Get and study any track plans where the school,s will take place. Study and know what the flags mean. Do ALL YOUR CAR PREPERATION, right down to gas in the tank, and air in the trailer tires, A FULL WEEK BEFORE the event. Be ready, be prepared, so you can focus on driving. set a engine rev limit 1000 rpm,s below what you would normally want to use. The last session/race of the day is the only time to use a "normal" rev limit. It,s the only session that really matters, from the stand point of "winning". Get all your preperation done and completed, as suggested a week in advance. Then you can go to your school relaxed, and just enjoy the experience, and have FUN.............. Murray

Thanks for the advice Murray. I have done this a couple of times before. I finished second in my region my last year. Setting the rev limit low would be the last thing I'd do. It's much easier to get ahead of a guy by qualifing better than to try and pass him during a race. I play all of my cards during a qualifing session. It's also better to get in over your head during a practice than a race. That way the ony thing you mess up is the infield instead of you and the 12 guys behind you.

I didn't expect them to hand over a license. I did hope I didn't have to start at page one.

Hey John:

Ah Yes! All those $$ for play-time. I sure hear you there!

A suggestion on a low cost way to get lots of track time: I'm running with a couple Time-Trial groups. It only costs $120 - $150/day and they are a helluva lot nicer to deal with than the SCCA guys! I get five 20 minute sessions per day and lots of time to tweak the chassis. They are very casual about "classifying" drivers and if you tell them of your previous experience, you could go right out with the Advanced group. My thought is that you could develop your car for cheap and then go to SCCA.

Now after all the WORK, are you REALLY planning to make a track car out of it?
What engine are you planning to run?
Are going out for fun or a regional championship?

So as a professional Aircraft Wrench, working on cars is what could be called Slumming! I've been working for years (with the help of Carroll Smith) to learn what aircraft pros know!! I think I understand why you do such good work.

Merry Christmas,
Terry

Time trials just might be the ticket.

It won't be a pure track car. It'll be close though. Most likely a street legal track car. I haven't decided on a big 4 or a 6 yet. When I'm done with this one I'll build another that will be a dedicated track car. This one is a bit too clean to bump around.

Racecars are a close second to airplanes.