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Houston Chapter BMW CCA Where the ultimate driving machine and drivers meet. 2014 Autocross Committee Making Safety and Fun Top Priority. Important Contact Info. Schedule of Events. Event Timing. Jeff C (Registration/Instructor/Grid Chief) Chris S (AX Chair / Timing Chief)
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Houston ChapterBMW CCAWhere the ultimate driving machine and drivers meet. 2014 Autocross Committee Making Safety and Fun Top Priority
Event Timing Jeff C (Registration/Instructor/Grid Chief) Chris S (AX Chair / Timing Chief) Levi B (Course/Tech/Safety Chief) Karl H (Equipment Chief)
Event Safety Talk • Welcome 1st timers, upcoming events, special guests • Advertise upcoming events (Coffee, Drives, Dinners, Etc.) • Guests of Houston Police Academy, please take all trash with you or place in trash bags at the tent • Please stay on this side of yellow barriers and out of SWAT area. No firearms, drugs or alcohol allowed on the premise. • Has everyone signed at least two waivers and wearing a wristband? • Have all cars been tech inspected, all cars must be inspected before running • Stay out of the stop box area at all times, when the course is hot. • Ride alongs only with instructors, show of hands. Recommend rookies ride along before 1st run, and then have an instructor ride along during 1st run. Signal for needing an instructor is turning on your hazards. • We have 6 loaner helmets, please return between runs to ensure everyone has access to them. All helmets must be Snell 2005 or newer. • We are out here to have fun. No prize money, so drive within your means. If you are deemed to be driving dangerously, a committee member will have a discussion with you, and if you continue you may be asked to leave the event. • No smoking in the hot pit area. • Spectators control areas. • Please see the safety rules on the back of the course map • Corner captains to the tent for a briefing. Drivers to your cars, and corner workers out to your assignments. After the 2nd or 3rd run we will finalize the number of runs we will have today. Thank you. Corner Captain to understand: • For those working a corner, please stand up at all times, and do not operate any electronics (camera, phone, game system, etc). Be aware of the car that passed as well as the car coming 20 seconds later. • Corner captain holds flag and radio. Flag for impending metal to metal contact. Don’t stand in the middle of the road to stop a car. • Cone calls - Down and/or out, two wheels off – DNF. Only call cones in if you saw the car hit the cone. If in doubt, reset but don’t call in on the last car that passed by.
Back of Map Safety http://www.houston-bmwcca.com/portal/attachments/autocross/Autox%20safety%202.pdf BMW CCA Autocross Safety Rules: • No firearms, alcohol or drugs allowed • At least two waivers must be signed by everyone entering the property. Colored wristband must be worn on left wrist. • No littering. All trash must be placed in a trashcan or removed from property. • Do not leave assigned area. This means no venturing towards the shooting range, SWAT training grounds, behind the yellow barriers on the side of the course, etc. • Do not sit or stand on yellow barriers. • Do not walk in the stop box or course when the course is hot. • All photographers (whether still or video) must be accompanied by a spotter. • Photography on or near the course requires the explicit approval by safety steward. • Photography by corner workers is prohibited. • No vehicles over 5000lbs allowed on course. • Snell 2005 or newer helmets must be used by all participants. • The pit area is covered by a 5-mph speed limit at all times. • No smoking in the active pit area. • When driving the course, both driver and passenger side windows must be down. • When driving on the course, the vehicle radio, cassette or CD player must be off. Corner Worker Instructions: • Safety comes first: do not run in front of a car for any reason - replacing cones or otherwise. • Please report to the Chief of Workers prior to the beginning of your assigned heat to receive your work assignment. Also try to get to your station as soon as possible. • At the start of the heat, each corner is to check in. • One person holds the flag unfurled - but not flapping around - ready to be used. • One person holds the radio, with the volume turned up sufficiently high so that instructions can be heard over the ambient noise. • If there are three or more workers per corner, they are "runners" that check cones and put them back in their boxes. • Stay alert and remain standing (no sitting or squatting) when vehicles are on the course. • When instructed to do so or when you feel it is necessary to do so for safety reasons, quickly move to where the driver can see you and vigorously wave the flag to stop a car. However, do not get too close to the car. More than one station may need to wave the flag to catch the driver's attention, so all corners should be prepared. • When calling in a penalty, use your corner number and be as specific as possible about both the penalty and the car. For example: "This is corner 1. Car number 809 hit two cones in the slalom". • If you think (but are not sure) that a car hit a cones, inform timing and scoring immediately - confirm the penalty (or lack thereof) by radio once you have checked on the track. • Do not use cameras, cell phones, pagers, iPod, PDA's, while completing your work assignment.
Tech Check List • Lug nuts visible on all wheels (hub cabs that hide the lug nuts must be removed) • Battery is securely fastened to car body. • Gas peddle return spring is in working order • Brake action firm • Seat belts present & latch firmly • Helmet is a Snell 95 or newer • Car numbers displayed on both side • Nothing obstructs gas peddle action inside car (rugs, fancy add on peddles, etc) • No loose items in trunk or inside the car • Tires are in good condition. No cord showing on outside or inside edge of tire. Revise!!
Grid Responsibilities Grid Setup Upon arrival at 8 am, set up cones that outline the grid/paddock/parking areas per the course map. Start with cones that outline of the paddock/parking area first so when the gates open at 8:30 am drivers will know where to park cars. Cone spacing is the stop box area is approximately 6 paces, to prevent cars from driving between cones. Cone spacing everywhere else can be wider, about 10 paces. Cones on the back edge of the grid (closest to the edge of the concrete) are spaced about 5 car widths apart. This is to allow cars to turn into the grid after passing Timing Slips without having to drive all the way to the end of the grid. Cones marking the grid area When grid area has been completed, assist Scoring and Timing with raising the canopy, setting up the PA system, and whatever else needs to be done in that area. Check with course setup as they may need help too. Running Grid during Heats The grid worker’s role is to control traffic and ensure safety in the grid area while directing cars to the Starter. Note that in this area there are always people and cars mixing about, so safety is a prime concern. Always be on the lookout for, and prevent, potential human to car contact. It takes one to two people to run Grid, depending on the size of the run group. The grid workers are to wear safety vests for visibility. Single driver cars park on one side of the grid, and a slight angle. Dual driver cars park on the other side of the grid, nose to tail. At the start of the heat, dual driver cars go first before the single driver cars. Try to keep three to four cars staged at the Starter’s area. A car should not drive to the starter’s area without your OK. You are to be sure there is no on-coming traffic (cars or people) before releasing a car to the Starting area. In general, be on the lookout for these safety items before releasing cars to the Starter: • Driver is wearing helmet with BMW inspection sticker. • Driver is wearing seat belt. • Driver is wearing on left wrist a wrist band on issued during registration. • Car has sticker on windshield indicating car has been inspected for the day’s race. When you see a car with blinking hazard lights, the driver needs an instructor to ride with them. Try to locate an instructor and direct then to the driver needing a drive-along. Sometime after the first couple of runs, Timing and Scoring will announce the number of runs for the heat. You can help by communicating that number to the drivers in Grid.
Tech/Safety Responsibilities TBD by Levi
Equipment Responsibilities The roles of the Equipment Chief are: • Maintain the timing equipment. • Store the electronic equipment in a cool dry place. • Prepare the timing equipment for each event. • Setup the timing lights and Chronomix timer at each event. Before each event: • Charge the Chronomix for 3 hours or until the red “BATTERY CHARGING” light is out and the green “CHARGE COMPLETE” light is on. • Check that all the timing lights have power and the orange POWER lights illuminate. • Make sure that there is at least one spare printer roll and a spare printer ribbon in the timing box. • Make sure there are spare 9V batteries in the timing box. At the event: • Set up the timing lights per the course map. • Keep the lights low to improve stability and in case of tiny cars. • The transmitter (infra-red light) will have just the orange power light on. Align it with the receiver. The alignment of the transmitter is at least as important as the alignment of the receiver. • The receiver will have the orange power light and the red MARGIN light on when correctly aligned. When tripped the red light will go out and the green light will come on. • Run a cable from the receiver to the timing tent with the spool ending up at the timing tent. It is better not to allow the spool to rotate when running the cable to avoid the cable becoming more and more twisted. (Or less and less twisted depending on the direction.) • Connect the cable from the spool to the Chronomix with a short connecting cable. The starting lights plug into “Lane 1” and if we have separate stop lights, they plug into “Lane 2” • Plug a data cable into the “DATA” socket for the computer. • Turn the POWER on, the PRINTER on and press the “S” START button: Some initialization information will be printed. • Trip the lights a couple of times and make sure that trips are printed. • If there will be a long delay before the event starts you may turn off the lights and Chronomix until the event is about to start. You will need to repeat the “start” procedure. • Help with the canopy, tables, PA, etc. After each event: • Make sure all lights and Chronomix are turned off. It is a good idea to check the switches again before you put the equipment away in case that the switches were knocked during the ride home. Once a year, after the summer break is good time, check the light batteries. Either: • Check the battery voltages, if either battery in a unit is below 8V, replace both batteries. • Replace all batteries anyway. Notes: • Feed the printer paper using the “L” LINE FEED button – don’t pull the paper. • The Chronomix can be run from the transformer during events. • Instructions for changing the Chronomix printer paper and ribbon are printed under the printer cover plate.
Course Responsibilities TBD by Barry
Registration Responsibilities Registration At 8:00 am, an officer will unlock the entrance gate to the Houston Police Academy. Typically the person handling registration will “guard” the entrance gate to Houston Police Academy, which means between 8:00 and 8:30 am, he/she will allow only Autocross Committee members and those helping with course set up to enter the gate. At 8:30 am, he/she will signal to those parked across the street that the gate is open for everyone. Members of the Autocross Committee will drop off the following items for registration: • Registration box with waivers. • Wrist bands. • Board and easel for posting run/work assignments and aerial picture/map of the HPA course. The Event Chairman should provide you with: • Maps to hand out to drivers. • List of entrants with their name, car number, class and work assignment. Before opening registration, set up the easel and board with the map and work assignments. Write the event name and date at the top of the BMWCCA and HPA waiver forms. Registration should begin by 9:00 am. An announcement may be made on the PA system saying registration is open. Have every driver and guest sign two waivers: one for the Houston BMWCCA club, and one for the Houston Police Academy. Minors should have a minor waiver form filled out by their guardian. Once the waivers are filled out, give them (drivers, guests, minors) a wrist band and have them put it on their left wrist. Hand drivers a copy of the course map, and direct them to the work assignment board to see which run group they are driving and working, and what their work assignment is. Check off the driver’s name on the registration sheet to keep track of who has checked-in. Walkups We welcome drivers to “walk-up” and register for the event. Rarely do we hit the maximum number of drivers (approximately 80) register on-line that we can’t handle walk-up drivers. Walk-up drivers can pay the fee by check (made out to Houston BMWCCA) or cash. The fee to drive in the event is $30 for BMWCCA members, and $78 for non-BMWCCA members (includes 1 year membership with BMWCCA). Only BMWCCA members can drive at the event. For those who paid to become new members, have them fill out a BMWCCA membership form before they leave registration. Add walk-up drivers to the registration sheet, including their first name, last name, car number, and car class. Their car’s class will determine which group they will drive and work. Missing drivers If someone does not check in during the regular check-in period, let the event chairman know before the driver’s meeting. We will announce the missing driver’s names at the driver’s meeting to make sure they really are missing. Car number, car class, work assignment changes
Event Chair Responsibilities Before the Event: • Design course 2 months in advanced and present for preliminary feedback • Present course with incorporated feedback to committee for final approval the meeting before the event • Identify delegate to handle your primary duties at the event • Make map copies with safety instructions on the backside (double-side; colored paper); Approx. +10 more than are registered • Make 4-5 course setup copies (larger page size is good) • Saturday morning, download the worker list from DLBRacing.com • Identify and contact course setup people (2-3) • Generate a worker assignment sheet for multiple heats and send out to committee for review by 2 PM • Committee to respond with approval or changes by 6 PM • Generate registration pages • Generate timing pages • Generate event chair copy of pages During the Event: • Ensure delegate is handling your normal duty • Ensure identified course workers have setup maps • Ensure Registration has what they need and Timing has loaded the registration list in the computer • Walk the course behind the setup team and tweak the course to be what you intended it to be • Once setup, borrow a car unlike your own and drive the course at moderate speed looking for flow and safety issues. Take an assistant along, preferably the AX Chair • Attempt the course as an awkward pace, testing the safety of the course
AX Chair Responsibilities TBD by Chris Schedule monthly AX meetings • 2nd Wednesday every month we have an event • Action log for tracking progress of committee Main point of contact for track facilities • Rental scheduling • Paperwork • Payment Voting Board member • Brings AX concerns to the board • Puts together annual budget • Communicates schedule Event duties • Keeps computer • Schedules toilets • Loads computer with registration details • Publishes results to the web • Keeps annual AX packet up to date
Equipment Checklist • Computer • Tow Rope • Registration box with forms • Folding tables (2) • Large Tent • PA System with Stands • Generator • Fire Extinguishers • Flags • Chalk (2 bags) • Radios (12) • Registration stand • Water (case) • Helmets (7) • Timing Lights (2 sets) • Chronomix • Chairs (3) • Misc Supplies
