Auto slalom and lapping with Car Crew at Shannonville Motorsports Park for 2017
 

NOTE: Poor weather will cancel an event so if you are planning to attend, please make sure to check this thread right before leaving to ensure the event hasn't been cancelled, especially if the forecast is calling for rain or thunder.

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Hey everyone, I've been informed that there are some events planned at Shannonville Motorsports Park for 2017. The first event is a snow cross currently scheduled for Sunday March 5th with a fallback date of Sunday March 12th. Here are the details I have received regarding this event:

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Quick note to let you all know that the "Car Crew" as part of SMP's Driver Dynamics program will be organizing a Snow Cross at the Shannonville Track on Sunday the 5th of March.
Timing is 9 AM for Registration and first car should be on course at 10 AM.
Fall back date is the next Sunday the 12th if insufficient snow conditions.
More information to follow as we firm up details for the event.
Hope to see you there----Eric Brunner on behalf of the Car Crew (John Kinnear, Sergio Bidinost, Al Pawling, Rob Brunner and myself)."

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I've been told to expect a $55 entry fee although that isn't in stone yet. Car must have appropriate winter tires and a helmet is mandatory.

In addition to the upcoming snow cross event, I've also received information about evening autocross and lapping events with the Car Crew at Shannonville for 2017 as well. Here is the message I received with the schedule:

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Just to let you know well in advance that the Car Crew will be holding the following events at SMP this summer:
Friday evening auto slaloms
*1). 19 May on Fabi - Original date of 5 May was postponed due to weather.
2). 16 June on Nelson
3). 30 June on Fabi (cancelled, rescheduled to July 28 on Nelson)
3). 14 July on Nelson (cancelled, rescheduled to Aug 11 on Nelson)
3). 28 July on Nelson
4). 11 August on Nelson
5). 25 August on Fabi
***FOR FUN SEASON ENDER*** Sat Sept 16th on Nelson (Starts at 9am!)***
Thursday evening lapping (3rd Thursday of each month all on Fabi)
1). 18 May
2). 15 June
3). 13 July
4). 17 August
5). 14 September
We will send out more information (as well on our Driver Dynamics section on the SMP Web Site). All are 5:30 to Dusk.
--Driver Dynamics group (John Kinnear, Sergio Bidinost, Al Pawling, Rob and Eric Brunner)

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The auto slaloms are expected to be $55 each and the evening lapping events are expected to be $80 each. This isn't written in stone yet but I'll update this post if it changes.

I'll note that they run a tight ship to maximize safety and track time. At one autocross event, I managed to get 19 runs (no typo) and regarding lapping, they normally do open lapping on Fabi which means getting upwards of 3 hours of seat time on the Fabi circuit for $80. Where can you find a better seat time per dollar value?

Heads up that the Snowcross event on Sunday March 5th has been cancelled due to insufficient weather conditions for the event. We will see what the weather looks like for next weekend.

Stupid mother nature... such a weak winter!

It's the only time I've been sad there wasn't any snow. Shovelling it sucks. :(

I know! I've been aching to go to a snow driving session at TMP for 5 weeks in a row.

We did have that one dump on a Thursday that all melted by Saturday. So damn frustrating!

Just a quick reminder that the first event of the season will be this coming Friday. I also wanted to mention that the noted autocross events will also double as the St Lawrence Auto Club autocross series and I will be attending all events including the one on Friday.

The forecast on Friday is calling for lots of rain (20-30mm) which tends to keep the less interested/serious people at home. I personally like running in the rain because there are fewer people so you get more runs and running in the rain is a great way to practice car control. This is also a great chance to get the dust knocked off before the regionals begin.

Well, almost no more than posted that and I've been advised the Autoslalom event for this Friday has been postponed until May 19th due to severe weather warnings in effect for Friday. That will be the day after Thursday evening lapping.

Any lapping on the full track (pro or full layouts)?

Not through Driver Dynamics or the St. Lawrence Auto Club although Shannonville hosts it's own full track lapping days. $160 prepay 1 week or more in advance or $200 at the gate. Here are the dates:

May 8
May 22
June 23
July 24
Aug 11
Sept 18
Oct 1
Oct 21

You can check out more on their website.

Unfortunately, my finances are such that I don't think I'll be able to do any full track events this year. I'll be attending all autocross events and as many evening lapping events that I can though. Will defnitely be at the events on the 18th and 19th.

Got the following message from Eric Brunner last night:

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This Thursday (18th May) will be our May Lapping Evening on Fabi and Friday (19th) will the first auto slalom event also on Fabi.

Each event starts with registration at 4:30, Driver's Meeting at 5:15 and running from 5:30 to dusk.

Entry fee is $55 for the auto slalom and $85 for lapping.

Entry form for the auto slalom is attached. The lapping form will be sent shortly.

Good opportunity here for any of the local road racers to test their cars on the lapping evening.

More information is available on the SMP Web Site in the "Driver Dynamics" section.

---hope to see you there ---Eric Brunner on behalf of the Car Crew

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I'm not sure what the rules are for linking forms and stuff so I will not paste it here but I've got the form if anyone needs it. Send me a message and I can forward it and they will also be available if you just show up at the event so no worries either way.

I was there today. No rain although the clouds certainly threatened us. Even saw some lightning as I was packing up to go. Got a new best time on my last session, a 1'19.46, a little over a second faster than my previous best from last year which was a 1'20.53.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W47oIK25aDI"]shannonville fabi lapping best lap 1 19 46 - YouTube[/ame]

Audio and data logging are from the cell phone which you can see in the video, video is from the Gopro. Great fun getting that setup I tell you. Still, being able to see the data is really neat.

I will be there again tomorrow for the auto slalom.

Just a reminder that Thursday June 15th is evening lapping on Fabi and Friday June 16th is part 2 of the Driver Dynamics/StLAC Auto Slalom series, on Nelson this time.

I cannot attend the lapping event on Thursday but I will be there for the Auto Slalom series event on Friday.

Just wrapped up the 2nd Autoslalom event. I got first in class (super stock) with an 86.3 over an S2000 that got an 86.6. I got 3rd overall, out of 13 participants.

On my last run, I got an 85.1 but blew the stop box. If I didn't blow it, it would have bumped me up to 2nd overall.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qyCH5_9gPM[/ame]

Several nice cars were running tonight. A Cayman GT4 got best overall tonight followed by a WRX. My BRZ was 3rd overall and an S2000 right behind me (I won by 0.3 seconds!). There was a father/son combo running an SA RX7 AND an FD Twin Turbo RX7 which was really cool. There was also a VW Jetta 1.8t on slicks there too.

A very successful evening. I'll definitely be at the next one on June 30th!

Reminder that the 3rd event is on Friday (June 30th) at Shannonville Fabi circuit. Registration opens at 4:30pm, drivers meeting at 5:15pm and runs start from 5:30pm until dusk. As usual, entry is $55.

Message from Eric:

Hi: Due to the possibility of rain and thunderstorms during our scheduled auto slalom tonight (Friday 30th June) on Fabi, the Car Crew has decided to cancel and reschedule the event to Friday 28th July on Nelson.

Just a reminder that our next normally scheduled events will be:

--Lapping on Thursday 13th July on Fabi
--Auto slalom on Friday 14th July on Nelson

Sorry for the change but it seems we all have had to work around the weather for a lot of activities!

@Lynxis, is there any form of pre-event registration, like motorsportreg, required for auto-slaloms, or can one simply arrive at 4:30pm and fill in a form?

I hope I can make it this Friday.

Hi @Rameus,

No, there isn't any sort of prepay so just show up, pay and fill out the forms. In some ways, it's nice because it's low commitment but I wish there was a prepay option because I find it helps get more people to show up sometimes so it's something I'll bring up with the Driver Dynamics guys. At this point, even if they want to add a prepay option, I doubt they will be able to this year but maybe it can be an option for next year.

This post is also a reminder that there is the evening lapping on Thursday and the Auto Slalom Championship event #3 on Friday. I will not be at the lapping event on Thursday but I will be at the Auto Slalom Championship event on Friday for sure. See you there!

Due to rain and threat of thunderstorms, autocross is cancelled tonight and rescheduled for August 11th. Next event will be July 28th, weather permitting it seems...

Damn, I was wondering if this would happen :( I was really looking forward to it. Well, good thing I checked I suppose.

Yeah very disappointing but they cant run with the risk of thunderstorms. Here's hoping the next one is clear. I will add a note to the opening to remind people to check here before they head out to ensure an event hasn't been cancelled.

Reminder that this Friday, July 28th is event number 3. Currently, the forecast is calling for a 40% chance of light rain that day so the event will be a go assuming the forecast sticks but as always, I'll post an update if it's cancelled.

Well I'm nothing if not consistent it seems. 80.7 on my final run for best in class, 2nd overall after the pesky WRX who ran an 80.6... The S2000 ran an 81.1 so just half a second between all three top spots today! Was a great battle!

Here is video with some data overlay from my best run:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeULvkNvf0g[/ame]

Unfortunately the gyro data was corrupted so it's missing for this run =(

Reminder of the event this Friday. Forecast is currently calling for 60% chance of 5-10mm of rain on Friday. If this doesn't improve, the event will be postponed. We will know by 1pm on Friday if the event will be a go or not.

Calling for thunderstorms and rain all afternoon and into tomorrow evening so this evenings event is cancelled. I'll update this when a rain date is set.

So they changed their mind last minute and decided to run the event. I was able to go but couldn't get back online in time to say anything about it so I'm sorry about that. That said, I'm not entirely convinced anyone here was planning to make it anyways.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVzsK45N_-0"]Shannonville Driver Dynamics 8 11 2017 round 4 - best clean run - YouTube[/ame] my best clean run with a 74.3.

I managed a 73.8 +1 cone on my last run. Video here:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w91C0wI4lR4"]Shannonville Driver Dynamics 8 11 2017 round 4 - best run with cone - YouTube[/ame]

Ultimately, even if I didn't hit the cone, it wouldn't have affected my placement. Still first in class, 3rd overall behind the WRX with a 72.2 and the Cayman GT4 with a 71.0.

Reminder this Friday is the last round of the autoslalom championship. Forecast is looking great for the finale!

What time is dusk in September?

8pm at the beginning of the month, 7pm at the end. Usually run until 7:30 at least.

Round 5 is in the books. My best timed run:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-ikn08ARs4[/ame]

Alternate angle:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDlt_ZoMFTU[/ame]

Same placement as always, first in super stock, 3rd overall behind WRX (86.0) and Cayman GT4 (only 85)

There will be an awards ceremony in Sept. They are also talking about a possible for-fun event some weekend in Sept but haven't made any solid plans yet. I'll update this thread if that changes.

Heads up that we will have a season ender, for-fun, autoslalom event on Saturday, September 16th on Nelson. Registration opens at 9am, drivers meeting at 10am and on course by 10:30am so there is plenty of time for people to get there if they have to travel a bit.

Format as follows:
9am Registration opens
10am drivers meeting
10:30am first car on course
12 noon lunch break and Driver Dynamics awards for the year
1pm continue slalom
3pm event over

Cost is $55 as usual.

I'll also mention that Sergio Bidinost is the course designer for Driver Dynamics auto-slalom events. For anyone who attended this years CASC-OR regional events 1 and 2 in Picton, Sergio was the course designer for those courses so if you enjoyed the layout at Picton this year, you should check out the Driver Dynamics events at Shannonville!

Just the reminder that Thursday the 14th is the last lapping event of the season for Driver Dynamics and the season ender autoslalom will be on Saturday morning. I'll be attending both events.

Was at the lapping event tonight. New personal best on Fabi by a long shot. The HUD indicates 1:15.2 but I knew as soon as I saw it that was really optimistic because my next best was a low 16s in the same session and there was no way it was over a second difference. So I checked the actual video using frame advance and timecode and determined it is actually 1:15.9.

Video from my phone mounted on my windshield:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FqrBNA0c-c[/ame]

Alternate angle from my helmet mounted Gopro:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPhu9vkzSpQ[/ame]

Shortly after posting my best lap of the evening, I spun out. Phone angle:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYnaiKyHAfM[/ame]

Gopro angle:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOImw001PBs[/ame]

I'll be at the Saturday event. Hope to see someone there!

Season ender event came and went.

https://s19.postimg.org/dwx3kgdpf/dd1.jpg
https://s19.postimg.org/ng6sdx17n/dd2.jpg

The day was broken up into 2 events, morning and afternoon with 8 runs for everyone for each event so 16 runs in total. The events were still timed so we competed amongst ourselves but it did not count towards the series championship.

The morning event ran out onto Fabi a bit because it was available and it was held like normal. Here is my best run from the morning, an 83.5:

Gopro angle:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaZmkSIc5gY[/ame]

Phone angle:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3En78k2uqM[/ame]

In the afternoon, Fabi was in use so the course was shortened. We also did 4 person teams based on results from the morning. The 2 fastest cars were paired with the 2 slowest cars and the next fastest was paired with the next slowest until the teams were filled then the teams fastest times in the afternoon were added together to make up the teams time.

I was 2nd fastest again with this run:

Gopro angle:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9kAGdKW2YE[/ame]

Phone angle:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lfUDlG2Fk8[/ame]

Overall, our team lost. There was only ~4 seconds separating the top 4 positions but over 10 seconds separating the lower 4 positions so despite having the fastest and 2nd fastest on our team, because we were paired with slowest and 2nd slowest, our teams time overall was last place and the middle teams won.

Anyways, that's the end for this year. The series will run again next year and we are hoping for some snow slalom events provided the weather co-operates which it didn't this year. I'll do another thread once details release.

Personally, my final event of the season will be this coming weekend, October 1st, on Shannonville full track.