WCMA Competition License.

Alright I just found this Autocross forum in Edmonton:
www.mrheavyfoot.com

Anyhow it got me bouncing from site to site, so I was wondering since we (as in NECC) are a member of the WCMA, how hard would it be for us to get a WCMA (solo I, and or solo II) Driving Class together so that all who attended it would then hold a WCMA Competition license. Plus in a sense this would in effect kill two birds with one stone we (as a club) did want to hold a driving class of a sort right? I dunno just a thought I would run by you guys.

Sounds like a pretty good idea to me…

Hmm, I will look into this more…

Gee I wish I would have thought of that. (not so subtle reference to some behind the scenes stuff that have been talking about) I believe your Board figured that most people in our club won’t be able to swallow the $400+ tax fee so instead of making it a club event we were just going to let people sign up on their own at the course in Calgary. http://www.vertigosport.com/raceschool.html

In addition to the money, the main problem is getting two days of track time together to host the event. From what we know, there is nothing between now and the end of June at Namao aside from what we were able to book already and there is no booking into July allowed yet.

PLEASE!!! We need some well organised stuff to get any real use out of all the modifications we put into our cars. Im dying to get some racing done, and $400 seems like a perfectly fair number if it means actually getting to use the thousands of $$$ worth of parts put into my car for what they are capable of.

My thoughts exactly for the THOUSANDS of dollars that I have droped into my car $400 is like a drop in the bucket.

The problem with that logic is that plenty of our members are simply not willing to/not in a position to drop 400 bucks on a driving class. We have plenty of young guys in the club that have lots of other expenses to pay.

As far as events go, we’ll be having several organized events around Edmonton that everyone can take part in, and we’re still talking about some doing semblance of a driving class, just not right this second.

I agree about using the car you’ve built for the purpose it was intended for though! :E

For those of you interested, Solo I in Calgary is now classifying cars/drivers by their respective lap times. Modification are wide open so long as they don’t make the car unsafe. All you need for safety is a snell 2000 or better helmet, and a 4 point belt.

The entire season includung school costs $795. The season includes 4 events. The school is an entire day on the track.

For more info: http://www.motorsportmarshalling.on.ca/cgi-bin/wcma_yabb/YaBB.pl?board=onews;action=display;num=1134324064

or http://cscc.speedracer.ca/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3100

Good Luck.

Okay, the intention of this thread was to gather information on wheter or not we could do this as a club, not turn it into a debate on wheter or not it is financialy feasible. If it could/would be possible for the club to do a price should be established and how many people would need to attend to have it at said price. I know I’m not the only one who would like to have this and if I can’t get it through necc then I will still get it, I just wanted to know if it was possible and what the cost/time frame would be, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who is wondering this as it really isn’t that bad of an idea, we are a car club that likes to drive our cars right?

Plus all of the info that has been posted on what is going on to attain this license is based in Calgary as that is where WCMA is based out of that is why I wanted to know if we could get something done here, and don’t limit your thinking to necc if this was possible why not open this opportunity to all people in Edmonton and Area think of how much publicity this would give the club;

“WCMA race license classes by NECC, all people and clubs welcome”! As if with all the clubs in Edmonton you could not get this fully booked and people wanting more of these things being put on. All you would need is to get people to make a significant deposit to ensure no one would back out.

personally I think this is very feasible and something that needs to be looked into further.

E-mail has been set to Calgary to request information on doing this.

I look forward to seeing/hearing what they say. 8)

So no word from them yet? Perhaps I will have to call them, and take this upon myself…

The thing is, the debate on its financial feasibility is one that can’t be ignored in this club. Many guys here, like myself, are very and don’t have the budget to spend $400 in a weekend.

Like Dave said, we have yet to find a weekend that has two consecutive open days at Namao, and we are already booking into June. We also have to find a classroom and ask if Namao is even a suitable location for this.

We have discussed this a lot at our planning meetings, but based on our polling and experience it would be a pretty hard sell to the club as a whole.

I haven’t heard anything yet and was actually going to try to contact them again today. You are welcome to try yourself it you like but I am on it.

Also as Dave said, we have people that have concerns about spending a measly 20 bucks on a membership so $400 is an issue whether we want it to be or not. That doesn’t preclude us from checking into it but the money is an issue. The bigger issue is the availability of Namao and we can’t check for July dates until April 1st.

Here is what I have found out.

1. Can we run a school here?
First and likely most importantly, it does not appear that anyone is interested in coming to Edmonton to teach a school here so barring a miracle any driving school will have to be done in Calgary.

I have been communicating with Rick Coutts who is a volunteer with the WCMA and from what I can ascertain, Rick C is the main instructor for both schools (I could be wrong).

“It would be very difficult for me to hold a school in Edmonton. I do this on a volunteer basis for the WCMA and I just don’t have the time to arrange another school in Edmonton. Sorry about that!”

I have asked him how much money would it take to overcome “very difficult” but I am pretty sure from what he said, he is not interested.

2. Which school is which?
Now to add to the confusion, there are two completely different schools being offered in Calgary and what they offer is not the same. One is the High Performance and Competition Driving School and the other is the Solo 1 School.

Rick Coutts said, “Yes, I teach the solo 1 school as well. It’s a much abbreviated version of the full 2 day (High Performance and Competition Driving) school that enables Solo 1 people to just get started. Classroom instruction (in the Solo 1 course) covers 1/3 of what we cover in the 2 day school and the on-track instruction runs only ½ as long. Also, there are no dedicated skid-pad exercises for the Solo 1 school.”

High Performance and Competition Driving School
http://www.vertigosport.com/raceschool.html

This one is being coordinated by Rick Coutts (couttsr@shaw.ca) and appears from the description to be more directed at road racing than solo.

$400

Saturday: May 6th, 2006
Registration: 7:30 am - 8:45 am
Classroom & driving exercises 8:45 am - 12:00 noon
Driving exercises/classroom 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Track Walk 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Sunday: May 7th, 2006
Track exercises 8:30 am - 10:30 am
Track Lapping 10:30 am - 5:00 pm

From their web site…
“This course includes Classroom and On Track instruction in:
• Cornering
• Skid Control
• Extending Vehicle Life
• Threshold Braking
• Avoidance Techniques
• Vehicle Dynamics
• Reducing Tire Wear
• Competition Driving
The driving school is open to anyone with a valid driver’s who wants to improve his/her driving skills. Participants must provide their own vehicle. (race cars or any street vehicles are acceptable).
School is conducted by qualified, professional racing instructors and staff. Successful completion of the school qualifies participants for W.C.M.A. competition licensing.”

Solo 1 School
http://www.motorsportmarshalling.on.ca/cgi-bin/wcma_yabb/YaBB.pl?board=onews;action=display;num=1134324064

This one is being coordinated by Rick Pollock (rickpollock@shaw.ca) and is a solo specific school.

$200.

As you can see the school is part of the solo 1 season in Calgary. It appears however that you may be able to just take the school and are not required to attend all the events. If you want to go this route, I encourage you to confirm with Rick P directly because I am not sure.

This school appears to be Friday evening classroom and one day on the track.
There is also a timed event on Sunday which would be just like what we do at the NECC track days.

Note: You do not need to have a 4 point harness for the school but you do need it for the timed event so if you don’t have a harness you are paying $200 for the school only since they won’t let you run on Sunday without it.

Dates
• Friday April 28 - Driving School Evening Classroom Session, either at the CSCC Clubhouse or RCMP concession area
• Saturday April 29 - On Track Driving School
• Saturday May 6 - On Track Timed Event #1
• Event 2,3,4 TBA by Race City

The 2006 Solo I season will consist of a driving school and 4 timed events.

Fees
• Driving School $200
• Driving School and 2 Timed Events $575
• Driving School and 3 Timed Events $695
• Driving School and 4 Timed Events $795

3. Competition License
The High Performance and Competition Driving School does qualify you for a competition license for road racing.

You do not need a license to drive in NECC events

I can’t confirm if you need a license to drive in the Calgary Solo 1 events although it appears that if you attend the solo school school you should be fine.

4. Conclusions

I don’t recommend that for this year at least, the NECC attempt to coordinate a school here in Edmonton. We are just too late in the season now to pull it off. We need to be talking now for next year if this is what we want to do.

This does not preclude you from attending either one of these schools in Calgary. You will need to decide what kind of training you would like to obtain and how much money you have available.

The solo school looks to be sufficient if you’re only planning on attending NECC events or even the solo 1 season in Calgary. It looks like the NECC will have about the same number of events (excluding the school) as they will in Calgary.

The high performance school could be overkill for just participating in NECC events but does include more seat time and instruction that the solo course.

If you do not have a 4 point harness…
You will receive all the training described above in the High Performance course for $400 OR You will receive 1/3 the instruction and ½ the track time as the high performance school for $200.

If you do have a 4 point harness…

You can choose either of the above options. If you choose the solo school you also get to attend one timed event.

Okay, I am done. Now you choose.

I have registered for the High Performance and Competition School.

Hmmm… Solo1 school looks good. The price is right too! Thanks for all the info Dave.

Hey all,

In case you missed it in my previous post, the solo 1 school is not on the same weekend as the first timed event that is included in the school price so you will have to make two trips to Calgary to attend the full event.

So, high performance school - 2 nights accommodation and one trip to calgary

Solo school and timed event - 3 nights accommodation and two trips to calgary

Factor in your gas, food and accommodations for that second trip (if you’re attending) before making your choice.

Nice nice, I think I’m going to have to sign up for that $400 one looks like a hella good time…

You’re welcome.

Perhaps if there are enough guys to make it worth our while we can do a convoy there and back.

Any of you Calgary guys considering either of these two schools?

Application deadlines are fast approaching so get to it regardless of which course you want to attend.