Satcar Operating Procedures

PERFORMANCE DRIVING

- FROM STREET TO TRACK

SATCAR track events are an amateur sport where driving activities are meant to be friendly and gentlemanly/gentlewomanly. Even with this approach, motorsport activities can be dangerous. To minimize that danger, SATCAR has developed operating procedures to help you in understanding what actions should be taken when certain situations occur. The knowledge of all participants regarding these procedures is critical to the safe conduct of an event. The procedures listed below are not totally inclusive regarding all of the factors that may comprise a SATCAR event. For more complete details refer to the Rules Of Competition. If there are any issues not adequately covered by the information below or by the Rules Of Competition, please contact SATCAR to obtain additional information and/or clarification.

CONDUCT - As a member of SATCAR and a participant in SATCAR events, your driving and conduct is expected to project a positive image of the sport and to show high levels of fairness, sportsmanship, and friendliness to others at the event.

OFFICIAL EVENT CONTROL - Control of the event is through a designated Chief Steward of the Meet in conjunction with any SATCAR staff, track workers, and other recognized workers. It is imperative that you comply with their instructions. The Chief Steward, or his designated representative, will rule on all race course conduct infractions.

REGISTRATION - Entrants are expected to pre-register for an event prior to the date of the event. Incentives will be offered to pre-register and penalties will be invoked for late registration. To speed the sign-in process at the track, most events will not offer at-track registrations on the day of the event. Pre-event registration assists in properly staffing the event, getting all the registration information into the scoring system, and insuring that the event starts promptly, thus providing maximum track time to entrants.

WAIVERS - All participants in the event will be required to sign a waiver at Registration. If minor children are being brought to the event, their parents or guardians must sign a minor waiver. If parents or guardians are not going to be at the track, this form must be signed prior to arriving at the track and brought to Registration. If this minor waiver is not present the minor will not be allowed onto track property.

SAFETY INSPECTION - Cars entering SATCAR events must be safety inspected prior to being allowed on track. These safety inspections are required every 90 days or anytime the car may have been subjected to any situation that would compromise its track safety. This is for the benefit of everyone concerned, including you and your fellow track users. Safety inspections are to be performed by any auto repair facility that is familiar with your car and the SATCAR Safety Inspection Form is to be filled out and brought to the track when you come to the event. Having the car safety inspected prior to coming to the event also allows time to correct any deficiencies noted in the inspection. In most cases, safety inspections will not be performed at the track. This is to help speed the start of the event and provide all drivers as much track time as possible.

MEDICAL INFORMATION - If an entrant or their crew/family/friends have any condition that might be important for the EMT staff at the track to know, they should provide a detailed explanation of that condition on a sheet of paper and place that paper into a sealed envelope with the person's name on the outside. Give this envelope to Registration at the time of sign-in. If no EMT response is required for that person during the event, the envelope will be returned to the entrant or destroyed. If an EMT response is required for that person, the responders can open the envelope to know about the condition affecting the person.

TIMING & SCORING - Race group practice, qualifying, and the race will be timed by the proprietary SATCAR computerized timing and scoring system. All race group cars must have an AMB transponder, suitably mounted, to provide the signal for the system. A driver can provide his own transponder or they are available for rent through SATCAR at Registration (See TRANSPONDER RENTAL FORM).

For scoring purposes, a driver, car, car number, transponder, and run group are associated together. Any changes in this association must be approved by the Steward of the Meet and must be reported to Registration for transfer to Timing and Scoring. See CHANGES below.

Timing results will be posted at a suitable location at each track. Copies of the times will be available at the posting location for drivers to take.

CHANGES - Any changes to the entry roster regarding drivers, cars, car numbers, run groups, or transponders must be approved by the Steward of the Meet and reported to Registration so the changes can be entered into the Timing and Scoring system. Failure to do so may result in incorrect or missing timing data on a car/driver.

PERFORMANCE PARITY TIME - The Performance Parity Time (PPT) is a calculated value that is determined from qualifying times and is used to equalize the performance of cars with differing capabilities. After the qualifying session, the PPT is calculated for each car and this defines the starting order and the start spacing. The PPT is extremely precise and, if all drivers drove equally well, all cars would finish at the exact same time. Driving skill and strategy will make the difference and create the winners.

DRIVER MEETINGS - Driver meeting times and locations will be noted in the official schedule. Attendance is mandatory for all drivers. Your hand will be stamped at the entrance to the meeting. You will not be allowed on the track without the hand stamp. See Rules Of Competition for more details about the Driver Meetings.

RACE PROCEDURES - Race sessions will be operated according to the SATCAR rules regarding starting order and timing. Race lengths are a specified number of laps. Race lengths are defined by qualifying times and the available time window for the race. Race lengths may be changed due to scheduling constraints, on-track incidents, weather conditions, or unforeseen circumstances. Changes will be announced in the Drivers Meeting, over the PA system, or on the grid.

FALSE GRID - Cars will be expected to be on the false grid 10 minutes before the start of their sessions. Cars in practice, qualifying, lapping, or school sessions will be started in the order of arrival to the false grid. Cars starting a race will be placed in the starting order based on qualifying times - slowest car first, fastest car last. See Rules Of Competition for more details about the False Grid.

PIT ENTRY & EXIT - A designated section of pit lane will be subject to a 30 MPH speed limit. This section will be marked as explained in the Driver Meeting. There is nothing to be gained by speeding in pit lane as the timing system has allowances for the pit lane speed limit on pit-in and pit-out laps. Speeds above the speed limit within this zone will result in a penalty. Outside this zone speeds are not subject to any control.

BLEND LINE - Where a blend line is evident on the track, cars are to stay between the blend line and the edge of the track until the blend line ends or as instructed otherwise in the Drivers Meeting. The blend line rule is designed to promote safety for all drivers and, if violated, will incur a penalty. Additional details of the blend line procedures are contained in the Rules Of Competition.

SESSION STARTS

NON-RACE - Cars starting any non-race sessions will be released from the pits singly at approximately 15 second intervals. Cars will be started in the order in which they arrive at the false grid. The first laps of the session may be run under yellow flag conditions to provide drivers an opportunity to warm their cars or to allow for inclement weather.

RACE - Race starts will be made from the pits in single file order. The start sequence and spacing will be determined by the Performance Parity Time of each car. More information about
the Performance Parity Time and how it is applied is contained in the Rules Of Competition.

RECONNAISSANCE LAP - Prior to starting a race, all cars will receive a reconnaissance lap to warm the car systems and the driver's brain. During the reconnaissance lap, drivers are to maintain single file in their starting order with a spacing of 2-3 car lengths. Upon completion of the lap, all cars are to return to pit lane and line up single file for starting.

SAFETY CAR - A safety car may occasionally be used to control car speeds on track or bring cars to the pits. More information about the safety car is available in the Rules Of Competition.

PASSING - All SATCAR events use the passing procedures typical of driving school/open tracking events. Passing is only allowed on designated straight sections of the track. Cars must be single file in the corners. Driving school and lapping/practice groups require a signal from the car being overtaken to the overtaking car before a pass can take place. Race groups do not require a signal but it is recommended as a courtesy. See the Rules of Competition for a more detailed discussion of SATCAR passing procedures.

OFF COURSE - In SATCAR events drivers are expected to drive within the capabilities of themselves and their cars and maintain a line that stays on the paved racing surface. Any driver who drops tires off the paved racing surface during a session will be shown the black flag and must return to the pit lane for a discussion and/or inspection of the car. Continued failure to stay on the pavement will result in sanctions and/or penalties. See the Rules of Competition for a more detailed discussion regarding tires off the racing surface.

MANDATORY PIT STOP - Some races may include a mandatory pit stop as part of the PPT or for purposes of fueling the cars. Pit stop races will be designated as such in the Drivers Meeting and procedures will be defined.

LAP COUNT DISPLAY - Races are run to a specified number of laps. At the Start/Finish line a lap count down display will be shown with the number of laps remaining in the race. This display will show the number of laps remaining for the lead car and will be changed at the approach of the lead car.

FUELING - Fueling of competing cars is generally not permitted in pit lane. The exception is where a race may be long enough that some cars may run out of fuel. In that case, all cars will be subject to a mandatory pit stop of specified time duration. During that stop, cars that need fuel will be filled by SATCAR staff suitably attired for the purpose.

RACE RE-STARTS - If an incident occurs and it would be unsafe to leave competing cars running on track, all cars will be black flagged and brought to the pit lane. The timing and scoring system will be reset based on the positions of all cars relative to the lead car on the last completed scored lap. When a restart is possible, the cars will be restarted in the same order and with the same spacing as on the last completed scored lap.

COOL-OFF LAP - When shown the checkered flag at the completion of a session, drivers should acknowledge to the flag man that they have seen the flag. Then slow the pace to allow the car and the brakes to cool down and exit the track into the paddock as directed by officials. The cool-off lap is considered to be under race conditions. Do not remove gloves, belts, helmets, etc.

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