Slipstream - November 2016

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Signing Up is Easy: Registration Tips for DE Events By Wendy Shoffit, Registrar o you’re interested in signing up for a Drivers’ Education event but feel intimidated S by the registration process? Have no fear! I’m going to give you some tips to hopefully make the process smooth. This will not be a screen by screen walk through, but more about HOW registration works smoothly. It might also help seasoned veterans who still make a mistake here and there. Clubregistration.net (aka CR.net) is the website MRPCA uses for all our DE and Club Race events. It’s been approved by PCA National and so we won’t be changing it any time soon. Other organizations use sites like Motorsport Reg and that works fine for their needs. We use CR.net. You only have to sign up for an account once, so plan to spend a little time doing it right. Please use proper Upper Case and lower case letters. It’s takes an extra few seconds, but sure helps people like me who have a T-shirt that reads “I am silently correcting your grammar.” Correct email addresses are imperative, as that’s how we contact you if there are issues! And for goodness sakes, if you drive a Boxster, please make sure you spell it right! Otherwise the misspelling is there forever (like in elementary school – on your permanent record). If you’ve forgotten how to spell it, it’s written on the back of your car. I’ll wait here while you go check. Make sure you also include your PCA membership number in your profile, if you are a member. We give a discount for PCA members and I DO check when you sign up. Don’t sign up for a DE as a PCA member if you aren’t one. It just causes more work for registrars and 28 <strong>November</strong> I am silently correcting your grammar. delays your entry into an event. The discount pays for the PCA membership in less than 2 events and you get many other wonderful benefits of membership! When entering your experience information in the profile, it doesn’t do any good to fluff it up like you would a resume. Driving a go-kart when you were 12 isn’t as helpful as you think it would be. However, if you have driven with other organizing bodies that provide instruction on a race track in your car, that IS helpful. We want to make sure people are placed properly in run groups with great driving coaches. Over-exaggerating your skills so you can “Go FLAT OUT” will only serve to frustrate you and the other drivers on track with you. We don’t like demoting people, but will do so if needed. If you’re placed in a less experienced run group but drive well, trust me when I say the coaches WANT to promote you and WILL do so at the earliest opportunity. We want everyone to have a good time. So, once you have your profile all set up and are ready to sign up for an actual event, it can really be an easy experience! Event registration opens exactly 30 days prior to the event, so you can plan ahead. Start by logging into your account. If you’ve forgotten your username or password, DO NOT CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT! Every person’s account contains their registration history, payment history, driving evaluations (yes, coaches write notes to help in the future). Just click the “forgot password” link and it’ll step you through it. If you still have troubles, CALL customer service. The people at CR.net are very nice and would much rather help you with a username/password situation than deal with merging seven different accounts in the future. Now that you’re logged in, you will have to click “Search for Events” to find the one you want. It should default to our local region events, but if it doesn’t, you can search for Maverick and it should pull up our list. Then click “Register” and it will give you all the details of the event, including price, sponsor, and track configuration. You can then click on “Register” to proceed. The next screen has you choose your Event Fee. If you’re a PCA member, click on “PCA members.” If you’re not, click on “NON-PCA members.” See how easy that is? Then you select your Vehicle. Don’t worry about a car number. If you’ve run with us before, it will automatically assign what you used last time. If you don’t have a number, it will automatically assign one to you. If you HATE that number and want to use a different one, fear not. You can search for reserved numbers by going to “My Account” > “Search Reserved #s” to find a
number you like that is not already in use. Finish registering and then email the registrar. There is nothing You can always search for a number not in you personally can do use, but good luck getting “911” or “918”! online to change your number; only the registrar can do that. Your run group will also be assigned for you. If you were promoted to Blue at your last event but it’s still showing Green, don’t panic. Just email the registrar after you get done registering. We will take care of it. Sometimes coaches forget to put information into your event profile and other times there are slight mistakes that can be discovered and fixed. If you want to sign up a Co-Driver for this event, you BOTH must register for the event! You can’t just put someone’s name in the Co-Driver field and share your track time; it unfortunately doesn’t work like that. Remember when I said before that every driver’s profile keeps track of driving history and all? That’s where this is important. Yes, it would be lovely to share the fee with someone else, especially if you THINK you only want to drive half the time. Trust me when I say when you get out there, you won’t WANT to share your driving time. Next up for most DEs is the possibility of purchasing lunch for each day. You don’t have to do this, but if you don’t want to bring a lunch or leave the track, it’s a convenient way to eat. We have a great caterer that brings delicious food for us to eat, and $10 is a good deal. Emergency Contact info is a must. We take every safety precaution at the track, but it’s still driving all out in your vehicle and things can happen. We need to know who to contact on your behalf just in case. Click the final Register button and you’re nearly done. It will then take you through the payment process, which goes through PayPal. If you have an account already, great. If you don’t you can easily sign up for one or opt to pay as a guest. You can also choose to buy other fun things available from CR.net if you want or you can always come back to that later on their website. Vinyl car numbers are cool to have and look better than painter’s tape, BUT if you aren’t sure if you’re going to like DE’ing, just use the blue tape to make your numbers and save some moolah. Once you get registered, it takes about one to two weeks to get your event confirmation. There’s nothing wrong if it takes longer -- it just means the registrar got busy. Do watch your email, though, in case there are issues that need addressing. Registrations that are NOT PAID, or ones that have unresolved questions, will not be confirmed and could be delayed. Delayed confirmations might result in your being put on a waiting list if your group fills up. It’s more likely for the less experienced run groups to fill than the higher ones, so don’t wait to sign up! Also, don’t be afraid to pay. If you have to cancel prior to 10 days before the event, we will gladly refund your money. If it’s within 10 days, refunds are not guaranteed. If we can fill your spot with another driver, no problem. Other requests are taken on a case-by-case basis. Failure to show up at the event forfeits your entry fee. Final confirmations go out the week of the event. That’s when you will receive an event schedule, map, and all kinds of other goodies. Prior to that you will receive a tech form that you MUST have filled out by an approved inspection station. Forms are available on our website under the Events > DE tab. Before you ask: YES . . . you MUST have an inspection done before EVERY event, even if you just drove in a DE last week. Your car’s brakes, tires, etc. can be significantly different after each event. Remember, safety is paramount. Oh, and unless you are approved to self-tech your car, you must have a shop do it for you. The approved ones (mostly the places listed in <strong>Slipstream</strong>) will do it for you for FREE. If a shop wants to charge you, go someplace else. They must sign the form and YOU must sign it, as well. You are responsible for the safety of your vehicle. Getting them to tech it a week before the event is a good idea in case there’s a problem that needs to be fixed. Oh, and please remember to bring your form when you come to registration Saturday morning. We will ask you for it and you won’t be allowed to drive without it. After you get it tech’ed, just leave it in your car so you won’t forget it! Regarding helmets: MotorSport Ranch has some rentals available, so you don’t need to go out and buy your own right away, unless you know for sure you want to do this many times and you’d much rather have a helmet with your own sweat in it instead of someone else’s. Buy it from a performance racing shop or a motorcycle shop, but they MUST be Snell 2010 approved or newer. You will need an SA helmet designed for auto racing and not an M helmet rated for motorcycles. If you have a question, feel free to ask. We do our best to educate you at every turn so you not only know the answer, but you know WHY it’s the answer. We want you to have a great time and spread the love to all your friends. Then they tell two friends and so on. . . 29
Page 1 and 2: http://mav.pca.org November 2016 Pu
Page 3 and 4: http://mav.pca.org Volume 54, Issue
Page 5 and 6: Like a Personal Trainer for your Po
Page 7 and 8: WE TOOK YOUR OBSESSION AND GAVE IT
Page 9 and 10: Time Trial Chair Travis Howard repo
Page 11 and 12: Welcome Our New Mavericks! By John
Page 13 and 14: Know Your Porsche: WHERE’S MY DIP
Page 15 and 16: JH: Yes, Dad passed away two years
Page 17 and 18: ©2016 Porsche Cars North America,
Page 19 and 20: PCA Tours Recap: “Everyone Loves
Page 21 and 22: Drivers’ meeting with Mark right
Page 23 and 24: The Art of Paint Protection After I
Page 25 and 26: Great hospitality from Mohsen Heida
Page 27 and 28: NO WORRIES! So Your Part is NLA!
Page 29: Body repair experts as HIGH-PERFORM
Page 33 and 34: Porsche of the Month Selected by Bi
Page 35 and 36: 33
Page 37 and 38: PRINTER OF SLIPSTREAM SINCE 1982 Ge
Page 39 and 40: SLIPSTREAM Advertiser Since 1978 WH

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