chimchimm5
03-14-2011, 01:19 PM
Here you go... hope you guys enjoy it.
The 3-Day Course
Thursday, March 10, 2011
www.dirtfish.com
First day of DirtFish rally school. From Issaquah, where we were staying, took about 15-20 minutes to get to Snoqualmie where DirtFish is located. The property of DirtFish is an old lumber mill and is huge, with no residents in the immediate vicinity. Checked in with Jaimee, the receptionist, and waited in the lobby with 7 other people in my 3-day class. Nice McRae rally car sitting in the lobby.
Chief Instructor Forrest started off the day around 8:30 with a 20 min discussion of the basics, including a few video clips (can be seen on YouTube) of what we’d be covering that day. Then it was off to the van and ride down to the courses. Items covered (with seat time) were:
- dirt skid pad
- “lift turn brake”
- left foot brake trail braking
- slalom
- boneyard (rallyx-like course)
My favorite of the day is the boneyard, simply because it was a real rallyx like course and you needed proper vision to get through the technicals. It gave us a chance to utilize all the skills we practiced. I also really liked the slalom and that’s where I was cleanest.
Weather went from cool and sunny, to windy and rainy. But this is rally, so it didn’t matter.
Lunch was around 12 back at the main building where a short 15 min class room review and talk took place. Lunch consisted of sandwiches, tator tots and tangy sauce, potato salad, drinks, and some totally addicting caramel corn.
Day ended between 4-5pm. My buddy and I came out of the first day, happy, and totally clad we were taking the 3-day... because 1 day is just not enough. While the skills we worked on today definitely could use more work, it was clear that this was just a taste and we hadn’t begun to get to the meat of what we needed to know.
Friday, March 11, 2011
2nd day of DirtFish, day started with brief 15 min instruction at 8:30 and we were back out to the courses. Of all the exercises, I’d say the pendulum turn gave most people the most trouble. We got it at slow speeds, but once we started with higher entry speeds, it got messier. Reining it back in allowed us to get back to staying inside the box with the scandi flick. Hey... exercises are the place to push the limits, eh?
By the afternoon we got to the Boneyard and Link courses which lengthened the drive over just the boneyard itself which really allowed us to get into our rhythm. It helps immensely that there are at most 4 cars running at a time, they get to run sequentially and simultaneously (but spaced), and after one pass all the cars immediately go back in for the reverse run. These factors really make a huge differences in greater seat time, and just as importantly “staying in your groove” (less down time for the driver to get cold again).
- pendulum turn
- offset slalom
- wet tarmac skid pad (break traction for 4-wheel circle drift)
- wet tarmac short course
- boneyard with link and slalom
Saturday, March 12, 2011
3rd day of DirtFish was all about putting everything together. We hit the boneyard one more time, probably as one last check for the instructors to make sure we were ready to go out on the Wedge (with TREES). We were timed on the boneyard/link runs just so we could get an idea of what affected our times. Alex (instructor) had run first just to set a baseline comparison.
After lunch, we were driving amongst trees. Amazing! The difference was like rock climbing indoors vs outdoors. There was so much more to take in: the foliage (did I mention TREES?), natural elevation changes, blind corners, changing surfaces, etc. By the end of the day, they connect the courses together for a 2:30 min plus run.
- timed boneyard
- wedge
- wedge to pipeline to slalom to boneyard
The 3-Day Course
Thursday, March 10, 2011
www.dirtfish.com
First day of DirtFish rally school. From Issaquah, where we were staying, took about 15-20 minutes to get to Snoqualmie where DirtFish is located. The property of DirtFish is an old lumber mill and is huge, with no residents in the immediate vicinity. Checked in with Jaimee, the receptionist, and waited in the lobby with 7 other people in my 3-day class. Nice McRae rally car sitting in the lobby.
Chief Instructor Forrest started off the day around 8:30 with a 20 min discussion of the basics, including a few video clips (can be seen on YouTube) of what we’d be covering that day. Then it was off to the van and ride down to the courses. Items covered (with seat time) were:
- dirt skid pad
- “lift turn brake”
- left foot brake trail braking
- slalom
- boneyard (rallyx-like course)
My favorite of the day is the boneyard, simply because it was a real rallyx like course and you needed proper vision to get through the technicals. It gave us a chance to utilize all the skills we practiced. I also really liked the slalom and that’s where I was cleanest.
Weather went from cool and sunny, to windy and rainy. But this is rally, so it didn’t matter.
Lunch was around 12 back at the main building where a short 15 min class room review and talk took place. Lunch consisted of sandwiches, tator tots and tangy sauce, potato salad, drinks, and some totally addicting caramel corn.
Day ended between 4-5pm. My buddy and I came out of the first day, happy, and totally clad we were taking the 3-day... because 1 day is just not enough. While the skills we worked on today definitely could use more work, it was clear that this was just a taste and we hadn’t begun to get to the meat of what we needed to know.
Friday, March 11, 2011
2nd day of DirtFish, day started with brief 15 min instruction at 8:30 and we were back out to the courses. Of all the exercises, I’d say the pendulum turn gave most people the most trouble. We got it at slow speeds, but once we started with higher entry speeds, it got messier. Reining it back in allowed us to get back to staying inside the box with the scandi flick. Hey... exercises are the place to push the limits, eh?
By the afternoon we got to the Boneyard and Link courses which lengthened the drive over just the boneyard itself which really allowed us to get into our rhythm. It helps immensely that there are at most 4 cars running at a time, they get to run sequentially and simultaneously (but spaced), and after one pass all the cars immediately go back in for the reverse run. These factors really make a huge differences in greater seat time, and just as importantly “staying in your groove” (less down time for the driver to get cold again).
- pendulum turn
- offset slalom
- wet tarmac skid pad (break traction for 4-wheel circle drift)
- wet tarmac short course
- boneyard with link and slalom
Saturday, March 12, 2011
3rd day of DirtFish was all about putting everything together. We hit the boneyard one more time, probably as one last check for the instructors to make sure we were ready to go out on the Wedge (with TREES). We were timed on the boneyard/link runs just so we could get an idea of what affected our times. Alex (instructor) had run first just to set a baseline comparison.
After lunch, we were driving amongst trees. Amazing! The difference was like rock climbing indoors vs outdoors. There was so much more to take in: the foliage (did I mention TREES?), natural elevation changes, blind corners, changing surfaces, etc. By the end of the day, they connect the courses together for a 2:30 min plus run.
- timed boneyard
- wedge
- wedge to pipeline to slalom to boneyard