IRAC 1 turned out to be a great event. Congratulations Mid-Ohio Region for an interesting course layout and a well run event. The weather turned sunny and warm for the 41 drivers who got 7 official runs each for the record books and a ton of fun runs afterwards.

It seemed to be a 911 day with 23 drivers in 911s, including 1 turbo. Other cars included 3 drivers in 928s, 3 in 944s, 3 in Boxsters, 1 in a 914, 1 in a 356A, 1 in a 912. That is a good representation of the Porsche models. The rest of the field was filled out with X-cars so even if you don’t come to race, it is a great time to see some gorgeous vehicles There was even a gentleman there in a GT3, but he did not come to race which was a shame. We would have liked to see how the GT3 would handle the course, which included both very fast sections and slower more technical sections that tested the drivers’ skills.

The course started with a fast run to a three cone slalom that exited into a broad sweeping left turn of 270 degrees that emptied on to the longest straight of the course. This was the fast part of the course and if you did the slalom and the 270 just right you could really fly through the straight and get ahead of the clock. At the end of the straight was an easy right turn with a short straight leading to a very tight 180 to the left. This was the start of the slow portion of the course. It was too easy to come into the 180 way too fast. The trick was to get on the brakes at the end of the short straight and come out of the 180 with the power on. But not too much power because you were then entering a series of offset gates that required car control. The last set of offsets led to a sharp right turn and then in and out of a garage to the left. You came almost straight out the second door of the garage through a short straight and into another 3 cone slalom. At the end of the slalom was a hard left followed by a tight sweeper to the right of about 190 degrees with a slight break back to the left to get out of the sweeper and across the finish line. Sounds very technical when you read this, but it had rhythm and smooth transition from section to section and flowed right along. The catch was knowing just when to hit the brakes and when to get on the gas. The results of IRAC 1 have been tabulated and can be viewed under the Results section of this website.

IRAC 1 was a great start to the 2006 autocross season. As usual there was a good deal of laughter and comradery as we have come to expect at IRAC events. After a cold hard winter, seeing old friends, and welcoming new faces into the autocross fold brightens the day and makes the trip to Columbus worthwhile. We are really looking forward to IRAC 2 on June 18th

 Election of Officers: After some discussion on the position of President, it was decided that the IRAC Board and representatives would act as a council in running the organization. Thanks to David Wenger for his years of support and effort in acting as our President.

Other officers are: Secretary - John Hulick

                              Treasurer - Andy Helgeson

                              Trophies - Jim Rybak

                              Points Chair - Les Checel

                              IRAC Website - Rich Bradley

Treasurer's Report: Account balance of $3632.29 in the IRAC account. This reflects an $888.36 increase from last years balance. There are no outstanding bills or receivables for 2005.

Andy has changed the bank the account is held at to have no checking account fees. This should reflect in a savings of $66.75 over last year.

Participation was down to an average of 25.5 per event from 27.3 in 2004 with same number, six, of events.

Trophy costs were reduced by the new class structure and old names were purged from the mailing list for the IRAC newsletter to reduce those costs as well

Andy recommended the fee structure to remain the same at $250/region and $5/entrant trophy costs as the previous year. This was approved by the Board.

IRAC Schedule: At the time of the meeting there were not enough firm dates to post a schedule. Dave Wenger asked that all IRAC reps work on this and get back to him by Feb 10 with firm dates and locations. It was discussed and felt that this needs to be done to help promote the series correctly. All were in agreement.

General Discussion: The question was brought up as to whether IRAC should or could continue. Problems with no advertising or date changes lead to poor attendance. There had not been any problem getting fees from regions, so it is assumed there is still some interest. Andy discussed the fact of changes in Allegheny personnel for their autocross group. The region is still willing to support IRAC and hope for increase this year.

Walt Staudenmaier brought up the idea of an IRAC event included in the Porsches to Oxford weekend. This would possibly be a joint event between OVR and MOR. Walt and Dick Snyder said they would look into it.

Ken Bingham had sent a list of points or questions to address at the meeting since he couldn't attend. (Something about Pom-Poms!). The list was read and reviewed as follows:

1.      Change starting time to later in day- Most felt they would rather get up earlier to be able to be home sooner in evening. Starting later could lead to late Sunday evening trips home from events.

2.      Are courses too technical- Each course up to hosting region. Group agreed to try to lime all courses to help find direction easier. Also all events will have a Novice parade drive thru at beginning of event to help eliminate DNFs.

3.      Was reduction of classes good or bad? - Most felt it was good by providing more in class competition than single car classes.

4.      School morning of event- Somewhat related to later start time. By the time is taken to achieve an effective school program actual start time moved too far back. Would lead to late drives home on Sunday.

Rich Bradley volunteered to take over the IRAC Website. It was discussed to make this a more informative site with results, directions to events, and other info on it. Rich said he feels this could be a replacement for the IRAC Newsletter. A discussion followed and it was decided to let the site replace the newsletter. Rich will contact Rick Snyder to get site transferred over from current location.

IRAC agreed to cover the cost of the lunch for attendees from treasury.

Event Guidelines: Generally felt all events were run well once started. We need to make sure we can firm up dates and locations early enough to promote the events effectively. This can hopefully lead to better attendance numbers. As discussed earlier all courses should be limed to ease finding the direction. Safety is always a primary concern and it is good to see interaction at some events from all involved to help achieve this.

Rules Changes: Only major rule change is to upgrade helmet requirements to 2000 or newer. Snell or M helmets meeting these specs are accepted. There was some discussion as to if our insurance coverage is in effect if we differ from the actual PCR rules. Dave Wenger said he would look into this. The annual discussion of the "Two run" rule went on and it was decided to continue using best two runs for class placement.

Trophies: Event trophies will remain the magnetic stickers for 1^st in class. This uses up balance of inventory carried over from last year. Jim R. will find auto related items, wax, towels, WD-40, hand cleaner, in the $4 range to use for 2^nd and 3^rd in class.

Year End Class trophies: Jim R. will also look into some sort of claymation or sculpture type trophies These would also be used for Novice and IOP year end awards.

FTD trophies need to be updated and gotten to the respective winners. John H. brought up the subject of smaller keeper bowls for FTD winners when they pas on the Payne rotating trophy. He will get info to Jim R. about this.

Tire Raffle- At last event there will be a raffle of a set of tires to all qualifiers. To be a qualifier you must participate in the majority of the year's events. (Same as to qualify for a yearend award in a class, 50% or 50% +1 if an odd number of events). Once qualified your name goes into the drawing only once. Winner must be present at the drawing to win the prize, agreed to be a $600 gift certificate to Tire Rack. We will try for donations from tire companies to cover this but it was approved to take the $600 or part of from IRAC treasury if necessary to cover this. This raffle is for Porsche classes only.

Meeting Adjourned: Thanks to Dave Wenger for again hosting the meeting.

Submitted by John Hulick 2/04/06