WHAT IS SATCAR® ?

WHAT OTHER ACTIVITIES WILL BE AVAILABLE?

WHAT IS REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN SATCAR RACES?

WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO PREPARE MY CAR?

WHAT IF I HAVE MODIFIED THE CAR?

HOW ARE SATCAR® RACES DIFFERENT FROM OTHER ROAD RACING?

HOW DOES THE PERFORMANCE PARITY TIME SYSTEM WORK?

IS IT SAFE? WHAT CARS WILL BE RACING?

HOW MANY CARS WILL BE ON THE TRACK AT A TIME?

WHAT TYPES OF RACES ARE BEING PLANNED?

HOW MUCH TRACK TIME DO I GET AT THE RACE?

WHEN CAN I START RACING?

HOW DOES THE COST OF SATCAR® RACING COMPARE TO OTHER CLUB RACING?

DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS THAT WERE NOT ANSWERED?

WHAT IS SATCAR^®?
SATCAR^® is a road race sanctioning organization that was created to provide activities at road racing tracks. The race format and rules are designed to allow drivers to safely compete in their every day street cars. By eliminating the need for drivers to invest in a dedicated race car, a trailer, and a tow vehicle, SATCAR^® makes it easier and less costly for drivers to start and to continue participating in the sport of road racing. SATCAR^® racing is called FORMULA STREET^®.

WHAT OTHER ACTIVITIES ARE AVAILABLE?
Racing is the primary focus of the SATCAR^® program. However, other events are planned to offer track activities for drivers of differing interests and skill levels. These include driving schools, practice/lapping days, dealer customer appreciation days, and corporate driving programs.

WHAT IS REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN SATCAR^® RACES?
To obtain a SATCAR^® Competition License, a driver must have at least two days of attendance at a performance driving school on a road racing track or equivalent experience in road racing activities. Drivers can participate in any sports or touring car that is structurally sound and safe and will pass the SATCAR^® Safety Inspection. Closed cars need only the factory three point shoulder harnesses. Open cars require additional safety equipment for driver protection. Contact SATCAR^® for details or see the Rules Of Competition.

WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO PREPARE MY CAR?
Most cars of recent manufacture are quite capable of running on a race track with minimum preparation. It is strongly recommended that the brakes be upgraded to a higher temperature friction material. Brake fluid should be relatively new and tires and suspension should be in sound condition. The required Safety Inspection can be performed by the automotive technician of your choice and will confirm that the car is ready for track use.

WHAT IF I HAVE MODIFIED THE CAR?
Most enthusiasts have made some modifications to their cars, either for looks or performance, or both. Modifications for additional performance or for appearance are acceptable and welcome as long as there is no adverse effect on the safety of the car.

Additional safety equipment for the driver or in the car, such as driving suits, roll bars, competition belts, fire extinguisher, etc., are not required but are welcomed in SATCAR^® racing.

HOW ARE SATCAR^® RACES DIFFERENT FROM OTHER ROAD RACING?
The SATCAR^® rules and format have some restrictions to minimize risk to drivers and their cars. These rules are required because the cars are not required to have the same safety equipment as cars that race in other forms of road racing. Starts for all sessions, including races, will be made single file from pit lane. Passing will be limited to specified straights on the track. On all other portions of the track, including corners, the cars must be single file. Penalties will be imposed for any driving that is considered to be overly aggressive or unsafe.

The SATCAR^® rules and format are designed to minimize the effect of car preparation and maximize the element of driving skill. This is accomplished by using a Performance Parity Time, which is assigned to each car/driver based on their qualifying time.

HOW DOES THE PERFORMANCE PARITY TIME SCORING SYSTEM WORK?
Each race event will have a qualifying session where the cars will be timed to determine a qualifying time for each. Competitors will be encouraged to qualify at a time that is comfortable and safe for themselves and their cars - they do not have to drive as fast as possible.

The qualifying time of each car is used to determine the Performance Parity Time (PPT) for that car as compared to the slowest car in the group ie., if car A is 2.34 seconds per lap faster than the slowest car, and the race is 15 laps (Typical of many tracks), the PPT for car A will be:

PPT (A) = 2.34 seconds X 15 laps = 35.1 seconds

For non-pit-stop races, A would start 35.1 seconds after the slowest car. There may be other cars between them, depending upon their PPTs. For a pit-stop race A would start 17.55 seconds (Half the PPT) after the slowest car. The balance of his/her PPT would then be served during the pit stop later in the race.

The PPT equalizes total session time for all drivers, and if they all drove equally well, they would all cross the finish line side by side. Variables of driver skill and traffic will prevent all drivers from driving equally and the more skilled and consistent drivers will be able to gain time on the others and will be leading at the end. With the SATCAR^® PPT, a Neon driver and a Viper driver could race (Although not usually grouped together) and either one could win the race. The winner would be that driver who drove most consistently at a lap time at or slightly under their qualifying time.

To prevent drivers from qualifying slow (Sandbagging) and racing fast, a BreakOut of about two seconds per lap, for most courses, has been established. The BreakOut is assigned based on track length and complexity and can vary from track to track. If the BreakOut is two seconds, a driver is allowed to run race laps as much as two seconds faster than his/her qualifying lap with no penalty. If a lap is run at more than two seconds faster than qualifying, that is termed a BreakOut and the driver will be required to serve a Stop/Go penalty in the pits. For example, assume that car A has a qualifying time of 1 minute, 56.432 seconds at an event. During the race, they can run laps down to 1 minute, 54.432 seconds without penalty. If their lap time is anything less than that, the Stop/Go penalty is imposed.

IS IT SAFE?
All activities involving vehicles have some element of danger, including driving to work or to the race track. The SATCAR^® format is based upon, and is very similar to, that which has been used for many years in on-track driving schools and open tracking events with a safety record that is quite good. Incidents do occasionally occur but they are usually single car where the driver loses control for some reason. Multi-car incidents are very infrequent. Drivers who participate in these types of on-track activities have determined that the risk factors versus the fun and excitement factors are an acceptable trade.

The insurance company that insures many motorsports activities has reviewed the SATCAR^® format and rules, has approved the concept, and will be insuring these events.

The final, and most important, part of the safety program is always the driver. It is necessary for all drivers to think and act in a manner that minimizes danger to themselves and their fellow competitors. Drivers who act in a manner that creates safety hazards for themselves or other competitors will be penalized or excluded from competition

WHAT CARS WILL BE RACING?
Enthusiasts own and drive a wide variety of cars and a similar variety will be competing in SATCAR^® events. To minimize speed differentials and improve safety, cars will be grouped to have similar performance potential, ie., Corvettes and Vipers will be in the same group but Honda Civics would not be placed in that group.

HOW MANY CARS WILL BE ON THE TRACK AT A TIME?
The maximum number of cars that will be permitted in each group is determined by the length of the track. The SATCAR^® format is currently set to permit 10 cars per mile of track length.

WHAT TYPES OF RACES ARE RUN?
SATCAR^® is a road racing organization so will only be offering races on road racing tracks. There will be two basic types of races, SPRINTS and ENDUROS. SPRINT races will be offered as either pit-stop or non-pit stop races and will be approximately one-half hour in duration.

ENDUROS, or Endurance Races, will run for a minimum of four hours and can run as long as 24 hours, depending upon the venue and the choice of the organizers. ENDUROS will be contested by teams of four drivers and between two and four cars per team.

HOW MUCH TRACK TIME DO I GET AT THE RACE?
A typical two-day SPRINT race event will offer competitors about three hours on track. This will consist of a first day morning practice to learn the track, first day afternoon qualifying, second day morning warmup, and second day late morning and afternoon races. Two races per group are shown but may not always be scheduled. Please see a typical schedule below.

FIRST DAY			SECOND DAY
8:00-8:45	DRIVERS' MEETING		8:00-8:45	DRIVERS' MEETING
9:00-9:40	A PRACTICE		9:00-9:30	A WARMUP
9:50-10:30	B PRACTICE		9:40-10:10	B WARMUP
10:40-11:20	C PRACTICE		10:20-10:50	C WARMUP
11:30-12:10	D PRACTICE		11:00-11:30	D WARMUP
12:10-1:10	LUNCH BREAK		11:40-12:10	A RACE 1
1:10-2:00	A QUALIFYING		12:10-1:00	LUNCH BREAK
2:10-3:00	B QUALIFYING		1:00-1:30	B RACE 1
3:10-4:00	C QUALIFYING		1:40-2:10	C RACE 1
4:10-5:00	D QUALIFYING		2:20-2:50	D RACE 1
			3:00-3:30	A RACE 2
NOTE: EACH GROUP WILL CONTAIN 10 CARS PER MILE OF LENGTH OF TRACK MAXIMUM. CARS WILL BE PLACED IN THE GROUPS BASED UPON PERFORMANCE POTENTIAL.			3:40-4:10	B RACE 2
			4:20-4:50	C RACE 2
			5:00-5:30	D RACE 2
			5:45-6:00	AWARDS PRESENTATION

WHEN CAN I START RACING?
The availability of SATCAR^® track events depends upon the demand by drivers in the area, finding an Event Partner to organize and present events at each track, and the availability of track dates.

As events become available, they will be posted on the Event Schedule page of the web site

HOW DOES THE COST OF SATCAR RACING COMPARE TO OTHER CLUB RACING?

Racing costs have always been high and are going higher. SATCAR^® is committed to offering drivers competitive racing at reasonable costs. A major cost with all club racing has been the cost of a competitive race car and the support equipment and consumables that go with it. Since SATCAR^® provides racing for street cars, much of that major expense is eliminated or greatly reduced. To show you how much less it costs to race with SATCAR^® , a cost study was made to compare SATCAR^® racing to typical club racing. This cost study shows the RACING VALUE that SATCAR^® provides.

The following cost comparison shows some typical costs to participate in club racing versus SATCAR^® racing. This comparison uses information typical of SCCA racing as it is the largest club racing group in the country. Other club racing groups, such as BMW CCA, NASA, PCA, and Professional Autosports may have slightly different cost structures but in almost all cases, a dedicated race car is required to race competitively and many of the listed costs will be similar. Actual costs will vary greatly from one competitor to another.

For this comparison, the club racing costs were chosen to typify a driver racing on a budget in a class that required a modest investment in the race car and support vehicles Depending upon the choice of race car and support equipment, the costs in either type of racing can quickly escalate.

Any costs that would be similar between the two types of racing, such as meals, motels, and some car consumables, are not included in this comparison. The tow vehicle purchase is assumed to be necessary but the vehicle will probably also be used for other purposes, so the operating, maintenance, and insurance costs will not be charged against the race program. There are other minor differences, such as membership and licensing costs, which are also factors, but are not great in magnitude, so are not included.

CLUB RACING

TOTAL COSTS (FIXED AND VARIABLE) PER RACE - $ 1,679
ANNUAL COSTS FOR FIVE RACES - $ 8,395

These numbers compare closely with the experience of Dick Cole, who raced a Geo Prizm in SCCA Improved Touring for 10 years. He estimated that his annual costs were about $ 8,000.

A typical SCCA race provides about 1 1/2 hour of on-track time during a two day event. Using the above cost per event, the track time costs $ 1,119 per hour.

SATCAR RACING

TOTAL COSTS (FIXED AND VARIABLE) PER RACE - $ 603
ANNUAL COSTS FOR FIVE RACES - $ 3,015

This comparison shows that on a per race basis SATCAR^® racing costs slightly more than 1/3 (35.9%) of what it costs to participate in SCCA club racing. When converted into an hourly cost it becomes more favorable. A typical SATCAR^® two day event will provide each driver about three hours of driving time for a cost of $ 201 per hour. This is between 1/5 and 1/6 (18.0%) of the cost per hour of SCCA club racing.

OPPORTUNITY COST

Another factor that could be considered in this analysis is the opportunity cost of the investment in the race car and associated equipment for club racing. If the $ 19,000 fixed cost differential were invested somewhere else and earned a 5% rate of return, the gain would be $ 950 per year. This would almost pay for the cost to participate in two SATCAR^® races. Spread over the projected five race per year schedule, this amount would help to defray $ 190 of the cost per race This would drop the SATCAR^® per race cost to $ 413, or about 1/4 (24.6%) of the cost per event, and $ 138 per hour, or about 1/8 (12.3%) of the cost per hour of track time.

MAINTENANCE TIME

Another difference between the typical club racing car and a car that can be used in SATCAR^® races will be the amount of time required for maintenance to keep the car safe. If the owner is working on the car for fun, this factor may not be quite as important. However, most drivers would probably prefer to spend their time improving the car rather than having to maintain it. If his/her time is critical, or if the maintenance has to be done by a shop and paid for by the car owner, this is an additional area where SATCAR^® racing is less costly.

Again, drawing upon the experience of Dick Cole, he indicated that he would typically spend two hours in maintenance for each hour spent on the track. Cars that are more complicated or highly developed, such as formula or sports racing cars, will require considerably more time and usually also require additional help in the form of pit crew members, at additional cost. Using Dick's experience and the weekend driving time of 1.5 hours, maintenance time for our budget racer for a typical SCCA weekend could be estimated at three hours. This maintenance would be primarily preventive, in the form of checking all systems, changing brakes and tires, and going over the car to check all fasteners. Any serious mechanical problems or damage due to incidents would add to the amount of required time.

A typical car that could be used in SATCAR^® races will not require as much maintenance because it will not require the soft, sticky tires that generate high wheel bearing loads, suspension side forces, and drive train shock loads. It will not have to be extremely low and stiffly sprung, which creates high loadings into the spring and damper attachment points, leading to possible cracking of the body or frame in those areas. Tires and brakes will probably last longer and require less frequent replacement. Typical continuing maintenance items will probably be limited to brake pad/shoe replacements, periodic brake fluid changes, and tire replacements.

The driver can choose to operate the car in a way that minimizes the wear and stress on the car and still win in SATCAR^® races. Therefore, he/she can maintain some control over the maintenance costs, in both time and money, required to keep driving the car in these events. Drawing upon experience of running at driving schools with typical street cars, the maintenance time was approximately one hour for every 4 - 6 hours of driving time, and consisted primarily of changing brake pads and/or shoes. Periodic safety inspections of the car are still required but do not add large amounts of time to the maintenance schedule.

Current cars are built very well and are quite reliable, even when used on a road racing track

DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS THAT ARE NOT ANSWERED?

Please call or write - - we would like to help you learn more about this great new racing program.

Call or FAX SATCAR^® at 630-232-6063 or E-mail here.