At WRL Sebring in 2024 the team missed the Saturday green flag start because the radio call was late. A radio problem then caused a missed restart on Sunday.
What the note says
David Hodge Jr wrote two lines in his race retro for that weekend.
- “we missed green flag start on saturday (aka late on radio call)”
- “radio issues missed green flag on restart sunday”
In the same note, David wrote that he needs a tool to capture the radio audio. He said it would help with race control call outs, because race control speaks in a very structured way. That is an idea, not something the note says exists.
He also wrote that a laptop at the drivers meeting helped, both for notes and for showing spotter locations and turns of note.
Two other sets of notes cover the same moment from the driver’s side.
- In a post Mid-Ohio debrief in his 2024 WRL notes, David wrote “dont follow guy in front at starts” and “dont look 2 cars ahead at start, only direct car ahead”.
- In his WRL Road Atlanta notes from 2024, David caught traffic at the start of lap 4. His lesson was to “make up more track position before traffic”, because it is “easier to defend vs pass”.
Why it matters in a shared car
In a shared car, the starting driver is only one part of the start. The spotter, the crew and the radio all have to work together. If one link is late, the driver has less time to get ready.
A restart is the same problem, repeated. A weak radio, a low battery or a missed call leaves the driver guessing when the field will go.
One drill
Run this rehearsal before the first start of a weekend. It takes about ten minutes with the crew, the spotter and the driver together.
- Write down the three calls that matter at a start. They are the warning, the green and the first lap.
- Test the radio from the car on the grid or in the garage. Check the battery, the volume and the push to talk.
- Say each call aloud with the spotter, in the order it will happen.
- Agree on the fallback. Decide what the driver does if the radio goes silent, such as watching the flagger and the car directly ahead.
- Repeat the rehearsal before a restart in a long race.
Keep the fallback simple. The driver should be able to start without any radio call at all.
Where this fits
These habits apply to every shared-car race, including WRL. Practice the same calls in the simulator with a friend on voice chat.