being signed off at Trackmaster

[johnnybul]

For The May Trackmaster events, I noticed that there is either novice class and Open track class. To my understanding
in order to be in open class, you must me signed off (as to not require driving with an instructor)

My question is: If you have been signed off in other school’s D/E (bmwcca) events, are you able to run in open class at the trackmaster?
The Novice class for the end of May, Glen event is sold out, however open track is still available. I have never done a Trackmaster event, thus have never been signed off by a Trackmaster instructor,


Thanks
John B

 

[nsxtasy]

I've run with Trackmasters. They will look at your overall experience, and not just on having been signed off to drive solo at another club's event. With some groups, you can get signed off to drive solo in one of your first 1-5 track events, and that's not enough to run in the open track group at Trackmasters (which is equivalent in speed to the most experienced run group at most other clubs).

This is confirmed on the Trackmasters website. This is how Trackmasters describes who is qualified for their open track events (bolding added by me): "Qualified drivers are defined as highly experienced hi-performance drivers and licensed competition drivers who generally have 50 or more days of on-track driving experience." Based on the speeds I have seen there, this sounds about right.

Also note the following, from the same web page: "As a rule, Checkout Candidates can only apply for Events at which Intermediate or Advanced schools are being held. This allows the unsuccessful candidate an opportunity to enter the school with an Instructor to gain the experience necessary for Open Track participation. Likewise, Checkout Candidates who are otherwise qualified, but unfamiliar with the track for which they are applying, should enter the school first to gain experience with an Instructor prior to going through the Open Track checkout procedure."

 

[RSO 34]

Hi John,

Trackmasters has Novice, Intermediate and Advanced schools in addition to open track. Each event only has one of the schools plus open track to maximize the instruction time for the students and to give open trackers 4 hours of track time.

The open trackers are very skilled and extremely fast with many of them having highly modified track cars. By way of reference, I now have 24 track days in the NSX plus 5 Skip Barber Racing School days and decided against being a check-out candidate last weekend at the Glen. I have been signed off to run solo Advanced with two schools but still need more seat time to run comfortably with the open trackers. My lap time is down to 2:30 but DocJohn and Peter Mills, both open trackers, come in close to 2:20 and there are cars going faster than that.

I do not know how much experience you have but the way Trackmasters works is that you cannot be a check-out candidate at an event where you would not "qualify" for the school being run at that same event, whether that be Intermediate or Advanced.

 

[Andrie Hartanto]

Being Signed off or driving by yourself has little to do with your lap time. More of, being a safe driver and aware of your surroundings.

The advantage of running in the fast group is learning from other fast guys on how to take corners when you are following them for several corners.

 

[RSO 34]

That may be true to a certain extent but when you are considerably slower than the vast majority of cars in that group it is difficult to learn when you always have your arm out the window giving point-bys. I pride myself on a being a safe and aware driver but I also realize that if I am holding up other cars the learning experience may not be as beneficial as running in the Advanced group where I can pass as well as be passed.

There was a fairly noticeable gap in speeds and "machines" in the open group when compared to the advanced group I had been in a few days earlier. Sometimes it is difficult to draw a true parallel with the way a track-prepped GT3 or Ferrari takes a corner with what I could do in an NSX that is also used as a daily driver.

I guess I should have indicated in my initial observations that they were specific to the Trackmasters program. I agree that it is a good idea to run with faster and better drivers for the experience but you just need to make sure that you can handle the fairly significant higher speeds in the open track portion compared with the student groups. One part of the Trackmasters instruction includes taking Advanced students and putting them out into the open track sessions to get them adjusted to the differences. This helps Trackmasters be one of the best programs by making sure the students are well-trained before turning them loose into a group that could be intimidating at first.

 

[johnnybul]

Thanks for the intel..!!!

john b