aplogies for the numptiness but Ive just been looking at track days around cadwell park and need summot clarifying.

What do the formats means, i.e 'Open pit Lane', '3 Sessions ph' etc.

cheers

Open pit lane means you can come and go as you please. You could drive for the whole session if you want.

3 sessions per hour means that you are divided into 3 groups. each group gets to drive for 20 minutes every hour. Groups are usually novice, intermediate and advanced.

I think it refers to the way they let cars out onto the track.

3 Sessions:-

The organisers divide the people at the trackday into three groups, usually Very Experienced, Some Experience and Novices. Or they do it by speed, Fast, Medium and Slow. They then let one group of 10 cars out onto the track for 20 minutes. They come in and the next lot go out. This way you get 3 lots of 20 minute sessions per hour (not allowing for change over time).

Open pit:-

Open pit lane is different, they just let you out on the track at any time. Usually they will restrict the number of cars on track, so you might have to queue up for a bit until someone else gets tired and comes in.

Personally I prefer open pit lane. On a session day if you go out, have a mechanical problem, come in to have a tinker, then you waste your 20 minutes. Plus if everything is going well you feel you have to stay out to get the most out of your day. That's when mistakes happen. Open pit lane, turn up, go out when you want, do as many laps as you want, pit when you want. Have a coffee, go back out.

On the few open days I've been to, I usually turn up late. (Well I'm late for everything). This means I miss the early part of the day when EVERYONE wants to be on track. Then as they get tired, have mechanical problems, or go home early I start going out. Last trackday I did I had the track to myself for the last hour!

As trackdays go on, more and more people end up leaning on the barrier talking, than actually driving.

Hope that helps.

Mike

as above.

I wouldnt do a trackday if it wasnt open pitlane, dont like excess organisation!