Greetings, Just a quick question about the number of planned sessions and total track time for the DE drivers at Road Atlanta? Will it vary by what day you are signed up for like it did last year?
That's great to hear!! It wasn't that way last year and there were students who were disappointed that they were shorted on track time.
That sounds like what I would expect for a normal DE day. Last year students who ran early in the week got that schedule where others who ran later in the week were only offered 3 sessions a day. (It was about 15-20% less track time if I remember correctly)
Why the obsession with track time? 15% less than (4 X 30 minutes) is 102 minutes, which is two minutes MORE than 4 X 25 minutes, which is also a typical track day. A 3-session day is likely to be 3 longer sessions. We don't just lop off time; we're there for the whole day and you get what you get. BMW CCA driver schools are well-known for the high amount of track time per day, but it varies with a lot of factors, none of which detracts from the value of the school, which is to teach you how to be a better driver. I daresay you will not learn more in the last half of your last session than someone who didn't get that many minutes.
No obsession with track time... other than the obvious Last year the 3 session students got 80 minutes of track time while the 4 session students got 92 if I remember correctly. I just didn't think that was fair. What you lose with 3 slightly longer sessions vs 4 sessions is one fewer download or critique sessions with the instructor AFTER you come off track. That is almost as important as the on track time. Coupled with the comment that you made about possibly not learning more in the last have of the session then you should begin to see my point and my concern.
I agree, I would definitely prefer 4 shorter sessions as opposed to 3 longer sessions. Stuff seems to absorb during the off sessions (at least for me) and like Conechaser said, it gives you one more debrief with the instructor. It may be different for the instructors though, they probably can't wait to get out of the students car in some cases and would be happy with 1 session a day .
Just to confirm, folks, every DE group on each of the 5 Ofest days will have 4 runs, each of generally 25 minute duration (Some runs are only 24 minutes, to make the math come out right with corner station breaks.)
