Hey all, I've been looking into open track days, and the ones I've seen require intermediate level drivers who have been signed off.
I've just gotten recommended for intermediate after my third event, and was wondering how long it took for you guys to get signed off?
How many days did it take for you guys to get from novice to intermediate, intermediate to advanced, and how long did it take to get signed off?
I know it varies person to person, but just trying to get an idea.
I've coached a bunch of people at local tracks, and in our track days, the criteria for being signed off for intermediate run groups are good situational awareness - flags, other cars, road conditions, and demonstrating this awareness by being good about letting others pass or reacting to caution, surface condition, and passing flags. Our faster new guys can indeed hit intermediate after 3 track days, but a few more track days is more common, but we're pretty strict about safety.
The intermediate group is where trouble happens most frequently in terms of offs or mechanicals. These are people who are starting to go fast, but lack the experience to react to the unpredictable at speed, and the car control skills aren't quite honed yet, so you get more spins, and more freeze-ups in panic situations. In terms of mechanicals, these tend to be the cars that are pushed hard but haven't been track hardened.
If people in the beginner group are not holding you up in terms of passing, then stay there, honestly. It's lower stress as you learn more about your car and driving it. Once you're reaching the point where you are faster than others, and this is after working on awareness, that you're ready to move up, and you'll have more practice under your belt to deal with unpredictable situations.