Owners Club Cadwell Park Track Day 1st May 2009 Cost only £135
Fondly nicknamed the ‘Mini-Nürburgring’, Cadwell Park is probably most famous for ‘the Mountain’, where bikes frequently get airborne, and the striking mix of twists, cambers and gradients that have led to the circuit’s growing popularity over the years. Our events here are always huge fun and invariably sell out very quickly. Cadwell Park is a great circuit for small, agile cars like the MX5 and rated “11 out of 10, it’s that good” by one of our regulars.
Only 22 places available so don’t leave it too late to book Sign up through the MGs on Track site - here
Only a couple of weeks to go and still 16 places left!
Cadwell has been one of our most popular venues in the past and booked up really quickly. What’s the problem this time. I know it’s a Friday but we are going to be lucky to get weekend events at popular tracks for sensible money. Is it the recession? Are we all hanging on to our cash, or is it something else?
I am going to have to open it to the MGs reserve list soon, so if you are thinking of booking up do it soon. It would be a shame to have to share this one with MGs as well.
We’ve had to open this up to MGs now, so get your place booked quickly if you want to have a go on what is one of the most picturesque and undulating circuits around.
Is there a Motorsport email group that you send monthly email “newsletters” to (like I get from my Area Coordinator)? I had no idea about thie event until now. I don’t look at this section as very often.
I can’t make Cadwell this time but here are a few opinions about this topic…
I don’t know if it’s a sessioned event or open pit lane.
There are no costs stated for extra drivers.
I’m skint this month (blame the reccession if you like, it gets the blame for everything else so it seems).
It’s a shame the take up has been poor again.
…edited to add - OK, so I clicked the “sign up” link and found the answers to the top two comments of mine and if I’m honest, I’d be more attracted to an open pit lane format.
…edited again to add - And now found the answer to my mailing list question… I’ll shut up!
At least you read the thread and made some comments, Robbie. I wish more people would.
I take you point about details - I’ll add more to my posts in future - and sorry to hear that you’re skint; I think many others are in the same position but don’t want to admit it.
I would agree about OPL, but it’s always more expensive unless the organisers book loads of cars, in which case it can be really frustrating waiting to get on track. With MGs we try to make sure that the numbers are always reasonable so that we at least get plenty of space when we are on track
Would you like me to add you to the mailing list? I don’t do a monthly letter but you will get advanced notice of events and occasional updates. If so, e-mail me at motorsport @ mx5oc.co.uk (remove the spaces) with your e-mail address and I put you on there.
I’m afraid I have to disagree with your comment that Open Pitlane is more expensive and more cars need to be booked. The track costs the same no mater how the day is run.
Sessions are generally used to segregate groups by ability, car type, club or other factors and the reason it may appear cheaper is because a group is only paying a third of the cost of the day. The down side of sessions is that at least 5 minutes of each session is lost to change over procedure as the track has to be cleared each time. There is also the inevitable queueing in the first out laps as the faster driver wait behind the slower ones for a safe opportunity to pass. Any stoppage on track will probably close that session and you also don’t get to drive with your friends from other groups. These is the generally accepted frustration of sessions.
Open Pitlane generally has the impression of being more crowded because there is an initial rush to get on track at the beginning of the day and after lunch, but this is usually passed within 15 minutes and in my experience every Open Pitlane day I have been to there is significant free space and time to enjoy the track and driving it especially toward the end of the day when early leavers have gone.
The biggest issue with sessions and possibly the problem with the lack of club bookings is that from the drivers point of view is that it is not friendly to the team cars like Merlot and RaceWorx. There are now several of these cars in the club typically with 3 drivers, without the ability to swap drivers frequently it can make the day unattractive as a driver may only get 2 drives in the day or less if a session is shut.
In many respects I would agree with you. The cost of the track is the same, so maybe it’s the fact that some folks spend a lot longer on track and all want to be out there at the same time that make them seem busier.
Sessions have the advantage, as you say, of enabling grouping by ability and car type, getting round some the issues of compatibility and intimidation that opl or mixed groups can cause, but we can’t take advantage of that unless we have enough participation to run more than one session. Similarly, I’m not sure opl is what OC members want, because it means the newcomers and novices have to mix it with the high power and pseudo-track cars, compromising both. It’s actually little different in that respect from just running a single session for all abilities. It is a problem that we both face, trying to provide provide the best for everyone.
Have some pictures to share. If anyone wants any hires copies then please PM me. (They are of course free as I’m no pro when it comes to photography!). I do have some other pics that are not uploaded in these albums. Haven’t put every pic on because it’s boring to trawl thru hundreds of photos but if you were at this event and would like to see if I have a pic of your car then just PM me and I’ll have a look.