the bb trackday thread.

[SAS Tom]

I know a few of you guys like track day reports so here's how my day went yesterday.

I set off from my dads at 6am and it was freezing! -2 and very frosty, I was unsure whether I'd actually make it to the track to be honest as I was worried about ice. Luckily there was no trouble and I got to a very frosty looking track. I met curlie' brother and we got set up in the garage with the team WD40 guys. The briefing was interrupted as usual by some clown deciding he needed to go for a piss half way through.

First session comes around and it's flipping cold and very slippery. As we were doing the island circuit it was a bit interesting doing the hairpin, the straight from cascades seems very short and the hairpin is tighter than you think. I went in thinking I could go in wide then square it off but it was much tighter than I expected, it really does go right back on itself. I then got to the exit of hizzy's and the back starts sliding despite doing such a slow pace. That was the point I started to think going home might be the better option if it's going to be as bad as this all day. Half way through the second sighting lap someone crashes and the red flag is out. A few minutes later and we're back out. 1 sighting lap to do then we're off. Sighting lap out of the way and I'm tip toeing around thinking everyone is going to come flying past as I'm going so slowly making sure I don't bin it. It wasn't the case though a few people came past but it seems most people had the same idea just getting a feel for it.

It was red flag bonanza all morning, some people couldn't even manage 1 lap without crashing. I have a feeling more than just the usual pushing too much on the first lap a lot will have been due to so many people using tyre warmers when it's 2 degrees. Some of you guys who use them will have a better idea but I can't imagine the majority of people being able to keep the heat in supercorsa's when it's that cold out.

Second session came round and things were improving, there was noticeably more grip but it was still a case of feeling my way around not pushing too much. I put the GoPro in a few different places this time to get some more interesting video, this one was on the side of the frame;

http://youtu.be/1G9GL-R_yTI

In the third session the track was better again, I was happy with the track now and pushing on but I knew I wasn't riding that well which isn't surprising given I haven't been on track for 6 months. Happily the session wasn't stopped at all, I kept coming round to find the red or chequered flag weren't out. In the end I decided to come in before any flags came out but there was only a few minutes left anyway. I did find the forks were a bit soft on road settings so the back end was lifting under braking. A couple of clicks of compression damping sorted that for the next session.

Due to more crashing lunch was early. It started to drizzle a bit but it didn't stick around and stopped before we went out again. In the afternoon the track was great and I had loads of fun. Just getting my head around the track again, the bike was slightly different to last time, shorter gearing, shorter wheelbase and a bit lighter too. My biggest issue was going down too many gears at old hall and then into cascades. Once I got my head round that l was much happier. This was from the fifth session;

http://youtu.be/3-aw7wQj0Lo

Skip to a few minutes in as I had to turn the camera on in the garage.

The last 2 sessions were good fun. The video I posted last night was the last session with just 3 of us on track so I didn't see anyone for the whole session. I was happy with the day overall, I don't think I was riding any better than last year but it got me back into track riding after a winter of commuting. The bike was feeling better than last year with the changes I made. I'm waiting to see the pictures as I never got my knee down all day so I think my body position was better but usually I think it's better but still looks crap.

[CaptainSlow]

Which group were you in?

[SAS Tom]

I was in fast group

[CaptainSlow]

OK, that's good to know

[redback911]

SAS Tom said:

I was in fast group

Good read Tom, thanks for the write-up. No surprise folks never managed to keep the SC's hot. I failed to keep my wets warm enough at Brands last week! I keep telling myself its almost Spring, it has to get warmer.

[graeme4130]

great write up, and nice vids too

[srob]

My mate's doing his first track day at Snett on Sunday so I'm going along for support and to keep him company. Anyone else there?

[SAS Tom]

redback911 said:

SAS Tom said:

I was in fast group

Good read Tom, thanks for the write-up. No surprise folks never managed to keep the SC's hot. I failed to keep my wets warm enough at Brands last week! I keep telling myself its almost Spring, it has to get warmer.

Yeah it was bizarre really, in the morning you could see frost on parts of the track but people were still putting warmers on. I get the point of warmers but some people don't seem to think and put them on regardless of what the track is like.

[Fleegle]

SAS Tom said:

Yeah it was bizarre really, in the morning you could see frost on parts of the track but people were still putting warmers on. I get the point of warmers but some people don't seem to think and put them on regardless of what the track is like.

Can you explain why you wouldn't put warmers on?

[SAS Tom]

I can't imagine the majority of people on a track day being able to keep the heat in slicks and supercorsa's when it's 0 degrees outside. I might be wrong and tell me if I am but given many people on here say not to use warmers on wets because it's hard to keep heat in them doesn't this apply in the same way? For reference the instructors and racers I saw going out were using wets in the morning. The WD40 guys switched to inters for the afternoon.

Given a big percentage of sessions were red flagged in the first 2 laps, there must have been something in common with each crash.

[Fleegle]

SAS Tom said:

I can't imagine the majority of people on a track day being able to keep the heat in slicks and supercorsa's when it's 0 degrees outside. I might be wrong and tell me if I am but given many people on here say not to use warmers on wets because it's hard to keep heat in them doesn't this apply in the same way? For reference the instructors and racers I saw going out were using wets in the morning. The WD40 guys switched to inters for the afternoon.

Given a big percentage of sessions were red flagged in the first 2 laps, there must have been something in common with each crash.

You would lose heat as the session progressed I'm sure, but why wouldn't you set off with heat in your tyres if you had the option to?

The racers were going out on wets in the morning probably because they are more supple I would guess, but on a dry track they aren't going to last long, and at £300 a pop, I would stick with R10's or supercorsa and ride to the conditions.

As for the crashers in the first few laps of the session, the thing in common here is it's the beginning of the trackday season and its cold. This happens every year. People get a bit to keen and excited, simply forgetting what time of year it is

[SAS Tom]

Fleegle said:

You would lose heat as the session progressed I'm sure, but why wouldn't you set off with heat in your tyres if you had the option to?

The racers were going out on wets in the morning probably because they are more supple I would guess, but on a dry track they aren't going to last long, and at £300 a pop, I would stick with R10's or supercorsa and ride to the conditions.

As for the crashers in the first few laps of the session, the thing in common here is it's the beginning of the trackday season and its cold. This happens every year. People get a bit to keen and excited, simply forgetting what time of year it is

Fair enough you look at it in a different way to me given your experience. I thought it would have been similar to what a lot of people say about wets and warmers i.e. You go out with hot tyres that feel great but they lose their heat fast and let go suddenly.

[Fleegle]

SAS Tom said:

Fair enough you look at it in a different way to me given your experience.

The only thing I have real experience of is the realisation that it's too fecking cold to be doing trackdays at this time of year in this country!!

The class I used to race in even got their first meeting moved back to the end of March from about 2009 onwards due to the cold or wet conditions. Being restricted to tyre choice and a No Wets rule meant that the first meeting too early in the season could have a detrimental effect on the grid numbers for the rest of the season

[roboR]

So, did my first ever track day yesterday and it was epic! Can see why people give up riding on the road, it was so much fun.

Anyone want a bit of a track day report?

On a side note, GOD I'M SO SLOW! But it was incredibly fun and I'm already hooked haha.

[Fleegle]

roboR said:

Anyone want a bit of a track day report?

On a side note, GOD I'M SO SLOW! But it was incredibly fun and I'm already hooked haha.

Yep, lets hear it. Always good to hear about peoples first time experience of riding the same strip of tarmac their heroes have raced on

Also, being slow is not a crime first time out or even after 20 times out. The main reason to be there is to have fun, everything else (faster lap times, knee down, confidence in tyres, etc) is a bonus

[hebegb]

It looked very uninviting out there on track at Oulton yesterday , much crashing going on indeed.
I guess some must have been enjoying themselves but I was wearing a bob hat in the car and during the stillage filling for Jerez . It was cold. It is cold and I do not understand what the WD40 BSB team were hoping to achieve there, looked like they barely went out from what I saw...anyway fair play to the " time in the saddle" theorists, but no thanks ...
Not yet, in Britain, anyway !

[roboR]

Fleegle said:

Yep, lets hear it. Always good to hear about peoples first time experience of riding the same strip of tarmac their heroes have raced on

Also, being slow is not a crime first time out or even after 20 times out. The main reason to be there is to have fun, everything else (faster lap times, knee down, confidence in tyres, etc) is a bonus

Ok then! So the track in question is Jerez.

Woke up at 6am and went to meet a bunch of people I'd never met in my life to then follow up to Jerez as we were all sharing a garage. (We're all from Gibraltar, and one of the local garages was taking up 10 peoples bikes so we were all in the same garage. Bought some redbull (No IrnBru sorry!) and drank it was we headed up through the cloudy sky's. As we made it closer the clouds parted and well... I took what I thought was a lovely photo but ended up terribly blurry.



So I got to Jerez and dumped my gear off in garage 12 which we were all in. Bit of a squeeze as we were all in the same pit. But as I have no tire warmers, and nothing exciting I just left my bike next to the wall outside most of the day to leave room for everyone that needed the plugs etc. I did it on my road/only bike which is a CBR600F. The only prep I did was pull some fuses so that the lights didn't go on (the dull light was on, but they didn't activate when you press brake lever etc), taped up lights, and took off the numberplate. I should note that in Spain you clearly don't need to do any of that. There were people riding bikes with the mirrors still on folded in and all their lights working. But this is mine:



First was a briefing of which I didn't understand much of! I speak Spanish but he spoke so fast with an accent that I didn't really follow that much, but one of the people I was with filled me in with the basics. Fast guys went out, inters went out, then I went out with the other novices.

IT WAS EPIC! It felt SO safe. Even though I was going comparatively quicker than I ever go on the road (still slow though ) it just felt safe. I never really felt scared other than the few times I went over the paint etc but they were few and far between. Someone crashed EVERY session, but no session got red flagged because of it. The only bad accident was someone who crashed and broke their clipons... coming out of the garage! The actual track crashes were dealt with fast. I'd see a yellow flag, slow down, go past someone pushing their bike out of the gravel and then carry on.

The annoying thing was not finding anyone to follow. I overtook a few people, including someone going very slowly on a ducati 848. But in general everyone overtook me and then buggered off without me able to keep up for more than a corner or two. Quickest lap time in the first session was a 2:37, and quickest of the day was 2:32. Before anyone attacks me, I didn't time!. There were compulsory transponders for everyone so I happen to have them all. If I read into this (which I know I shouldn't) I noticed that while my lap times were consistently the same (2:34/5 every lap really) my section times were totally different. Ie. In one lap I did section 3 (out of 6) 7 seconds faster, but the other sections a second each slower so it was the same time. It did start raining lightly fairly early on, and was a bit damp all day. However compared to the road the grip is amazing. It felt so safe and secure even with the dampness. This now has made me vow to take instruction next time. I'm not expecting to be the next Rossi, but I'd like to learn the racing line properly, braking points etc. At the moment it was mostly guesswork (I did watch some Jerez laps first, twist of the wrist etc).

Body position was hilarious. I ground my left peg down in the first lap, which scared the hell out of me! And then I knocked the right one off in a later session. But at no point did my knee ever touch the ground so realised that my body position is atrocious. So no knee dragging, but at least there's no chicken strips now! hah.





It's quite funny as looking at the pics, I barely shift out of the seat. But when I was there it felt like I was leaning so far over!

Last session I only did around half the laps. I came up to the corner at the back straight and went over the paint onto the concrete and was half a foot from going into the gravel. This made me realise it was time to call it a day. Came back and packed up my car to leave.

All in all it's the most fun I've had in a long time! I made a load of new mates, got lots of offers to show me stuff next time I'm over and I'm definitely going to go back. I want to get tuition there next time I go so I can learn to do things properly but all in all it's the most fun I've had on a bike. I was chatting to another guy there who had just done his third day and he said he's selling his bike to buy a cheap track only bike already and I can see why. It's more fun thrills than I've ever had on the road, it was epic.

So yeah, hopefully didn't ramble too much!

[Lincsblokey]

SAS Tom said:

I can't imagine the majority of people on a track day being able to keep the heat in slicks and supercorsa's when it's 0 degrees outside. I might be wrong and tell me if I am but given many people on here say not to use warmers on wets because it's hard to keep heat in them doesn't this apply in the same way? For reference the instructors and racers I saw going out were using wets in the morning. The WD40 guys switched to inters for the afternoon.

Given a big percentage of sessions were red flagged in the first 2 laps, there must have been something in common with each crash.

You dont just fit warmers to warm the tyres, its the air in the rim that your warming, thus stabilising tyre pressures so you can set the accurately.

[curlie467]

hebegb said:

It looked very uninviting out there on track at Oulton yesterday , much crashing going on indeed.
I guess some must have been enjoying themselves but I was wearing a bob hat in the car and during the stillage filling for Jerez . It was cold. It is cold and I do not understand what the WD40 BSB team were hoping to achieve there, looked like they barely went out from what I saw...anyway fair play to the " time in the saddle" theorists, but no thanks ...
Not yet, in Britain, anyway !

I was there on Weds and it didn't look inviting then either, WD40 team were there then too and barely moved, think Taz did about 3 laps all day.

[hebegb]

So yeah, hopefully didn't ramble too much!

[/quote]

Great report and glad you discovered the fun to be had ! See if you can get a track time slot only with NoLimits for the Sat, Sun, or Mon next week as loads of us will be over there , if you fancy it - let us know and would be good to see you out there !