Ron Haslam Race School

[David.Hicks]

Originally Posted by 998gsb

Just booked my session at the Race School - couldn't get in the same day unfortunately David - mines on the 4th September instead.....never mind - your still welcome to come and stay though if you want.....

Thanks for the offer Gav but the Mrs wants to come too and we are travelling up tomorrow morning.

I can't wait

[David.Hicks]

So I did the Premier class at the Ron Haslam Race School yesterday and thought I'd let everyone know what I thought.

Overall it was very well organised, it felt very safe and I enjoyed it a lot ....

but I was disappointed that I didn't learn as much as I expected.

I've thought about it a bit, and I reckon there are a few things worth mentioning ...

This was my first time on a track and the main impression I got was that compared with the road there is so much space that the main problem as you go round is knowing whereabouts on the huge width of ashphalt you should be at any point in time and how to get your bike there ... even when you have an instructor in front of you demonstrating the racing line and cones as markers

It was more difficult than I expected, but it was what I was there to learn so I don't see that as something that could have been any different. I enjoyed the challenge

However, there were a few other factors that perhaps made it more difficult for me to learn and improve than it could have been ...

First the size and complexity of the track - the full Donington GP circuit is awesome but it has a lot of corners and most of them are very technical. I had no hope of learning any of it in the time available. In hindsight I would recommend other track virgins to pick a smaller, simpler track for their first time out.

Secondly the amount of track time that I had was just three 15 min sessions and the first one of those was actually a lot less. The other student I was with was so slow that we had to pit after the first lap and give him to another instructor, and then the session was stopped short when someone crashed (he was OK but that was the end of his day apart from the p*ss taking). More track time would definitely have helped.

Then there was the bike ... CBR600RR. Superb machine, about the same size as my 996SPS but much lighter and quicker steering. However, I haven't ridden an IL4 in years and the differences compared to my bike were quite a distraction. A lot of my attention was focused on the bike - being in the right gear, how good the breaks were etc. Before I went I was glad that I was going to be on someone else's bike, because I was scared on binning my SPS. In hindsight however, I think I would have been better off on my own bike, even though the CBR was undoubtedly more forgiving of my mistakes than my SPS would have been. On my own bike I would have been able to focus much more of my attention on the track and less on the machine.

The last thing was the quality of the 'instructor' - unfortunately I didn't think mine was very good. After the first session I was 'one-to-one' with him and I thought "Great, what an opportunity". Unfortunately it turned-out that his approach to teaching was pretty-much just 'follow me'. He didn't even explain what he was doing beforehand and exaggerate his movements out on the track for me to see like the Police instructors do on the Bike Safe courses on the road. At the end of each track session he asked me what I thought of it, pointed out where I had been missing apexes and then disappeared pretty sharpish leaving me to wait around for the classroom session. He then reappeared just as the next track session was about to start, asked me if I was OK, jumped on his bike and waited for me at the end of pit lane. The only advice I got from him was that I needed to improve my body position on the bike and be more accurate on the racing line. Before the third and final track session I even asked him what he thought I should focus on in order to improve the most and he just said the names of couple of corners. I didn't find any of it very helpful.

It suppose it could be that I was so crap that he thought that more advanced pointers would be wasted on me but I wasn't the slowest out there and I eaves-dropped on a few other instructors with their students and got the impression that they were more articulate and were doing a bit more 'teaching'. Of course I could be totally wrong on this. I have no other first-hand experience of track tuition to judge it against, but I thought that the other instructors who did the 'clinics' were better than the one I had. I also have plenty of experience of good and bad trainers through my job and he just didn't stack-up very well at all. I recognised his name as a bike tester from one of the magazines and I wonder if working at the Ron Haslam Race School is just a bit of a side-line for him. He was clearly a bloody good rider, but just coz you know how to do something yourself it doesn't necessarily follow that you know how to teach someone else how to do it. The classroom session on how to sit on the bike was useful but aside from that it seemed to me that the improvements that I made from session to session were largely down to what I had managed to glean for myself.

So - with the benefit of all my experience .... .... what advice would I give a track virgin? ....

1. Go with a reputable company who are well organised and safety conscious
2. Make it as simple as you can - pick a small track, not a full national circuit
3. Use your own bike - don't be scared of dropping it coz you won't (unless you are an absolute tw*t)
4. Maximise your time on track
5. If you want tuition, ask about the approach and the teaching skills of your instructor

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the day ... and I shouldn't look a gift-horse in the mouth, as it was a present from my wife and I love her hugely

With the benefit of hindsight however, I have to wonder whether the California Superbike School (CSS) would have given me more of what I was after. They use smaller circuits, they seem to focus more on actually teaching and they structure it more into progressive learning steps. According to the website, all CSS coaches are actually trained how to teach - I really don't think this is the case of the 'instructors' at the Ron Haslam Race School. In fact I would describe it as actually more of a 'track experience' than a true 'school'. The costs of the two are about the same. A full day at CSS (5 x 20 min sessions and 5 classroom clinics), costs £319 on your own bike or £518 on one of their R6s, compared to £249 for half a day (3 x 15 min sessions and 2 classroom clinics) at the Ron Haslam Race School on a CBR.

Having had the experience of the Ron Haslam Race School I'm afraid to say that I wouldn't go back ... either for the Premier class again or for the Elite class (1:1 on Fireblades with datalogging).

I reckon I'm going to get some track-day experience on my own bike and then go to CSS if I want some tuition 8)

[RodH]

That doesn't sound too impressive David, it will be interesting to hear Gav's views, after he does his next week.

I've never done the Ron Haslam school, so cannot really comment, but I have done 3 California Superbike School courses, two here and one in the US. The CSS courses were really good, with lots of tuition on & off track, and loads of quality track time. The two UK ones were done on my own bike, which as you suggested makes a big difference. Shame you had such a time, but bounce back and sign up for the Level 1 CSS and I'd be very surprised if you don't get a lot from it.

[998gsb]

Ooh dear....that doesn't sound too encouraging David - I'm nervous enough about it as it is - my RHRS day is tuesday next week - I'll let you know how I get on......

[Ghost]

Great post David, I had been thinking about the Haslam school as every now and again Mr Leon is available, but prob not through the BSB season.

So I think I will now make my booking for next year with the CSS at Rockingham as this years dates seem pretty well subscribed to

Phil

[harriebird]

i stayed away from this because of the cost and the limited track time.

my first track experience was silverstone on a normal track day, for about £100. this was the right route for me, there were lots of instructors available on the day to ask for help.

i think i know who you're on about David, and i think he was at the trackday i did with phil620 before my race at Donington. the instructors and general organisation that day (trackday booked/organised by the circuit) were the worst i have ever experienced, i complained about one guy who was (i kid you not) doing lifesavers, mirror checks and wearing sparky knee sliders, and NOTHING was said.

[deej]

wow thats completely different to what ive experienced there and ive been 3 times now and never complained once as ive loved, will see if i can find my write up on swb so people can compare. i did the elite course in may for my 30th and it was awesome and ive twice done the cbr6 course. regarding learning the tracks i tend to play computer games to get a idea of where the circuit goes. ive always found the instructors very friendly and helpful and i learnt shed loads of them.

guess you just had a bad day out which is a shame.

[deej]

right guys whilst i have 5 minutes i'll write up waht i can remember from when i did the premier courses on the cbr6rr's.

i turned up and it was a bit damp but tried not to let this worry me. went into the paddock suite and registered/signed on. we were then taken into the briefing room and given a 30 minute chat about what to expect from the day,how to behave,track safety,clothing,safety flags and lights. all the legal stuff to protect them and also to protect you whilst out on track. didnt seem to drag on for too long either, guess i was excited.

then we were taken out into pit lane where all the bikes were lined up.you were assigned a bike number at signing on and that was your bike for the day (helps the t/d photographer too, LOL). you were then called out by number and assigned a instructor for the day,based on 2 pupils per instructor, i was lucky i had ian mcconnachie(the last brit to win a british gp) and didnt get 1 of the journalist wannabe racers. we went off to our bikes,had a introdcutory chat about our riding experiences and what we were after for the day. i said confidence and knee down, he gave me that typical 1 of them wannabee kinda looks,i got nervous he made a joke about it and off we went,i started the bike and rode off down pitlane for my first ride on a track, i was quite nervous to start with and soon settled down as we didnt seem to be going that fast,you have 2 slow laps to learn the track then they increase the speed. we did about 6 laps in total and came back into the pits. hwen your out on track they have 3 different colour cones placed at every corner, theres a red cone to indicate the start of the braking area, a yellow cone indicates the turn in point and the green cone is the apex and the only cone you need to aim for. this was a great idea and worked really well. the other good thing they do is gaffer tape over the speedo so your not worried about what speed your doing.

we were then taken into a garage and had the shutters pulled down so we werent distracted by what was going on outside. as your on track theres another group in the garages and then vice versa, the bonus of this is that your tyres dont go cold as someone else will be out on your bike. right back to inside the garage which was where it got interesting and i learnt a lot. thsi breifing was about body positioning, a instructor got on the bike and showwed you were top position yourseles, knees on tank, feet on outside of pegs,elbow down and head positioning. i learnt a lot form this but more importantly they talked about having the ability to look through the corner past the apex and not look at the apex as your passing it. they plucked a guy out to demo what he'd be shown and he was very nervous,stiff in fact and hardly moved. they called me up next up and i though [censored] it up ive paid me money and im going to learn as much as i can so i hopped onto the bike(which was up on paddock stands) got comfy then got into the position the showed me and i leant so far off i nearly toppled the bike off the stands lol that was it for lesson no2 it was now out onto track to practice what i'd just been shown

out on to the track we went, i love left handers and thought the 1 place i'd get my knee down would be goddards,the final corner. we went out and increased the pace,getting quicker each lap and i could really feel the difference of what they'd taught me between the 1st and 2nd session. i was loving it but still no knee down action but my confidence was growing especially in right handers. 2 laps from the end of that session it finally happened and i got ky knee down just when i'd given up on it. suprisingly it wasnt at goddards,it was at redgate and on my right knee as well !!! from then on i was getting quicker and more confident and trying everywhere but could only manage redgate and the melbourne loop

back into the pits we came and into the garage where this time they taught us about race craft,lines,barking mnarkers passing places etc. picked up some more good advice and learnt there was a little white line on the entry to coppice which is what most racers used.

back out on track for the thrid and final time, what an absolute blast that was, the speed was increased and our pairing was 1 of the fastest out there,we'd improved that much in the space of a morning that it was quite unreal. i had my knee down everywhere there wasnt a corner i didnt get the knee down on i even wore down the toe slider at redgate and the melbourne loop.the instructors lead you in the first 2 sessions but in the third ian sat behind me to watch me and see how much i'd improved. ian was a absolute legend and not full of himself,he was very approachable and full of knowledge,he gave us lots of good little pointers as the day had gone on and was well impressed with my improvement. i absolutely loved it and came back in buzzing desperate to get back out onto track but it was day over on track

the day was ended with a final de-briefing where we were all assessed in our little group and our instructors had filled in a certificate with a few comments on it. there were a few good scores like 85 -90 out of 100 so i was absolutely gobsmacked when ian scored me 98/100 and i won a free onfire ron haslam t shirt. we were all then given a little presentation pack full of honda gufff,bridgestone stickers and other promotional stuff. overall a thoroughly good day was had and i was absolutely knackered and slept almost all the way home. i'd recommend the day to anyone and would also say that the dvd doesnt do the day justice so if your toying with it,dont just get on and book it LOL !!!

[RodH]

Hey congrats deej, well done. Sound like you had a good time & did well. Seems like you probably had a beeter instructor than david.hicks did.


BTW.......come on David, what score did you get ?