 |
| Home | Forum | Gallery | Classifieds | Calendar | Register | Search | Today's Posts | Mark Forums Read |
21 Jun 09, 02:57 PM
|
#1 (permalink) |
|
Forum Moderator
 
Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: On tour with I Famosi Quattro
Posts: 8,802
Bike: 998SFE; 1098s Tric |
So you've never done a track day ? (My experience and Noobie guide)
Well - you are in good company, as neither had I!
To be honest it had never really appealed to me greatly as i had visions of it just being a free for all frenzy of hoodlums on gixers.....well I was wrong. When the September Ducatisti Trackday was announced I was jointly gently co-erced / bullied in to saying yes by Steve (Imola Duke) and Rod (RodH) and eventually I gave in and agreed reluctantly and with more than a little trepidation. Now when i decide to do something, I will try and do it to the best of my ability so I have spent some time building a track bike out of Sophia...with a old fuel tank, and some track fairings, and a suspension service and professional set up. Now given my position in the site, i figured that it wouldn't be a bad idea to go and do a track day or two before the Ducatisti day for a bit of practice as if i was rubbish at it, i'd never hear the end of it with **** taking from you guys and girls! So quietly, RodH and I arranged a trip down to Phil Bevan Trackdays this weekend at Pembrey... here is my report of the day and hopefully a bit of a guide for complete noobies, which i hope some may find helpful. Thursday Afternoon: Whizzed the wheels off Sophia and took them up to a newly discovered local motorcycle tyre specialists and had some Pirelli Supercorsa BSB tyres fitted 190/55ZR17 SC 1 Front and SC2 Rear (Very soft compound front and medium soft rear). Top job, Top Tyres and a very competitive price - will be using him again! Friday Afternoon Early dart from work, borrowed van (If carlsberg made very slow vans, then this would probably be it) off a mate, loaded the bike in the van together with some bits and pieces and set off for Bristol to pick RodH up. If you are borrowing / hiring a van make sure you get one with tie down hooks to secure the bike down. I would recommend that you take with you as a minimum Bike (obviously) Bike Ramp to load bike in to Van (unless you are feeling impossibly butch) Paddock Stand(s) Fuel Can 20l and Funnel Assortment of ring spanners and allen keys Breaker Bar and Torque Wrench with axle nut sockets Screw Drivers - assorted Some break cleaner and rags Pliers Duct Tape and Zip Ties Tyre Pressure Gauge Camping Chair Cool box with lots of water and lots of energy food Towel Gloves, Boots, Helmet, Leathers& Back Protector Driving Licence (dont forget this! - as you wont be getting anywhere near the track without it) Arrived at Rods at around 5.30 and we loaded up the van with the 916SPS and his kit and awning. All loaded up and ready to go! Saturday - Trackday! Pembrey is just over 100 miles from Rods place and registration at the circuit was between 7.30 and 8.30am. Now given we had the slowest van in christendom we figured we'd better have an early start - we left at 5.30am  ...this was after a very sleepless night for me as i dont mind confessing i was bricking it - particularly as Rod knew his way around Pembrey and he is an ex racer and i really didnlt want to show myself up!! I woke up at 3.00am and just couldn't get back to sleep. We arrived at the circuit dead on 8.30am so it was a mad dash over to the circuit office to sign on and register. This involves telling organiser who you are and then filling out a registration form. They check your licence and you are then given a wrist band and a number board sticker for the bike. Once you have registered you have to go for a safety briefing which in this case was delivered by Alan. This basically goes through the does and don'ts and etiquette of track days - basically no agressive riding / overtakes, no wheelies, no on board bike cameras, noise testing, marshals flags, how to join and leave the circuit. At the end of this briefing, you are given an additional sticker which shows you have attended the briefing and this has to be affixed to the front of the bike. There are three groups - novice, intermediate and fast group, and the groups take it in turns throughout the day so that apart from lunch time, one group is always out on track. At Pembrey each group has about 15 -20 minutes per session so in between sessions you have around 30-40 mins between coming in and then assembling at the holding area to wait to be released back out on to track. After the safety briefing, the novice group are held back for additional chat about the layout of the circuit and some guidance on lines to take around some of the more complex corners. After the briefing, we realised that we had about 20 minutes to get the van unloaded and set up, which we wouldn't have had time to do, so we decided for session 1 just to get the bikes off the van, and fueled and us suited and booted. We happened to have parked up right next to the holding area where the noise testing was being carried out. So rather than waiting to be tested on the way through to the pit lane holding area we wheeled the bikes over and had them tested early - to give us chance to fit the DB killers if we needed them. Now were both a bit confused about this, as we thought the limit at present was 105Db. On testing both bikes were 103Db, and we were told that you are just over the limit, which would suggest that they are working to 102Db which is due to come in at some point in the future. However, we were both let through without having to fit Db killers. We did see a couple of bikes fail though so as a precaution if you are running a race exhaust do get hold of some Db killers just in case. So suited and booted we head out for Session 1. They run two laps under yellow flag to allow everyone to get settled and warm up tyres and at the end of two laps in to the session you are directed in to the pit lane, to show you how to exit the track safely. You proceed to the end of pit lane, and then the marshals release you back on to the track. At the start of each session you have to show the wrist band you were given at sign on, to the marshal before being allowed out on track... The first session for me was a nightmare. I was so nervous i felt sick! I didn't know my way around the circuit and my lines were all wrong. It was so bad, I felt like giving up and pulling in....i was wondering what i was doing here!! I was really tense and the stress levels were high......I needed to relax..... Pembrey is an interesting little circuit - one side of the circuit is fast and sweeping and the otherside is slower and a complex of inter connected bends. Most of the corners are right-handers bar one complex of multiple apex left handers. The left is quite a complicated bend as the exit is blind cant be seen until you are 3/4 of the way around the complex, and the final apex tightens up considerably. On the first hot lap of session I missed the left-hander completely and ended up in the escape road...  .After that little incident, I'm pleased to report that the rest of the 1st session passed without incident and I just spent the time trundling round learning the circuit and picking out some reference points for turn in and braking. I'll be honest i was still a bit dejected at the end of the session one - the incident with the escape road had knocked my confidence. After session 1, we had about 40 minutes to unload the rest of the van and set up the awning. Once we'd done this, we had somewhere to sit and relax and after a drink and some food i felt much better and much more positive. We meade sure we had a bin close to us.... For each session you will probably do between 15 - 17 miles so we tended to splash and dash for each session rather than carry a full fuel load... Note bin trying to leg it in the back ground....... In the morning we had three track sessions, and each session i found that my confidence grew and i was getting faster and faster and I was starting to enjoy it... by lunch I was buzzing..!  No rather than being passed by the pack, I was passing them - picking them off one by one.... I did find i had a bit of mental problem with passing on the brakes in to the corners, which i think was more to do with fear of being turned in on, as the novice group were taking some "interesting" lines. I also found i was braking way later than a lot of the group and that in the corners i was being held up and having to back off. On the straights were evenly matched and I didn't have the power to get past them (mainly R1s / Gixers and a couple of blades). On talking to the instructors they suggested that for the next time i go out on a track day i should look at the intermeditates. In the holding area waiting to go out... At the entrance on to track... Out on track, after my exucrsion in the first session i only had one other "tense" moment in the second session of the afternoon. Cranked over on the left-hander, my foot slipped off the nearside peg...at this point I was hung off the bike, and hooked on to it with my right knee. I managed to climb back on to the bike and keep it off the grass and out of the kitty litter - but it was a bloody close call, and a couple of the guys came up to me afterwards who had seen it and said well done- bloody good save! This part of the circuit is about 110mph.... The final session was fun but i was really tired but i did have some sport with a couple of CBRs and and Gixer 750... So that was it....6 sessions later and it was the end of the day...but what a day, with a roller coaster of emotions...from sheer fear first thing, to absolute elation! My initial fears had faded away, and i had really enjoyed the day, we'd had great weather and by the end of the day I was circulating at the same kind of pace as Rod which i was really pleased with.... I felt more relaxed on the bike, and that was reflected in the way I could move around the bike and turn it, and I generally felt more confident. The day confirmed that the bike is far better than i am and that I will never be Troy Bayliss....but I learnt alot from the experience and i will take elements of what i've learnt that will add to my road riding. It also brought it home to me just how fit the top flight sbk and gp riders are - both physically and mentally. By the end of the day i was absolutely shattered. My best moment is finally getting my knees down on the 998 - as i've never managed to do it yet on this bike.....  Tyres had worked quite hard too.....  If you havent done a trackday before you could do worse than sign up for the Ducatisti one at Pembrey.....its a wonderful experience.... I hope that this thread has maybe inspired some of you to have a go or answered some of the "what do you do" but were too shy to ask questions..... I know i'll be doing some more now, and hopefully I'll get a good nights sleep before the next one. If i could give any advice - it would be dont even think about riding the bike to the circuit - hire a van. You will be mentally and physically exhausted by the end of the day - riding home you will be an accident waiting to happen! and take lots of water with you. Special thanks have to go to Rod and Steve for talking me in to it; Nick for lending me the Van; Lesley for putting up with me about it; Ducati Manchester for some technical advice on set up and loan of a couple of bits and pieces; Kais for setting up the suspension - Andy you did good! its transformed!! and QB for their help with the fairings.
__________________
Aint no fun waitin' round to be a millionaire Last edited by 998gsb; 21 Jun 09 at 03:25 PM. |
|
|
|
21 Jun 09, 03:45 PM
|
#2 (permalink) |
|
Track Day Demon
|
Great write up and it sounds like you had a weekend to remember!
 Very jealous - spent all weekend watching my daughter doing athletics. Daughter - bike, bike / daughter, lovely weather.. I wouldn't have the nerve to say what I would rather be doing, at least not with the wife in earshot.I feel a track day coming on..!
|
|
|
|
| Sponsored Links |
|
Please Register and Log In to remove the advertisements above and see all of the website images.. |
|
21 Jun 09, 05:37 PM
|
#4 (permalink) |
|
Ducati Legend
|
That's just what I needed to hear, really need to break my track day cherry!
It's always the feeling of being the worst there that must stop most people but I guess we all have to start somwhere.
__________________
I'm never wrong, just slightly wide of the mark at times! |
|
|
|
|
21 Jun 09, 06:15 PM
|
#7 (permalink) | |
|
Ducati 1098 Forum Moderator
|
Quote:
2.........Insurance conditions for the TD organisers. |
|
|
|
|
|
21 Jun 09, 06:26 PM
|
#8 (permalink) | ||
|
Dovresti uscire di più!
|
Quote:
Quote:
Did you know that race replica paintjob will raise your insurance premium but a one off handmade paintjob (no matter how complex) not race inspired will not?! |
||
|
|
|
|
21 Jun 09, 07:43 PM
|
#10 (permalink) |
|
Knee Slider
|
Camera's...
Now that sucks as usual insurance companies invent stupid rules.
Not really, we've looked at it many times but it's not worth the hassle. We have to take out extra insurance cover, then the bikes whould have to be checked over ( documented / signed off ) then people notice them on track and start playing about infront / behind them and then someone gets filmed crashing / knocking someone off. And then it gets posted un the internet. ''Mega bike crash at PB Pembrey trackday'' Then the riders concerned start sueing each other 'cos they think they can get a quick buck and you get summoned to court as a witness. Then you change your mind destroy the film. So u get done for destroying / tampering with evidence. In the same sinario, we've all recently seen what happens when this situation arises on the public roads.... Camera's ? No ta. |
|
|
|
|
21 Jun 09, 08:41 PM
|
#12 (permalink) |
|
Club Racer
|
Think you are good on the track?
Go racing. That way if you are any good then you at least get confirmation for it. Trackdays bug me these days but racing is that free-for-all you were expecting, at least it was when I was there. That talk about 'aggressive' overtaking is playing with heads, but what I have seen a lot of is bikes that aren't worth £500 being taken out on a trackday, I mean, whats the point? Does a rash of trackdays make you poor? Seeing those cheapo bikes made me question the value of trackdays more than anything and I'm sure you saw some too at Pembrey. There are practically no budget outfits at a New Era meet because dustbin racing doesn't work, but a trackday doesn't have winners or losers, well no winners but plenty of losers. Your bikes looked good on the day but lets wait a year or so and see what they are like then.
__________________
"Four valves good, two valves better" - George Orwell |
|
|
|
|
21 Jun 09, 08:47 PM
|
#13 (permalink) |
|
Forum Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: On tour with I Famosi Quattro
Posts: 8,802
Bike: 998SFE; 1098s Tric |
Im a bit confused luckyskua....i never said that i was good on the track - in fact completely the opposite!
I have to say i didn't see any "dustbin" bikes at Pembrey - they were all modern superbikes and all looked well loved and maintained.... I dont agree with you about there being no winners either at a track day...I went away from there very happy, and i learnt a lot about the performance envelope of my bike - mainly that it was way better than i was.... As for what it will look like in years time....well thats precisely why i spent the time and some money taking all the road fairings off it, and put cheaper track panels and tank on.......
__________________
Aint no fun waitin' round to be a millionaire |
|
|
|
|
21 Jun 09, 09:21 PM
|
#14 (permalink) | |
|
Dovresti uscire di più!
|
Quote:
I must say does make sense. However  I would prefer an extra form to fill which states no one will try to sue over a video taken during TD or will try to get the video owner involved in any such proceedings. Also I would add the copy rights disclosure so that before they can use the video as evidence they would have to own the rights to it.That should solve it if in US sue crazy country they can do it.... When such form would exist I would still add that only cameras which are well hidden are allowed to not encourage stupid behaviour. Do you allow filming from outside as that can also be posted on the internet as “mate’s crash and Pembry” with the same effect. |
|
|
|
|
|
21 Jun 09, 09:33 PM
|
#15 (permalink) | ||
|
Ducati 1098 Forum Moderator
|
If you're trying to make a point, it went completely over my head luckyskua.
Quote:
Quote:
|
||
|
|
|
 |
«
Previous Thread
|
Next Thread
»
| Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | |
| Thread Tools | |
|
|
All times are GMT. The time now is 01:34 AM.
| Featured Dealer | |||||||
|
| Today's Posts -
Contact Us -
Donate -
Home Page -
Top
|
|
