Track Day Adventures and Racing
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09-25-2007 | 04:20 AM
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Track Day Adventures and Racing
I don't see a great deal posted on this subject so I'm going to share my track day and racing experiences with you all. (If you're interested)
A little back ground. I returned to the track about 2 years ago andprimarily ride at Jennings GP, located in Jennings, Florida. I was recently hired as a control rider/instructor, and along with a few other CR's, we show newbs (novice riders)the track and instruct them on safe riding which includes, lines, body position, tires, throttle control etc, etc. The control rider program at JGP is probably the best in the nation and it does not cost you any more. I ride an R1 and a 636,with the R1 being primarily a CR bike and the 636 is the haul *** bike. Yes,more often than not a 600 is faster than a liter bike, think about it. The track record is 1:14:51 by Geoff May on a GSXR1000. My best time there is 1:24:29on a stocksuspension. (it's been drasticly upgraded since then, remember...suspension IS everything). I intend to race in the upcoming season starting with the SRRS race on the 14th of October and will eventually wind up in WERA or CCS or both.
I am one of the very few people that ride a Kawi at the track, I don't own a street bike (haven't ridden on the street in two years) with the most popular track bike being the GSXR600 & 1000, followed by the R6 and R1 and Honda somewhere in the mix. Of course you see every bike in the spectrum out there, Duc's, Triumph's, MV's, Motards, Aprillia........you get the picture.But the most facinating thing about the track are the people. There aren't to many sports where a guy will loan you amotoror help you in some way, then go out and race against you. The nicest people show up to the track and it's just a great experience all around. A lot of people camp out there and we drink and talk and have a blast.
Stop me when this gets boring, (or ****ing don't read it).
Moving right along, the last two track weekends have been alot of fun. lots of red flags two weeks ago butit's pretty rare we have a "red flag fest". Ironicly, the last track day with zero red flags was an all womans track day!!! KUDOS TO THE GALS!! Serious injuries are rare, and there is a top notch medical team at the track at all times along with buku corner workers (we love you guys). You are required to wear all the proper gear, of course, and your bike must be properly prepped. I've seen guys wreck so bad, thier bikesare broken in two or three pieces and caried back to the pits in a bucket loader, but they have no injury at all!!! The run-off is wonderful at JGP with a top speed on the back stretch of over 150 mph!!! We rarely know our top speeds for two reasons; 1)most race bikes have no speedo and 2)who the hell is looking at thier speedometer when you're going that fast and there's a pretty sharp kink coming up? Uh huh. There are usually 3 classes of riders, Novice, Intermidiate and Expert, riding 15 minute sessions all day long. That doesn't seem like a long time, but bring your happy asses out there and try riding ***** to the wall for 15 minutes, jeez I'm getting old.
Once in a while you get to meet some famous people at the track. My best experience was talking with AMA racer Josh Herrin, the 16 year old wunderkind. He is sponsored by Graves Yamaha and his Dad is his crew chief and his mom beats off the track lizards (ask and I'll tell you) with a stick LOL. The guy is real personable and certainly built a fan base with many of us when he took the time to answer our stupid questions and just shoot the ****.
Ok, about Roebling Road..fastest track I've ever been on, jeez man throttle wide open looking for 7th 8th and 9th gear!!! But those tree reinforced burms cause you to think "whoa, what the hell am I doing"....Nice track, but I'll lose every race there, I guarantee it.
What's next? Daytona in March with Team Hammer, I'll let you know how that goes.
OK OK, I'll wrap it up with this. Track riding is awesome and I hope everyone gets a chance toeventually try it.ItIS motorcycling (sportbike)in it's purest form and you won't regret it. If you have any questions feel free to ask and I'll help anyway I can.
The next track days I will attend will be Oct 13th-15th. I will report back to you then, in the meantime, hope you enjoy the slideshow.(thats me on the black 636 # 88 on the Jennings poster. (it's a rough draft, final show is still in prodution)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mysToXEugw
A little back ground. I returned to the track about 2 years ago andprimarily ride at Jennings GP, located in Jennings, Florida. I was recently hired as a control rider/instructor, and along with a few other CR's, we show newbs (novice riders)the track and instruct them on safe riding which includes, lines, body position, tires, throttle control etc, etc. The control rider program at JGP is probably the best in the nation and it does not cost you any more. I ride an R1 and a 636,with the R1 being primarily a CR bike and the 636 is the haul *** bike. Yes,more often than not a 600 is faster than a liter bike, think about it. The track record is 1:14:51 by Geoff May on a GSXR1000. My best time there is 1:24:29on a stocksuspension. (it's been drasticly upgraded since then, remember...suspension IS everything). I intend to race in the upcoming season starting with the SRRS race on the 14th of October and will eventually wind up in WERA or CCS or both.
I am one of the very few people that ride a Kawi at the track, I don't own a street bike (haven't ridden on the street in two years) with the most popular track bike being the GSXR600 & 1000, followed by the R6 and R1 and Honda somewhere in the mix. Of course you see every bike in the spectrum out there, Duc's, Triumph's, MV's, Motards, Aprillia........you get the picture.But the most facinating thing about the track are the people. There aren't to many sports where a guy will loan you amotoror help you in some way, then go out and race against you. The nicest people show up to the track and it's just a great experience all around. A lot of people camp out there and we drink and talk and have a blast.
Stop me when this gets boring, (or ****ing don't read it).
Moving right along, the last two track weekends have been alot of fun. lots of red flags two weeks ago butit's pretty rare we have a "red flag fest". Ironicly, the last track day with zero red flags was an all womans track day!!! KUDOS TO THE GALS!! Serious injuries are rare, and there is a top notch medical team at the track at all times along with buku corner workers (we love you guys). You are required to wear all the proper gear, of course, and your bike must be properly prepped. I've seen guys wreck so bad, thier bikesare broken in two or three pieces and caried back to the pits in a bucket loader, but they have no injury at all!!! The run-off is wonderful at JGP with a top speed on the back stretch of over 150 mph!!! We rarely know our top speeds for two reasons; 1)most race bikes have no speedo and 2)who the hell is looking at thier speedometer when you're going that fast and there's a pretty sharp kink coming up? Uh huh. There are usually 3 classes of riders, Novice, Intermidiate and Expert, riding 15 minute sessions all day long. That doesn't seem like a long time, but bring your happy asses out there and try riding ***** to the wall for 15 minutes, jeez I'm getting old.
Once in a while you get to meet some famous people at the track. My best experience was talking with AMA racer Josh Herrin, the 16 year old wunderkind. He is sponsored by Graves Yamaha and his Dad is his crew chief and his mom beats off the track lizards (ask and I'll tell you) with a stick LOL. The guy is real personable and certainly built a fan base with many of us when he took the time to answer our stupid questions and just shoot the ****.
Ok, about Roebling Road..fastest track I've ever been on, jeez man throttle wide open looking for 7th 8th and 9th gear!!! But those tree reinforced burms cause you to think "whoa, what the hell am I doing"....Nice track, but I'll lose every race there, I guarantee it.
What's next? Daytona in March with Team Hammer, I'll let you know how that goes.
OK OK, I'll wrap it up with this. Track riding is awesome and I hope everyone gets a chance toeventually try it.ItIS motorcycling (sportbike)in it's purest form and you won't regret it. If you have any questions feel free to ask and I'll help anyway I can.
The next track days I will attend will be Oct 13th-15th. I will report back to you then, in the meantime, hope you enjoy the slideshow.(thats me on the black 636 # 88 on the Jennings poster. (it's a rough draft, final show is still in prodution)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mysToXEugw
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