Here’s my overdue track day report from my adventures at Road America from 4/19/06-4/21/06. It’s VERY long, but it covers three days at the track. I will post up a link and some photos as soon as the photographer, SliderPhoto.com, gets them all sorted and posted up.
This all started when I was graciously awarded a FREE NESBA track day by Gixxer.com for 4/19. I was already signed up to attend the Learning Curves Racing road race licensing school on 4/21, so being able to get the 19th as a practice day was a definite plus. I planned on using the 19th to practice as this was my first track day of the year, and then just hang out at the track on 20th to observe and socialize...this soon changed.
The weather forecast called for a 30% chance of rain all three days, but they couldn’t have been more wrong. We had beautiful sunshine for all three days that I was there, although it did get cloudy on the 19th and rained just 10 minutes after the last session of the day. Perfect timing.
Wednesday 4/19: I got up at 4am so that I could pack up, and drive the 90 miles to the track. I get to the track about 6:45am due to delays in my start, but plenty of time to get the pit set up and do my final checks on the bike. The sun is shining but it’s still 45 degrees F. We go through tech inspection, and the rider’s meeting, then it’s time for more coffee and a bathroom break prior to the track.
First session of the day, and the Control Riders (CR’s) are making sure everyone is taking it easy due to the temps of the tires and the track. No biggie though, this is a beautiful 4 mile road course, so the scenery is nice. I’ve been at Road America before, so the layout of the track is all too familiar. After two laps of a standing yellow, they are picking up the pace. I’ve been behind a rider that honestly must have gotten in the wrong staging lane, he’s shakey through the turns and can’t pick a line. He was the 2nd bike out, but should have been the 2nd from the last in the slow lane. Once they wave us by, I make short work of passing him and now it’s time to get some heat in the tires so I can kick it up a bit. As I round the last turn onto the main straight, I’m hammering it pretty good. End of the mile long straight, I’m downshifting and hard on the brakes getting ready for the T-1 right hander, when all of the sudden I see shakey-boy coming up on the inside edge of the track. I’m on the outside edge starting to tip it in to the turn, but now I’m thinking…WTF?!
I see his front tire go off into the grass, then a puff of dirt cloud, then his bike (without him) is sliding across the track directly into my path. Due to my speed, I can’t tighten up my line enough to clear his rear tire, so I choose to straighten it up and try to scrub off as much speed as I can before I go into the gravel trap. His bike slide across my path just as I leave the track and I get stopped just short of the gravel. Big relief! I wait for a gap, and then I’m back out on the track. After the session, he apologized and said that he just didn’t realize how fast the turn was coming up…it was his first time on the track and at Road America.
The rest of the day is spent getting faster and faster each lap as I work on my corner speed and body positioning. It was one of the most productive days I’ve had at the track. Due to the limited number of B-group riders (~20) it was easy to get help from the CR’s. The last session of the day was preceded by a light sprinkle which made most of the B-group shy away due to moisture on the track. When we staged for the final session, there were 5 riders and 3 CR’s for the entire 4 mile track. It just doesn’t get any better than that. It never sprinkled/rained again until after our session.
Thursday 4/20: When I got to the track, the sun was shining and forecast was for 70+ degrees. When my friend came to the pits from registration, he informed me that there were only 9 people signed up for the B-group. The I-group was full due to the upcoming CCS races the next day. I couldn’t take it…4 miles of Road America, and only 9 riders…I went and signed up for the day…screw the budget! I continued to work with/without the CR’s and at during the last session of the day, I was able to hook up with one of the CR’s that I’ve worked with in the past. He drug my azz around the track getting faster with every lap. I just kept telling myself to trust the bike and be smooth. It felt so comfortable that I didn’t realized that we had been running lap times of 2min50 sec. When we came off the track, he flipped up his visor, shook his head, and said…â€Dude, you are sooo ready. I’ll bump you to Intermediate if you want itâ€.
I was stoked! I hadn’t even asked to be evaluated for the bump, and yet there it was being offered to me. Hell yeah! I’ll take it! What’s funny is that I almost didn’t even ride on Thursday.
Friday 4/21: I attended my Learning Curves Racing (LCR) school. I had my rear tire go flat during the first practice session, and didn’t realize it until I was turning in for T-5. Rude wake-up call! I got the bike under control and limped it back to the pits. I got a new Michelin Power Race-Medium during our class session, since the Dunlop vendor brought the wrong tires. I managed to get the new tire scrubbed in during our 2nd practice session, and got some confidence in the new tire. I was ready for our exhibition race! During our exhibition race, I was able to pass dam near every other bike except for maybe one or two of the liter bikes. The two prior days of practice gave me a solid edge of the newcomers to Road America. I learned that I love the thrill of passing in a race. My basic thought process was…â€Pass complete…next victim!â€
Overall, it was three days of exhilarating fun and adrenalin pumping action. I owe a big THANK YOU to Gixxer.com for the FREE track day, and to NESBA for making the track available.
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This all started when I was graciously awarded a FREE NESBA track day by Gixxer.com for 4/19. I was already signed up to attend the Learning Curves Racing road race licensing school on 4/21, so being able to get the 19th as a practice day was a definite plus. I planned on using the 19th to practice as this was my first track day of the year, and then just hang out at the track on 20th to observe and socialize...this soon changed.
The weather forecast called for a 30% chance of rain all three days, but they couldn’t have been more wrong. We had beautiful sunshine for all three days that I was there, although it did get cloudy on the 19th and rained just 10 minutes after the last session of the day. Perfect timing.
Wednesday 4/19: I got up at 4am so that I could pack up, and drive the 90 miles to the track. I get to the track about 6:45am due to delays in my start, but plenty of time to get the pit set up and do my final checks on the bike. The sun is shining but it’s still 45 degrees F. We go through tech inspection, and the rider’s meeting, then it’s time for more coffee and a bathroom break prior to the track.
First session of the day, and the Control Riders (CR’s) are making sure everyone is taking it easy due to the temps of the tires and the track. No biggie though, this is a beautiful 4 mile road course, so the scenery is nice. I’ve been at Road America before, so the layout of the track is all too familiar. After two laps of a standing yellow, they are picking up the pace. I’ve been behind a rider that honestly must have gotten in the wrong staging lane, he’s shakey through the turns and can’t pick a line. He was the 2nd bike out, but should have been the 2nd from the last in the slow lane. Once they wave us by, I make short work of passing him and now it’s time to get some heat in the tires so I can kick it up a bit. As I round the last turn onto the main straight, I’m hammering it pretty good. End of the mile long straight, I’m downshifting and hard on the brakes getting ready for the T-1 right hander, when all of the sudden I see shakey-boy coming up on the inside edge of the track. I’m on the outside edge starting to tip it in to the turn, but now I’m thinking…WTF?!
The rest of the day is spent getting faster and faster each lap as I work on my corner speed and body positioning. It was one of the most productive days I’ve had at the track. Due to the limited number of B-group riders (~20) it was easy to get help from the CR’s. The last session of the day was preceded by a light sprinkle which made most of the B-group shy away due to moisture on the track. When we staged for the final session, there were 5 riders and 3 CR’s for the entire 4 mile track. It just doesn’t get any better than that. It never sprinkled/rained again until after our session.
Thursday 4/20: When I got to the track, the sun was shining and forecast was for 70+ degrees. When my friend came to the pits from registration, he informed me that there were only 9 people signed up for the B-group. The I-group was full due to the upcoming CCS races the next day. I couldn’t take it…4 miles of Road America, and only 9 riders…I went and signed up for the day…screw the budget! I continued to work with/without the CR’s and at during the last session of the day, I was able to hook up with one of the CR’s that I’ve worked with in the past. He drug my azz around the track getting faster with every lap. I just kept telling myself to trust the bike and be smooth. It felt so comfortable that I didn’t realized that we had been running lap times of 2min50 sec. When we came off the track, he flipped up his visor, shook his head, and said…â€Dude, you are sooo ready. I’ll bump you to Intermediate if you want itâ€.
Friday 4/21: I attended my Learning Curves Racing (LCR) school. I had my rear tire go flat during the first practice session, and didn’t realize it until I was turning in for T-5. Rude wake-up call! I got the bike under control and limped it back to the pits. I got a new Michelin Power Race-Medium during our class session, since the Dunlop vendor brought the wrong tires. I managed to get the new tire scrubbed in during our 2nd practice session, and got some confidence in the new tire. I was ready for our exhibition race! During our exhibition race, I was able to pass dam near every other bike except for maybe one or two of the liter bikes. The two prior days of practice gave me a solid edge of the newcomers to Road America. I learned that I love the thrill of passing in a race. My basic thought process was…â€Pass complete…next victim!â€
Overall, it was three days of exhilarating fun and adrenalin pumping action. I owe a big THANK YOU to Gixxer.com for the FREE track day, and to NESBA for making the track available.
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