Talladega GP track day *PICS*

[DealsGap]

Here are a few pics of my first track day last month.



Heres a shot from my first session in Intermediate.



This is the second lap of my first session in Novice, so I was still a little tense and hadnt really picked up the pace yet.



Heres a shot from my last session on the second day. Im trying (and failing) to keep up with my buddy Jacob who was turning some of the fastest times in the expert group that day. Pretty big difference between Saturday morning and Sunday evening.

Heres how things went down:

The event lasted 2 days. For any rider who has never done a track day, registration for the novice class is mandatory. With the novice class comes on track and classroom instruction. The instruction was quality. They went over the basics of riding positions, the racing line, braking techniques, sight, passing, and other points of interest. The riding in the novice group was pretty restricted, especially in the morning sessions, but I didnt mind getting acquainted to the whole experience slowly. After the second session I was asked to get rid of my sparky knee sliders (apparently the corner workers though I was dragging hard parts and not my knee), and to move up to the Intermediate group, since I was lapping everyone a few times per session. I finished out saturday in the Intermediate group and was very pleased, as there were about half of the number of riders on the track in that group, and I didnt have to do as much passing, since most people were riding a decent pace. By this time I had gotten 100% comfortable and was really focusing on riding fast and smooth. Sunday brought rain the majority of the day so I got in some valuable rain practice. By sunday afternoon the track dried out extremely quickly and I was able to get in a few sessions at race pace. A few friends of mine from a local race team decided to jump into the Intermediate group since the expert group was finished for the day and they couldnt resist the dry track, so I got to spend some time trying to chase them around. By the last few sessions on sunday I was turning times faster than much of the Expert field, which I was very pleased to hear for my first track experience. All in all it was the most fun ive ever had. Being able to ride 100% in a controlled environment is worth every penny, and I was able to push my limits and work on things I wouldnt be able to safely do on the street. I'll be at my next track day in 1 week, and i'll be taking some video footage.

I encourage anyone that has even the slightest interest in doing a track day to go for it. The only downside is riding on the street loses a lot of its luster.

[tran_nsx]

awesome turns man. hopefully i can do a track day one time before the end of this year.

[o|||||||o]

Looks like you had a good time. Nice pics!

[aussieidiot]

very sweet!!!!

what was your top speed on the day.

i mounted a sony cyber shot camera to my tank on my last track day to record about 6 laps. worked well.

[DealsGap]

I should have been around 130 before braking on the back straight.

I borrowed a camcorder and spy camera kit today, so i'll be shooting some footage at VIR this weekend.

[Z_Fanatic]

nice! just a stupid question, how far were you hanging off and any idea how fast you were going through those turns?

recently I started to hang off slightly, and it seems I managed to oversteer the bike into the inside line every time.

great stuff.

[DealsGap]

Originally Posted by Z_Fanatic

nice! just a stupid question, how far were you hanging off and any idea how fast you were going through those turns?

recently I started to hang off slightly, and it seems I managed to oversteer the bike into the inside line every time.

great stuff.

I was going about 70 in the bottom picture, and the fastest corner on that particular track was right at 100. The bottom picture is a good example of my typical body position. The middle picture I was a bit too vertical with my upper body, but that was only my second lap on a racetrack, so I was a bit tense.

Just keep practicing hanging off, eventually you'll never know how you got by without it.

[Aluli]

Looks totally scary!!!!! LOL!!

Great job...Awesome pictures!!!!

[aussieidiot]

hey Z, don't be to concerned if you don't knee slide. not everyone does it. although it appears quicker, your riding style may not suit it.

i actually twist around the tank so if i'm turning left, my right knee holds onto the bike and my right thigh is on the seat. my left knee is up near the indicator and my backs to the corner.

one of the guys who rund my bike shop also races and he has never knee slider'd in all his racing years. he has a similar style to mine

[Z_Fanatic]

in the streets, I'd never knee drag, it never really comes to that point. but I recently tried to emulate what you described, hehe. the most I'll go is above 20 mph the limit in 25-35 mph turns. mostly because there's always gravels, oils, dirt, puddle of water, construction workers, blind corners, trucks that cross the double yellow, and ungenerous cops hanging around that residential road.

I read an article that when hanging off, the rider should be limber enough to wrap himself around the bike, so even if he let goes of the bars, his body should be able to hang on, if not, he's actually hanging onto the bars and that's not good. I think to myself, that's crazy, I can't even hang on in that position while the bike is in its kickstand. Also with bar-risers, I need to have my arms up there with good grasp while shifting weight.

anyway, coming onto on a long stretch of straight road, last night some dickhead on a black mustang tried to pass a car in front of him just to overtake, he didn't bother looking and was heading right for me, I braked fast as I could, and eventually I guess he caught a glimpse of my lamp and went back to his lane. I felt like oh shit, this was my 15 mins of fame. I'm never going to switch back to low-beam, even at night.

[R1-rider]

Not being able to knee slide is not something you should worry about. I know many people who can knee slide on a very slight lean just by holding their knee further away from the bike because of the posture they have while turning. It is not so much about having the exact form you see a WSB rider demonstrating while riding, its about being comfortable on your bike in a position during a hard turn. While yes, certain ergos are ultimately better for turning, it might not sit with you and make you slower on the track (and more dangerous also).

The only thing it does for me is give me a good idea of how hard my lean is, but does nothing to tell me if I can lean further or not. As almost ever turn is different, being on a crest means my lean or speed must be less, and being on a dip means i can go for more. It is all about comfort again with your riding abilities, and your familiarness with the track you are racing on.

And for street riding, it should never really come down to knee sliding. I know of only a couple roads that you would consider doing it on, and even then it is still dangerous because the roads are not professionaly maintained like a race track.

[aussieidiot]

i'm amazed at how some people can knee slide on the some corners.

i can scrape my toe sliders and hero knobs yet my knee comes nowhere near sliding