The trackday thread.

[johnnyrod]

No idea who that was, and was it a silver pointy? Older guy? Bad luck about binning it, I take some spares but don't think I had a gear lever anyway. Mine already has a bolt in it!

[The Gnome]

It was the tall dude on the blue new SV,in garage 10, it seems the new ones still suffer from soft front ends. Just booked Cadwell for 17th Oct.

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by johnnyrod

... Turned out I was in the fast group, first time for everything! Only two guys slower than me but one of them you could have passed on a mountain bike.

Did you ask to be in the fast group or just end up there?

[johnnyrod]

No, the arrangement was to fill the forms in and they'd allocate you a group. I can't remember how it worked last time, think I chose inters as usual. Anyhoo when I found out I was told it would be no problem to change, and there did seem to be fewer bikes than usual on track, so I just went with it.

[Red Herring]

The reason I asked is that certain trackday organisers are in the habit of selling as many spaces as they can and fill all the groups regardless of rider abilities which can sometimes cause issues. The flip side is that it should help keep costs down as they get more bums on seats, only I don't see that reflected in the cost of their trackday.....

Their argument is that if you're experienced enough to be that fast you should be able to deal with the mobile chicane you meet in the middle of Maggots but I'm not convinced the practice enhances the experience for either rider involved.....

[johnnyrod]

True though you also get ringers booking themselves in whatever group is available, or people who just like riding in the novices so they can overtake everyone. I am conscious of getting in peoples' way (and 80bhp at Silverstone is a bit like bringing a knife to a gunfight) but half the problem there is speed and the other half is consistency - if you ride a predictable racing line then it's easy for someone faster to overtake you. Overall my experiences with TDs organised by Silverstone themselves have been very positive, much better than the likes of Focused, No Limits etc. and I felt like they knew what they were doing.

[The Gnome]

I agree about Silverstone and the travelling marshals/instructors did say that they saw anyone too good for that group, they would bump them up a group and tbh I put myself in the situation of going in the White group, because of a big track and on the SV, tho this was never a issue apart from the straights where it shouldnt be an issue.

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by johnnyrod

... I am conscious of getting in peoples' way (and 80bhp at Silverstone is a bit like bringing a knife to a gunfight) but half the problem there is speed and the other half is consistency - if you ride a predictable racing line then it's easy for someone faster to overtake you.

And that is exactly the point that needs making to these organisers. A rider on a slower bike (lets take your SV as an example) is not a danger providing they are experienced enough to hold a steady line. The problem with putting inexperienced riders in the experienced or "fast" group is that they take erratic and unpredictable lines and this is what causes the problems.

[johnnyrod]

Yep. Last time I rode with Focused they basically didn't give a toss about what was going on on the track. Control of track days isn't the greatest.

[L3nny]

I had this at Mallory the other week. Inters was full so I booked into novice. Maybe I shouldn't have done but I'm normally in the slowest 10% of inters and am happy to adjust my riding to suit the group.

There was one guy, who was on an SV (hello if you're on here). Obviously first track day and not very confident and was pretty slow. This shouldn't be a problem if everyone else was around the same level and overtook him in turn where it was safe to do so.

The problem was people such as myself would queue up behind him then you'd get the Rossi wannabees who also couldn't get into inters either, come shooting past the whole queue hard on the brakes going into the hairpin trying to overtake everyone in one go.

You'd have thought the on track instructors would have seen this and had a word? No. They were the worst culprits.

When I go to track days I'm just there for fun but some people take it way to seriously and an instructor, who is a seasoned racer, isn't going to understand some people don't care about lap times.

Luckily there were no accidents and everyone went home safe but I for one had to make a few evasive manoeuvres to keep it that way.