So to give them an outing, and to finish off the season, last weekend I booked myself onto a last minute track day at Oulton Park - http://www.motorsportvision.co.uk/oulto ... n-park.asp
When I got there at eight o'clock there were so few bikes near the check-in point, I actually wondered if the event had been cancelled. Fortunately it hadn't, it was just that the weather forecasts had scared some riders off. Anyway, their loss was our gain. There were so few of us that we were split into just two groups, (novices and others) and as a result we’d get more track time. I couldn’t wait.
Safety briefing over, I took off my mirrors and taped up my lights, speedo and number plate; lowered my tyre pressures to 30 front 34 rear, and cranked my preload up to max. Good to go.
I need to get a Ducati to match my leathers..
The first session passed in a blur. 20 minutes? It felt more like 5. Oh well, with only two groups it should only be 20 mins to wait for the next session.
Back in the pit garage I got chatting with two Scottish lads (Andy & Paul) – who were both riding race prepped Honda CBR600s. I’d been talking to them for a few minutes when I realised that if they were in the garage at the same time as me, they must be in the novice group. Hang on a minute - novices? These guys were doing track days every other week. Turns out they’d never been to Oulton Park before so they’d put novice on the form.
So the next session I decided to follow them out, to see what I could learn. Twenty minutes later, I’d learnt that CBR600s are bloody fast - but not that much faster, (around Oulton Park at least) than me and my black beauty. I managed to stay with the slower of the two for almost the whole session, and only got dropped off when we started to lap slower riders. This is where their experience came to the fore, as they went effortlessly past while I, being the novice got held up time and again. Great lesson though.
Paul
Andy
(Just a quick note here. I know it can be dangerous to try to keep up with riders that are much better than you. That said - as a lesson in how to behave on the track it was fantastic for me. They went steady at first and never seemed to hurry - but by the end they were flying. They held much better lines than me, and I’m sure I was smoother and faster, (and felt much safer and more confident) than I would have been on my own.)
So back in the garage to wait for the third session, I looked at my watch and was amazed to find it was only half past ten. Blinking heck! – 2 sessions down already and at this rate, another 6 or 7 to go.
Sadly, in the third session it started to rain. Not hard, but enough to dispel any thoughts of knee down cornering and last second braking. Everyone slowed down. Sadly, some didn’t slow down enough, and suddenly the yellow flags were out as a couple of riders went too hot into Druids’ (a deceptive double apex right hander) and parked their bikes in the gravel. No real damage, but an ignominious end to their session.
A couple of laps later another rider lost it coming out of Druids’ and this time he wasn't so lucky. His nice new R1 high-sided, and went bouncing end over end into the catch fence. Red flags came out – back to the pits - medics to the scene. The rider was Ok, but his bike was completely totalled.
5 minutes later, we were back out, but this time under constant red/yellow flags (= slippery surface). Despite the warnings someone else lost control on the very next lap, and binned it completely at Knickerbrook. The red flags came out again and this time the session was ended for good. Probably about time.
Note the spray
By this point it was raining hard, and I was interested to see how the experienced group would handle the slippery conditions. The answer was very well indeed. In fact some of them didn’t appear to have noticed it was raining at all. They were still flying down the home straight at quite ridiculous speeds, and apart from the appearance of a couple of paddock jackets worn over the leathers, there was little discernable change. Oh well, that’s why they’re in the advanced group I guess.
Just leaving the garage for another wet session (glove off to allow wristbands to be checked)
By now we were ready for our next session, and it was really raining. I let my tyres get warmed up again, and then really started to enjoy myself. I still had loads of grip (Pilot Road 2s in case you’re wondering) and I was hardly holding back at all. I went through the pack like a dose of salts, and came up behind the two Hondas in no time. Sitting behind them it was clear that the rain had taken the edge off their pace, and after a few corners I slipped past the slower of the two (Paul) quite easily. The faster one, (Andy) wasn't so accomodating. I overtook him coming out of Druids’ but he immediately took me back on the straight, and gave me a lesson in late breaking into Lodge (a tightening right hander). I then had to wait for another two laps before I could get him again - a repeat performace coming out of Druids. This time I had the better line both in and out, and crucially this time it was me last on the brakes into Lodge. The bike made the corner quite easily, and coming out I gassed it for all it was worth. And that was that. Are our bikes great or what?
Not the best line into Lodge.
Where did he come from?
The afternoon sessions started with more of the same - wet, wet, wet. In fact it was so wet, that for the first two laps of each session we had to follow an instructor. The idea was that we couldn’t overtake until our tyres were warmed up. Unfortunately the pace that the instructor set was so slow I don’t think anyone’s tyres got warm, and it just burned the first few minutes of the session. It was also quite cold, and going slowly didn't generate enough heat in my bones. Not much happened in the first two sessions - but I was pleased to see my brother arrive to take some pics. He wasn't very happy the the pics he took, but I'm just grateful he got any at all. The weather was foul, and the conditions for photography quite appalling.
Long distance shot - coming up behind a fireblade into the home straight.
The penultimate session was nearly a disaster. A couple of the experienced riders had crashed out spectacularly, so that their session was halted twice as the medics were called. No-one was hurt, but there was a lot of debris to clear up. So we had a long wait in the garage, and fortunately during the delay it stopped raining. So off we went - again behind an instructor at first. I was well behind the Hondas on the grid, so never expected to catch them up and didn't try. However, I must have made good progress on the track because I soon overtook Paul leading into Druids. I figured (wrongly) that Andy must have sensed me coming up behind again, because he took off like a man possessed. You can probably guess where this is leading. So for the next three laps I was on his tail pipe into every corner, but just couldn’t get past. The track was drying fast now, and I felt I was losing my advantage. I thought I had him a few times, but each time he shut the door going in, and simply accelerated away coming out. As a much more experienced rider than me, I was convinced that he was enjoying it as much as me. Sadly my inexperience nearly ruined the day. Making an over ambitious dive up the inside at Hislop’s I completely messed up the corner (trying too hard) and only just avoided bringing us both off. I had to slam on the anchors fast (never a good idea) and he went sailing past. I only just managed to stay on myself. Aaaargh!
Not surprisingly I took it a bit more sensibly after that, and as soon as the chequerd flag came out I went to find Andy to apologise. Amazingly, he said that he'd hadn't been at all troubled by my attempts to pass him and that my unsucessful lunge for the lead was really the first time he'd realised I was close.
For my part I was mightily relieved and deeply embarassed - and also strangely disappointed. My gung ho style had nearly turned a great day into a disaster - a valuable lesson on my steep learning curve.
Just after Hilsop's
The final session was a great wind down. Everyone was getting tired and the light, which had never been great, was fading fast. So it was no time for heroics, and I spent my final 20 minutes just practising my lines, and honing my technique. Only 6 riders turned out for it, and many had gone home. The only thing of note was that my petrol light came on half way though the second lap. This was only 120 or so miles from completely full, but it probably reflects how much I was working the engine. Back in the garage for the last time I said farewell to the two Honda guys, and fixed my bike up for the ride home.
Fixing my mirrors to ride home
A moody shot of me leaving the garage.
Who says you need a sports bike to do track days?
All in all it was a great day and, near disasters aside, it hasn't dampened my enthusiasm one bit. Can't wait for Spring....
Cheers
You know... there's not cure for the track day bug...
