Would have enjoyed meeting up but we're there this week for 3 days. Hope you have fun, I know we will . Andy
This will be our third visit in the last 4 years. I know it's a bit of a marmite circuit for some but I enjoy it and am looking forward to it. Bikes should be arriving at the circuit by the time we get to the hotel early evening tomorrow. I'm not the most stylish of riders but I always try and put up some pictures. Andy
It's a very flowing circuit, but one you can't expect to get your head around in a couple of sessions. However, when you string it all together, it's properly rewarding It's very grippy, so tough on tyre's and if it does rain, it's still good to ride wide open This video from Simon Crafer gives you a good idea of what to expect and how to tackle it The BSB boys all tend to go under 1:40 in testing there, but anything under 2 mins is the magic marker most people aim for It's got one of the best downhill left handers on any circuit I've been to too, which is were my profile pic is from You won't be able to take fuel with you, so get your fuel from the repsol garage near the no limits hotel as the fuel from the local petrol station is shite and full of crap Either way, take a fuel filter funnel as the amount of crap you'll filter out of even the repsol fuel (which weirdly, is blue) is not something you want in your bike
Each garage can typically accommodate up to 8 bikes but there are only 4 domestic 2 pin sockets in each garage. Make sure you bring the standard UK/Europe adaptor and an extension lead with 4 sockets. The little on site restaurant is basic, a little expensive but good quality. Something else no bugger tells you, if you come to the circuit from Cartagena, you have to take a little slip road on the right of the road to turn left into the circuit. Once you know, it's easy but it's a bastard if you miss it. Tio Andre is a very good tapas restaurant in Cartagena but the food is very Spanish so often looks ugly but tastes great. Andy
Have you ridden with slicks there? I think I have one day left in my present tyres and want to try slicks.
It’s an abrasive surface, slicks go as well as any other tyre and lots of heavy braking so extra grip useful
I had to dial in three amounts of rebound and compression after a few harmless visits to the gravel under heavy braking. I am hoping to go sub 1:50 by a faster transit through the right and chicane-like turns after the main straight.
Like Bradders says, it's quite an abrasive circuit. I'll take two sets of slicks for the trip, but could easily do 3 pairs over 3 days there. Cartagena is much harder on fronts than most tracks as there's lots of corners where you can really carry braking in, and that kills front tyres. The laps on your video look pretty tidy, but there's a few places, where if you want to get under 1:50, you can tidy the lines up a little and get harder on the power earlier. A decent set of tyres will help you there, as you'll get more confident in the bike if you feel like you have more grip and then you'll naturally get harder on the power. Whilst Supercorsa's are a great tyre initially, they fall away in grip pretty dramatically after the first session on so, and then they're just another mediocre tyre down to the wear indicator. The Sc1/0 Superbike slicks are pretty much the same deal, and are amazing for 20 laps and then pretty rubbish I tend to run either Bridgestone V02 or Dunlop KR106/8 slicks as they'll keep a similar level of grip all the way through their life cycle, although are not quite up to Pirelli standard at first, but the offset is that grip is always there. Hopefully, it'll be nice and dry in January, although I'll be taking some spare wet wheels just in case
It was my first visit, so my focus was lines rather than throttle. Next time though I want better grip and more aggressive power application. I am looking for a spare set of wheels/rotors if you can help.
