Another cracking day today at Almeria. Got my lap times down to 1 min 49secs consistently which I didnt' expect to be achievable after not even reaching my previous best of 1min 51secs in the first few days. The fast group is seriously fast and full of racers. I know the second fastest guy is doing 1min 43secs and the fastest is doing even quicker! I get passed by them like I'm standing still. There's even a guy on a Superlegera here who flies by me considerably quicker. The Panigale is as amazing as always; super physical on the Almeria circuit which is hard work on even the easy bikes. I'm spending tomorrow on a Triumph Daytona 675 which we brought out as a spare bike. It'll be interesting to see how bad I am without the Panigale super powers!
Doing 1min 52 dead consistently on the triumph 675 today. Having some epic fun racing a mate on his 675. Should have some awesome footage.
Not on the Ducati but the day spent on the Triumph Daytona 675 was awesome and taught me a lot about the Ducati in the process. Thats my mate Geoff on the black John Player special Triumph. He had a little more power after changing engine maps but we were so well matched it was a lot of fun, and could trust each other for some silly passes. It's amazing how constantly you can be on the throttle when the bike is small enough to lift up under your knee when hanging off. I'm going to try lifting the rear sets on the Panigale to get a similar thing if I can.
Great vid as always @royalwithcream A few from Brands - Took it pretty easy on the day as A LOT of riders went down in the inter group. One of which high sided themselves right in front of me in the first session, on the first lap, on the first CORNER!!! (paddock). The fast and inter groups were full of race and track bikes as I believe it was the first race meeting of the year the following weekend, many of which were running slicks & warmers etc. To my surprise towards the end of the day I was actually quicker than some of the boys on track bikes and was 'probably' one of the quickest out there with a number plate on. There was a chap on a 1199 who started off much quicker than me, by the end of the day we were about the same (he said he couldn't catch me) but who knows. There was also a chap on an S1000RR who should of without any doubt been in the fast group and was going past me like I wasn't moving. I had a guy on a Gsxr 750 track bike and a guy on a 600rr race bike come up to me for a chat and said I was going well. Which was nice because I was just riding at my own speed that I was comfortable with. It has opened my eyes though because I was going around the outside of people on track bikes who had their knee and even elbows down in some places! There's only a few points at Brands where I actually touch down.. I'm not at the pace yet where I feel I 'need' to if that makes sense? Nice in a way as I know how much is yet to come from my riding! I've a long way to go. I'm absolutely nowhere near fast group material in my opinion. Anyway here's a few images. I'm pretty new to track riding, but have competed on four wheels (it's very different). I'm looking forward to changing my tyres as my current Rosso corsas were sh*gged before the track day let alone after lol. I'm going for Supercorsa SP V2's which I'm excited to see how good they are... and what they'll offer on track.
I've always been the opposite at Brands. Fast from the outset, when people are still bumbling round. Then by the end of the day they've all caught me up and surpassed me :thumbsdown: Like you, i'm not doing the knee down thing. If anything I have started actually lifting my inside foot off the peg and raising it, so as not to scrape my foot as it touches down too soon.
Nice shots, good to see it was a good day. You look like you have a really nice natural position getting your head off the bikes axis at the front which is probably way more stable than the guys hanging off like monkeys but with their heads still in the middle! I was both sides elbow down on the triumph on the last session which is a tick box I've wanted to get for a while It's all silly hero points but I like the confidence it gives knowing I can get that much lean angle on the bike.
Awesome mate! I'd love to do Almeria one day! You look to be a vastly more accomplished rider than myself I'm always open eared about anyway I can improve my riding and thanks for the comments on body positioning. I just do what feels natural to me really.. I think I need to get off the bike a bit more, but at the moment I don't think my pace warrants it. Much like my lean angle really... I still have a little bit either side on my tyres.. But I didn't feel like I really needed to lean anymore? Some say to me counter steer more but the way I see it the bike will lean what it needs to for the corner?? No point in forcing lean? I was overtaking people who were leaning much more than me. Some of them looked more like they were out for a slow sunday run than a trackday but were still scraping a knee everywhere. I do want to get some instruction this year, will be funny being on the other side of the game as I was a race instructor on four wheels for some time lol.
It must be awesome doing race instruction as a day job. I did a little instruction when I was drifting but it was just odds and sods but I'd love to do something I love every day.
It's okay, but a lot depends on the clientèle you get.. I found most already think they're amazing so won't listen. It's slightly 'bottom twitching' going in to Paddock at 140 with someone who doesn't want to listen ah ha
So @royalwithcream which was quicker? Not having ridden my 675 yet, come on, tempt me to get out soon....
You certainly will not regret it @bradders . I fancied one before but I really want to get one now. Its just different. I was faster on the Panigale at 1min 49 compared to 1min 53/4 on the Triumph but I could do things on the Triumph that I'd never try on the Panigale before now, although now I want to try them on the Panigale to go faster haha. There's so much flexibility on the Daytona with it being so small, you can just check it around all over the place on full throttle.
I think I posted this vid on the Panigale at Almeria on another thread. 1min 49 consistently by the third day so I was very happy.
Just got my lap times back from focused events and I managed a 1 min 51.6 on the Triumph which is the same as the best I managed on the Panigale when we were out there last year.
Was at Mallory on Saturday, the weather was superb and the old GSXR ran great apart from when my gear-side rear set fell apart. Luckily that happened during the last session before lunch and it was all fixed and back out for the next session. Oh, and my exhaust decided to blow itself apart on the last session of the day but I didn't notice until I was loading the bike back on the trailer :tearsofjoy: I've been to Mallory before and so have pictures, but I did buy this one, although now I've seen it at full size it's not particularly sharp (I'm a keen photographer so hate it when images aren't pin sharp), but it's a different shot to those I have already so I guess all is not lost. T'was only £6...
Bearing in mind you know the pani really well I reckon they are strong times and you could get quicker easier then
@royalwithcream just watched your triumph vid. Nice. You may find it far better to get in position well before the corner. Makes everything more stable and far easier to turn and add speed. Makes overtakes less stressful too. Ignore if you like, obviously just thought worth mentioning
Did a track day last year on a hire bike and then did my second track day a couple of weeks back on my trusty old cbr steelie.
Yeah, I'm aware of this. It's a habit I've got from the Panigale as I find it difficult to brake hard whilst in position as the tank doesn't support me so well. I need to work on it, I'm sure Chaz doesn't have issues!
