Just booked myself in for my first ever track day on Tuesday and I'm taking the 848. Any top tips apart from staying on the bike?
Take it steady and get to know the track before you attempt to increase your pace. If you're on the right line then its pretty difficult to stuff it up completely. Wrong line and it becomes very easy to c*ck things up...!
Don't worry about lap times, just enjoy it! If you don't want to ride in a session, don't. Ive missed a few sessions because i haven't wanted to ride them - usually because it's been raining. I would rather 'waste' £50-130 on a trackday price than lob a couple of thousand pounds of expensive plastic into the gravel. In fact I booked into a evening session at Brands Hatch and never even bothered signing on - the rain did stop as it happened, but the track was very wet anyhow. Basically, don't be a hero!
Okay, no experience of Silverstone (yet) but I'm guessing not a lot different from MSV. Leave plenty of time to book in and get your bike noise tested BEFORE briefing otherwise you will miss a session. Depending on the number of bikes on the day 7:30 could be too late. Take both parts of your licence - phoning the DVLA to confirm your licence staus is a pain. Have a moderate breakfast and take on liquids, not neccessarily tea or coffee because they are diuretics which make you want to pee. Take bottled water with you and keep hydrated through the day and also have sugary snacks to keep your energy levels up. If you feel tired miss a session, as it is your first time the last session will be a bitch and is usually the session when most silly accidents occur through loss of concentration due to tiredness. Take your mirrors off or tape them up, it's the bloke behind you who is responsible to keep out of your way and cover the speedo - your speed is irrelevant and the one moment you look at the speedo is the moment the bloke in front of you does something you don't want to be involved in. Leave a gap between you and the other riders, FE say 6 feet but that rarely happens, and if you don't want to play put your hand up but keep your speed up until you can safely get off the racing line. Watch out for flags, you miss a yellow you get taken off for a session, you miss a red you are out, end of. If there is an instructor free he will show you lines and braking points and will help with the confidence. Just remember you can ride your bike, you do it most days and being on track doesn't mean you'll forget everything. Most important, it has to be enjoyable but like most things, it gets more fun the more often you do it . Andy
And keep your body topped up with fluids/food also. It will be hotter and more physical than possibly you expect, and you want your brain/reactions to be top notch -feed/water them.
You may find it more exhausting than you think it will be. I often leave the last session rather than ride when I am tired and likely to make mistakes.
Don't change gear as much as you think you have to. After a while on a track you don't know, you realise that half the gear changes (the downchanges) you are making are unnecessary, especially on a Ducati where the torque will help you out of a corner if you went in one gear too high. Really concentrate on getting the right line. On a new track you may see cones at the entry points, the exits and the apex. Try and head for the cones at the right stage of the corner. To begin with, you will wonder what they are doing there as they seem completely irrelevant (as your lines will be all wrong). But as your speed increases, they will all start to make sense. Indeed, you will probably find yourself being drawn inexorably to the exit cones on the way out of a corner if you got the rest of it right. You can't go fast or be smooth if you don't get the right line, but if your lines are good, you stand more chance of riding the track properly and safely. On some tracks, they can be dirty off the racing line with less good grip (don't ask me how I know this).
Yes, it can be a bit like "the final run" on a day's skiing when you are worn out. That's when you start skiing all wrong and the injuries happen. Don't be afraid to quit while you're ahead.
Probably covered above... Take both parts of your licence, leave any competitive gungho spirit at home Ask the tyre bloke what pressure you should run, then remember to put air in again before you go Fill up just before you get there, consider same again at lunchtime Listen to the briefing Keep relaxed and dont feel the need to do every session, Silverstone is long and fast and concentration is tiring Get the with plenty of time to spare, dont rush to get out Take on fluids, water best Enjoy it
Absolutely right, but that means snacks and swigs. If you stuff yourself at lunchtime, the first afternoon session will feel awful with a full belly.
Have lots of beer and none of the above will matter a jot. And you will go faster for a bit Seriously though, just go ride your bike and enjoy it. Unless you are pushing the boundaries of man and machine you will have a ball and learn loads. Davy
Silverstone is sooooo wide so you'll have plenty of room to pass and be passed. Take it steady and don't try too hard too soon. Learn your way around, but if you can be predictable. There are lots of corners there that you can take faster than you think, but there is lots of run off, so if you think you're not going to make the corner you can run out wide...don't grab the front brake. Ive seen a few guys go down doing that especially at The Village Loop complex (the right left slow section after the start finish straight). I would also say be very careful of Vale corner. Its the very tight left after the exit to the new pits and is very easy to go in too hot. Annoyingly if you run on here, you end up in about 3ft of gravel designed to stop F1 cars and trucks which is why its so deep. The Silverstone team are great and the instructors there are a great bunch who know their stuff and actively help out the riders. Ask questions, get advice and enjoy it. Trackdays are some of the most fun you can have on a bike. You will run the tank dry in just over two sessions if riding hard and the petrol station is a mile away on the other side of the circuit. They take cards, but its 97 ron and its about 150p a litre. If you're taking the bike on a trailer, get some jerry cans and fill up at BP petrol station on the A43 There's one on either side, both by roundabouts, you cant miss em. Don't look at the speedo down the Hanger straight...you will see at least 160mph at one point... Get photos....I love photos
