Brands Hatch 24th June

Yes, my girlfriend (CBR400RR NC29) and I (748R) will be. Look for an old purple Merc estate. Unlikely to do after 5 o'clock as the 748 is too close to the 102db noise limit. Andy

 

The noise guys are great and I'm fairly certain that they will advise you to lay the bike over a little so the exhaust doesn't bounce off the ground. Failing that (no pun intended) there is a ride by limit and to my knowledge Brands hasn't failed a standard Panigale yet. You will have the same issue as me in that you will almost certainly fail the lower limit enforced for after 5 o'clock but you never know. Andy

 

Got this down to fine art now, we usually stay at the Thistle. Arrive about 8 pm having left home about 6, unhook and lock the trailer and bikes, have a few beers and order a meal which the kitchen will get wrong (3 from 3 now) drink a few more free beers and go to bed. Get up 6:30 and have a light breakfast and get to the garages about 7:30. Order of play is unload, fire up the bikes and get the noise test done, book in with FE and MSV (2 forms) don't forget your paper bit of the photo license, briefing at 8:30, on track for the novice group at 9:00. The MSV cafe isn't at all bad, you can get hot and cold drinks as well as hot and cold food. It's not cheap but I've had worse and more expensive at Silverstone and Donnington. Break for lunch between 1:00 and 2:00 and again between 5:00 and 5:30 before packing up around 8:00. The sessions are organised so that as one group is doing the cool down lap after the chequered flag the next group are in the pit lane ready to be released onto track. As it's a Chrono day, you will be issued with a transponder and after the second or maybe third session you'll find people are moved around and into groups running similar times. Time and tide waits for no man and unless the session is red flagged you need to be in the pit lane ready to go almost on the 20 minute dot. There are a bunch of amateur instructors available and Tommy Hill for either a session or all day depending on how much you want to spend. There will be a tyre man, a suspension man and a photographer available. Scrubs available as well as new although (understandably) not a huge choice but at reasonable prices. Suspension man is about £50 but that is for all day and unlimited changes. Photo man is about £35 if you pay in advance, no idea how much on the day. We take a kettle and tea and coffee, bottled water and some sugary snacks just to keep the hydration and energy levels up and costs down. Looking forward to it. Andy

 

Yeh, just look for a white haired old git over 6 foot tall with a very attractive much younger red haired lady. Brands Indie is ideal, short enough to learn quickly and still challenging. Concentrate on corner speed rather than overall top speed. Biggest problem is cracking the throttle and then having to shed a lot of speed for the bends. Paddock is a classic as the R1s/Blades/Gixxers hit 140+ down the start finish/straight and then have to brake hard back to 90 or less for Paddock Hill bend. My 748 bearly hits a 100 but I just drop it down a gear or 2 where the pit lane exit white line finishes and don't brake at all. Grahm Hill is always a bastard being the only true left on the track (Surtees is just a kink) down hill, off camber and the cold side of the tyre. The long range weather forecast looks good so hopefully it'll be a great day. Andy

 

Not far from Newbury, sort of NE Hants/West Berkshire area. Andy

 

That's my neck if the woods, will remember that next time I'm on a trackday. Have fun

 

Thanks Phil. Should have been able to make your acquaintance the other Sunday but was already committed to other plans. I'll be on the Ducati day at Silverstone at the end of July. Andy

 

Cool, I might start a 'local' thread, would be good to meet up with people (I know redders is newb). Which brands is this? Full GP? I did the Indy years ago as my first ever trackday

 

Indie, which to be fair is my favourite. Full GP is too big for the 748R and I'm too slow. My current set up favours the shorter tracks as does my fitness. Being 60 has it's drawbacks . Andy

 

Indy is great because u can get into a rhythm and u get loads of laps; it's easy to watch it on TV and think it's simple but the entry into the first corner is super tough; the whole last corner is tricky as well.

 

It's all about corner speed and that illusive 59 second lap. Andy

 

I keep thinking about a track day, but never seem to get around to organising it. Is it possible to turn up & watch on the day to see what it's all about?

 

If Brands is your closest circuit, access on a track day doesn't seem to be restricted so you could just ride in. If you arrive after 9:00 you will need to use the access tunnel to get into the pits. Other than that I don't think there would be a problem. Andy

 

Thanks, Ive got the day off work, so if weather holds up I will pop down and check it out.

 

Should be fine with Panigale as I was up there a couple of years ago and my pal had full system and various letters later sorted it but with baffles. Same effectively applies to all MSV tracks. Not sure about standard pipes,though, my 899 sounds bl**dy loud have a great day, would love to come. I aim to go to,silverstone as well,with my track 1198sp. You can always go and watch track days. I pop in if I'm passing just to,get the vibe. Right need to get something booked!