I rode what? The day of my post on May 17th I did go and raid my elder brothers toy shed. I had offered to take my sister-in-law out on a bike, she was mad for it. The only thing available was Bro 5's Harley Sportster. Yes... a Harley!!! It was either that or not riding at all. So we both loaded onto the heavy Harley and I kicked it into gear. Clunk! After thousands of miles on my Ducati's this gearbox felt truly agricultural. I literally had to kick it, in that feet forward sitting position. No matter, it took off and I could hardly feel I had a passenger but I could hear her squeal with excitement. Chug, chug,chug. We tootled down the 12 mile hill and I gassed the tank to the brim as a thank you for the loan. As we pulled away from the 'Gasolinera' I opened it up and was impressed as we growled up the ramp onto the motorway, 40...50...60...70...80. Kicking through the gears clunkerty clunk. It got there quite quick., hubba hubba hubba. Hmmm, better than I thought. Funny, it doesn't even feel that fast. Oh! That's because it's not! It's Kilometres not MPH. We're doing all of 50 miles an hour. The shame of it. I laughed, she giggled and I gave it some more. After about quarter of an hour we reached 70mph by which time I had to apply the brakes as we were turning off in a couple of miles. They do slow quite well. If that's what you want, gentle relaxing rides. It's like cocoa on wheels. However, it was the perfect introduction to safe biking for sis-in-law. We chugged around the countryside, traveling so slowly birds flew past me and insects were impaling themselves on my pillions back. After a coffee we wound our way back 12 miles or so up the hill via a different route and took photos. A satisfying little 50 mile loop before heading back to England and getting my nose to the grindstone and working like hell. My dad always used to say "Work hard, play hard". It took me years to understand what he meant.....but he was right. Note the T-shirt, there had to be something Ducati.
Donington. Donington. Star date 31-05 Captain Baz is at the helm of the starship Ivico Daily. On its one day mission to go where I'd never been before. A track day. Never done one. Just never got round to it but this was my Christmas present from my kids. Good one. Warp drive had transported us to the gate a little after 7am. The logical man with the clipboard asked what group. "Intermediates" said Baz "Nursery school" said I. It raised a titter. We cruised through and were greeted with the sight of pure porn rolling out the back of almost every van. Bike porn you understand. There were some nice bikes there and aaaall Ducati's. Another 999r, Baz had one in the back and yeah look, a Desmosedici. I took great pleasure in going past it later on, who can blame him for looking after it though. After all I'd whimped out of bringing my own Pornygirly. My elder bro had said he'd never do another track day unless he hired. Royalwithcream had suggested a 959 so that's what I was on for the day. A hired 959 with Conti Attack 3's on it. I just couldn't bear the thought of damaging the Tricolore. Breakfast, briefing then we were good to go. Advanced first, then intermediates then it was our turn, the novices. Each hire bike is shared between three riders. One from each group. My bike needed gassing up by now so by the time I got in line in the paddock I was about 2/3's down the line. This turned out to be frustrating because when we went out for the first two sighting laps there was no overtaking allowed. Then back to the pits. I thought I would be nervous but I wasn't. I was just keen to go. I doublechecked everything, no phones, nothing bulky in my pockets, lid fastened properly, all zips done up, gloves securely Velcro'd. Then there was helmet check and wrist band check. Good safety precaution by them but the glove off was a palaver. Then the photographer. 'Let's just go'. Finally we did. A gap started opening up between the rider 2 in front of me and the field ahead. We were going agonisingly slowly. I felt sympathy for the rider who didn't look confidant at all. Said rider seemed to stick to the inside edge of the track all the way round. It felt like we were doing 30mph. Agony. Pure agony. There were no boys in blue. No grannies in Micra's. No tractors pulling out. No busses, no lights, no junctions, no diesel on the road. Just Tarmac the width of a motorway and we were crawling. The rest of the field had disappeared but it was no overtaking. My sympathy evaporated. I decided to take the racing line which felt daft at that speed but at least it was practice. I stuck to the rules and didn't overtake. It was my first track day and I didn't want to fall foul of the marshals straight off. Everyone else followed, slowly. There was a guy on a yellow bike on my right shoulder. He must have been feeling the agony too. Everyone else followed.....slowly. Eventually we got back to the pits. We were reminded we had cold tyres and we filed out two abreast. We were off. Freedom. I wondered if the 959 had a quick shifter? So before we even got out of the pit lane I kicked it. Yup, that's a result. I'll be using plenty of that. In the first right hand bend I was wary of the cold tyres. Before the second bend I just had to dispatch the two ultra slow riders in front of me. I drifted carefully by on the outside and slowly built the speed up. I'd chatted to the tyre man who'd told me they'd be good 'n warm after a lap. Then I really gave it some. It was fantastic. The grip of the track, the width, the flat tarmac. The bloody rev limiter. I kept hitting it. The 959 needed short shifting so much more than the 1199 I was used too. Less power, less torque. However I could still get myself in plenty of trouble with this little Rev meister. And I did. Coming up the rise to the first part of the bend at Coppice the rear tyre slightly unweighted, just at the crest of the rise. If you add heavy breaking to this you can get a nice little rear wheel slide. And I did. Fetch me my brown trousers. After that I was a little more careful with that bend but it was an interesting double apex. Ideal for using up lots of track width. More later and pics.
I'd taped knee sliders on. Another tip greatfully accepted from Royalwithcream. Tom from Snell's assured me 'You won't be needing them!' Illusion distroyed. Baz looking good on his 999R and number 69 with a very nice knee down. You get that kind of thing in the intermediates. Respec.
That takes me back to my first time on track . Not done it for 10 years now. Maybe I should do it again
Good to see it went well Sam I couldn't see the gaffer taped knee sliders in the pictures! I'm a bit gutted I'm missing the Ducati days this year but will definitely get to next years.
Here's a link to a vid I did a while back. Should have posted it before' don't know why I didn't. It was a previous trip. The guy in the front left a gap so big it was like an open door. Hence the titles. More about the track day later.
Unfortunately in the briefing on the track day, rule 1 was 'No helmet camera's'. I couldn't put it on the bike because it wasn't mine. So that was out. Shame.
Very much liked your'Mind the door'.Thank you. I am hoping to go for a little wobble on my,new to me Ducati,tomorrow.Providing the thunderstorms stay away.Hopefully I can give a little feedback and my first impressions.
Great stuff. Let us know how it goes. I'm sure everyone wishes you well. Stay out of the thunderstorms, it certainly threw it down in west London today, roads flooded in minutes.
Mantaquilla racing. I hadn't been to Doni for quite a few years so I'd forgotten the layout. I found it an easy track to learn. Memorising its layout I mean. Of course learning exactly how to take each bend takes much more practice. I built up the speed throughout the first session and all too soon it was over. In the second session I had to push it some more and got the rear sliding out under breaking a few times going into Melbourne hairpin. I kept bashing up against the rev limiter coming out of there. I have to say everybody seemed to ride sensibly. Sure people were caning it, that's what you go for but nobody attempted an Ianone up the inside, I'm pleased to say. In the first session no sooner had we got going I got cramp in my right thigh. It just needed a quick stretch and it'd be gone. Had it loads of times before just when I start off. Trouble was I noticed there were no pull ins except of course the pits and I was on the far side of the track. I pressed on my thigh and momentarily looked down just as a Cali bike instructor zipped by and indicated for me to keep my head up. Fair do's but that was the only on track instruction I got all day. Back in the pits Baz struck up a conversation with one of the California instructors. Saying I kept hitting the rev limiter. Change up earlier was his advice........ Obviously. Rocket science. No surprise there then. "Treat it gently!" That did surprise me. My idea was to ride it like I'd nicked it. I'm all for 'mantaquilla racing' as I've heard Lorenzo say in interviews but 'gently'? I took it he meant don't abuse or try and wreck the machine, which I agree with. The engine and gears were just different from the 1199 and it was catching me out. I guess the 959 is easier on the road and the 1199/1299's better on the track. I got used to the different power characteristics and short shifting. Then I got asked how did I know what the racing line was. I was so tempted to say 'I know because I'd made a point of watching the Superbikes doing it on Saturday aaaand Sunday'. Which I had done. I didn't say, I bit my tongue. The real answer was my dad taught me aged about 5. I didn't say that either. Surely if you don't know you shouldn't be on a track but I was surprised how few people used the full width of the track. You can always learn more no matter what stage you're at. I would have liked more advice and instruction from the instructors. I don't know if it wasn't in their remit for the day but I didn't feel they wanted to do that. Then one of them topped it off by saying 'I don't like track days'. Including the bike hire I'd paid a lot of money to be there and it wasn't what I wanted to hear. However the tyre guy was really helpful and full of good advice and info. I was impressed by the Conti Sport Attack 3's which he spoke very highly of. Try as I might he wasn't for putting any 'wets' on the bike when the rain set in. So the day got cut short from 5 sessions to 3. I could hear Tobytyke blasting around in the wet and was quite keen to get out on a more spacious track. Try a bit of smooth but swift riding. Baz wasn't for going out on his own bike, who can blame him, nor was anybody else. Would I have gone out on my own bike in that? No I wouldn't. That was what decided it. I avoid the rain as much as possible nowadays because I can. I've done plenty of it and it's not fun. I can do it and do when I get caught. I'd brought all my rain gear but as Baz rightly said we'd both pushed it a few times, I didn't want to wind up regretting it. Then the tannoy announced 'Wets only' so that was it. Beam me over to the starship Ivico Daily. Track days. It's a drug isn't it!
