AMCC Advanced Rider Training

Auckland Motorcycle Club ART (advanced rider training) track days are run at Pukekohe. They have four groups:

• Novice Slow (under 1000cc only). This is for people new to the track. As this is an Advanced Rider Training day, you should already have some experiencing riding. It is not for complete beginners.
• Novice Fast. You will be in this class if you know all the basic concepts, and are fine tuning and tweaking your riding skills.
• Medium. You'll probably be in this group if you have aspirations of getting into competitive racing, or you feel you have well developed skills.
• Fast. This is for racers. You'll know if your in this class because your bike wont be street legal, and will have been modified for track use only. The chances are you will be racing in the national championships. You can probably ride in excess of 300 km/h, and taking a corner at 200km/h wont even wont even make you blink.

On the day you may want to bring along:

• Driver licence, if you’re riding to the track (a day at that track can be tiring so consider weather you want to ride their and back)
• Duct tape, so you can tape up your headlight, indicators, mirrors, and other easily breakable bits.
• Drink. The water quality at the track is not good - don't risk drinking it. Because you get hot on the track you tend to drink a lot of water. Take 1 to 2 litres with you.
• Cash (just in case you need to get something or did not pre-register).
• A few tools. It is best to remove wing mirrors and the like.
• Tyre pressure gauge
• Ear plugs.
• Zip ties (cable tie).
• Extra fuel. Novice slow users shouldn't need extra fuel, but the other classes may.

All groups get instruction. Typically club members who pre-register are charged $120 and non-members are charged $160.

To participate you need either leathers or cordura. You must have either a one piece or a two piece that can be zipped together. Back protectors are highly recommended for anyone in a zipped two piece or one piece. Typically a track briefing is held on the morning of the meeting. Also on the day an inspection is conducted of your gear and your bike. The bike should be in sound condition with nothing loose, tyres in good condition, and of course brake pads with some meat on them still. If you have a road bike, and it has a WOF, then as long as your tyres and brakes are fine you shouldn't have any issues.

Prior to taking your bike onto the track you will need to either tape up your headlight, indicators and mirrors (basically anything that can break and leave sharp bits on the track), or remove them. Often removing things like the mirrors is easier, so take along a small tool kit with you.

It is normal to deflate your tyres while on the track (and they will probably insist that you do for your own safety). Try and take along a tyre pressure gauge so you can check your tyres, and let some air out easily.

If you pre-register then lunch is usually provided. Prior to turning up on the day try and eat good meals. Track days can be tiring and can take a lot out of your body.

A typical ART day consists of:

• Arrive around 8am.
• Register your arrival at Jennian Homes building (aka track day central). You'll get a coloured sticker that relates to your class that you put on your helmet.
• Prep bike by removing mirrors/indicators or taping everything up.
• Take bike for safety inspection. You'll get a sticker put on your bike to say it passed.
• Have a gear inspection. Once complete they sign the sticker on your helmet.
• Everyone attends race briefing in front of the Jennian Homes building.
• Each group goes onto the track (all at the same time but on different corners each), and stop at each corner with an instructor. The corner is walked through and the instructor explains entry and exit strategies. This is also a good time to note the condition on the track (dips, bumps, something loose on the track).
• At 10:30am each group has a 15 minute session. This session is done at low speed. This gives you a chance to learn the track and warm your tyres and bike up.
• Around lunchtime a break occurs - for lunch.
• Each group continues to have 15 minutes sessions (one group at a time) till just before 5pm.
• Re-attach everything to your bike that you removed, take the tape off, and go home!

Once at the track you'll need to learn what flags will be used for the day. This is covered at the race briefing, and can vary slightly from event to event, but generally include:

• Green flag. This starts the race.
• Red flag. The race has been stopped. Cease riding at race speed, do not overtake anyone and return to the pit.
• Checkered flag. End of session. Leave the track.
• Yellow flag. A caution has been signalled. There may be an accident or debis on the track. No overtaking allowed.
• Black flag. This is displayed to individual riders. It means you did something bad, and should return to the pits.
• White flag. One lap to go. Should be followed by checkered flag on next lap.
• Blue flag. This is displayed to individual riders. Move over and allow faster riders past.

The Novice Slow group has some extra restrictions compared to the other groups, most notably no overtaking is allowed around the inside of a corner. This is to make it safer for those people who have not been on a track before. While there are no speed restrictions on the track, the ART days are not about going as fast as you can down the straight. If you are in Novice Slow and only feel safe at 50km/h then that is fine (although I promise you will be going much faster than that soon!). There is no pressure in this group - so don't be afraid of coming to the track. The track provides a safe environment to practice cornering, learning how to take a line through a corner, improving your gear changing, practising braking, and basically all aspects of riding. Basically the track is like a much safer version of the road. There is no oncoming traffic, and it is super wide compared to a road.