ArcherWC
30th March 2008, 09:08
Im not the best at this, but thought yesturday was worth a bit of a review.
It was the first full Training day run by Steve at KiwiTrackdays, and he did a pretty good job overall.
There was only 24 spots availiable, so you had to be "in to win", Keeping the numbers low worked very well as far as instructor time, but did make it a bit pricey. Considering track costs etc, it might be worth him doing this on a weekday instead.
The day started off with some classroom time, discussing some general Techniques with Tony Ree's and then a full session on suspension setup and function with Robert Taylor.
After that there was a quick walk of the short track, discussing lines, braking points etc, then it was track time
The track sessions were split into two groups, with ten minute sessions to start with on the short track. This was very similar to any other track day, with flag marshals and ambulance in attendance.
This worked really well for initial setup with Robert, and generally following the instructors round.
after two sessions of this, there was a race start session, with instruction then riders lining up in pairs and given flag starts. and then tips for your next attempt.
After this the full track was opened up and the sessions were extended to 15-20 mins. It was during these sessions that the one on one time with the instructors really came to the forefront. With the small numbers, everyone that wanted one on one time got it.
Robert continued to move among the riders in between sessions helping any who wanted/needed it.
Overall, i found the day to be invaluable, going into it, I wasnt sure how much I would get out of it, (from experiance of other "training" days), but by the end of the day, my bike felt safer (setup) and the corners flowed a lot better. I now have a new personal best round the full track (1.38.9), and that was on a new bike that I had never ridden before.
I would like to Thank the Instructors, Tony Rees and Paul Dobbs, Robert Taylor from Ohlins, The tyre guy (bugger his name eludes me) from Pirelli, who was very helpfull (even though Im a Dunlop rider).
And a final Cheers to Steve and his team, it was a very productive day and a bloody good first attempt.
It was the first full Training day run by Steve at KiwiTrackdays, and he did a pretty good job overall.
There was only 24 spots availiable, so you had to be "in to win", Keeping the numbers low worked very well as far as instructor time, but did make it a bit pricey. Considering track costs etc, it might be worth him doing this on a weekday instead.
The day started off with some classroom time, discussing some general Techniques with Tony Ree's and then a full session on suspension setup and function with Robert Taylor.
After that there was a quick walk of the short track, discussing lines, braking points etc, then it was track time
The track sessions were split into two groups, with ten minute sessions to start with on the short track. This was very similar to any other track day, with flag marshals and ambulance in attendance.
This worked really well for initial setup with Robert, and generally following the instructors round.
after two sessions of this, there was a race start session, with instruction then riders lining up in pairs and given flag starts. and then tips for your next attempt.
After this the full track was opened up and the sessions were extended to 15-20 mins. It was during these sessions that the one on one time with the instructors really came to the forefront. With the small numbers, everyone that wanted one on one time got it.
Robert continued to move among the riders in between sessions helping any who wanted/needed it.
Overall, i found the day to be invaluable, going into it, I wasnt sure how much I would get out of it, (from experiance of other "training" days), but by the end of the day, my bike felt safer (setup) and the corners flowed a lot better. I now have a new personal best round the full track (1.38.9), and that was on a new bike that I had never ridden before.
I would like to Thank the Instructors, Tony Rees and Paul Dobbs, Robert Taylor from Ohlins, The tyre guy (bugger his name eludes me) from Pirelli, who was very helpfull (even though Im a Dunlop rider).
And a final Cheers to Steve and his team, it was a very productive day and a bloody good first attempt.