Picking a trackday group

[vinducati]

I have been doing trackdays for about 5 years and lately have found that I am finding some of the riding a dangerous.
The organisers are generally good but at times I feel they let things go so as not to upset a customer.
I have been going out in Medium and sometimes Fast.
In fast, although I ride very clean consistent lines, I find I feel a bit pressured particularly if it is close to a race day and some club racers treat it as a race practice group, which is a bit of a shame for those of us at a public trackday.
In medium I find the riding very dangerous, lot of aggression and a mix of experiance makes it dodgy, this group has the highest incident rate.
So, oddly I think I am going to go out in Slow, although this is a blow to my fragile ego, I did a session last time, had plenty of space, was considerate to the other riders and had a better time.
Wondered if anyone else has had a similar experiance?
Who do you think runs the best trackdays ?
Cheers

[tigertim20]

if you feel pressured then the group is probably too fast for you.

if you feel the riding in a group is genuinely dangerous, say something, or pack up and go home

[vinducati]

if you feel pressured then the group is probably too fast for you.

if you feel the riding in a group is genuinely dangerous, say something, or pack up and go home

Thanks, I do mention it if I think the passing rules are not being followed.

[sil3nt]

Novice group is great fun.

I have dropped down from medium slow a few times as the riding in that group can be unpredictable. Have made a few complaints before but they do not give a shit.

Would like to see a system where you register you and your bike and they keep track of your riding / lap times and assign you to a group. Would mean a lot of work for them but should be safer for everyone.

Too many people straight line heroes on 600cc+ machines that just don't know how to corner and would be better off in slower groups learning how to corner properly.

Nothing worse than someone blasting past you on a straight then pulling in front and hitting the brakes while your still accelerating and not even thinking of braking for another couple of hundred metres. I get this quite often when I pass people through turns 3/4/5 at HD but they out power me on the run to 6 pull in front and brake well before the 200 metre mark.

Maybe I should just learn to ride faster and move up into the faster groups

[nodrog:Me]

________________

[Gremlin]

It does depend on who is organising the day. Most I know of have 4 sessions (depending on demand of course), effectively novice, medium, fast, race (with 4 usually not carrying insurance). Speeds of each group will of course vary depending on who attends the day, and behaviour controlled by those observing.

As you say, you can have heros riding badly, and you can also have riders going faster than you. If however, you go in slow, then are you travelling at a pace commensurate with the other riders? What if several people have that idea? What about the safety of those novice riders. As a flag marshall, my main concern is speed differential amongst the riders, and at AMCC ART days we do report riders that are too quick or too slow for a group, to try and keep people roughly at the same pace.

For your issue, I'd suggest fast, if you are roughly at that pace. There will always be faster riders. Hold your line, don't do anything unpredictable and let them pass you. I've found fast to be reasonably well behaved?

[Mental Trousers]

I have been going out in Medium and sometimes Fast.
In fast, although I ride very clean consistent lines, I find I feel a bit pressured particularly if it is close to a race day and some club racers treat it as a race practice group, which is a bit of a shame for those of us at a public trackday.

If you're quick enough to ride in fast then ride in fast cos you're far too quick to be in the slow group. Pressure isn't coming from the others in the group, it's from you. Nobody expects you to be circulating at the same pace as the racers/really fast track day guys.

At times there's more racers in the fast group than normal and that can be off putting because there's an unusually high number of passes in a session, many of which can be a bit closer than you'd usually see. Your 2 options are to talk to the organisers or drop down a group. Days like that the Medium group is usually more settled than normal cos it's full of guys who aren't racers and don't want to be in with the racers.

Also, carry a camera on your bike so you can show the organisers is someone is being an arsehole.

[tigertim20]

To be safest you really need to hire the track so you have it all to yourself. You are correct that being under pressure to keep up is dangerous and that is often demonstrated by the number of riders who crash on group rides on the road. There were posters on here a few days ago that said riding on the track was safer than the road due to no trees/ walls ditches to hit etc but all those who made that claim appeared to not be
aware riders can actually hit other riders due to having far less stopping distance in the interest of trying to be the winner.

and youve done how many trackdays and competed in how many race events?



One thing you can do at trackdays, is tae stock of who the faster people are i your group - there will be a spread of speed withing each group anyway.

I often see people rush to the pit gate when its almost time for their session, and others dawdle up at the last minute. You end up with 2 super fast dudes, 3 super slow dudes and four average pace riders being the first ten out of the gate.
That can make for a hairy couple of first laps.

Think about your pace when lining up. i.e. if you are a moderately fast rider for that group, try to get roughly in the middle of the queue waiting to go out. It isnt fool proof but it does help

[nodrog:Me]

....

Also, carry a camera on your bike so you can show the organisers is someone is being an arsehole.

fuck that, google trackday crashes on you tube.

cameras cause accidents obviously.

[jasonu]

Also, carry a camera on your bike so you can show the organisers is someone is being an arsehole.

and be sure to post anything interesting on KB.

[WNJ]

Personally I have never done any track days and never felt like doing them, but couldn't wait til next speedway session when I could jump on the chair and enjoyed every second of that

[vinducati]

Thanks fo the feedback. I am going to go out in the slow group and practice some of the lessons form the Californian Superbike School, been trying to go fast and have fallen into old habits.
Turning in to soon, incorrect body position etc.
Then when I feel like it will move up.
I expect the organisers to move me if there are issues with my riding.
Although, I always treat all riders on the track with me with respect.
Thanks again, see some of you at the track.
Cheers

[Asher]

Ive done my fair share of trackdays and the intermediate groups are by far the most dangerous groups to be in and the advanced/experienced group marginally better.
The intermediate groups are normally by far the biggest group and has the biggest spread of bikes and rider experience which leads to large speed differentials and the most amount of problems.
The advanced/experienced group is normally 50% good, safe and fast riders so should be in there and 50% people who 'think' they are fast, want an ego boost and are generally too aggressive for track days. A few times I've had to do pit lane ride throughs to get away from large groups of riders trying to go 3-4 wide through corners making it impossible to get past them safely.

I find testing days to be the best time to go out on track. Ruapuna has recently changed the rules but you used to be able to go out every Tuesday and Friday for a blast, they split the bikes/cars up so you get half an hour on, half an hour off. If you have spent much time on the track half an hour on track is exhausting. The good thing about testing days is its normally the just the race guys out there is much less people on track and while their speed might be a fair bit faster than yours they know what they are doing so can get past you quickly and safely.

[jellywrestler]

i can remember at the early central districts track days at manfeild having to send a ute around to pick up some of the flaggies who were so drunk they couldn't get into a car, or people wouldn't let them in theirs as they were too much of a risk...

[rustys]

Agree with Asher, test days are far better, and lots more track time.