Trackdays' effect on racing?

[wharfy]

A mate of mine came with me to a track day last saturday done 7 sessions for $100 bucks, i talked him into racing the next day it cost him $150 entry and he did 18 laps and waited around for a long boring day! Doubt he will race again....

Pretty hard for a track day to compare with the feeling lined up on the grid, or the charge for turn one, or trying to figure out how to get past someone who is lapping about the same as you are.

[wharfy]

Trackdays = low stress & chance to learn what an " open road" with no traffic coming the other way + what a " full width" surface is like to use, especially for newbies.
For the more experienced - its a matter of using them for testing of components and refining riding techniques.
I see a lot of " roadies" still treating a trackday as a chest-beating opportunity to show mates who is the quickest rider . - And theres nothing wrong with that , it brings out the 'competitive edge" in peolple and may well tempt them to have a go at this racing lark if the they are half good at it.

Racing is different - it is a hunger to beat the guy in front and is also the buzz you get from travelling in damm close company to them at speed. This is very different to a track day and is not everyones cup of tea.

My guess would be that track days bring more entires to clublevel race meetings but have little effect on pumping up national grids.

Overall though they have been excelllent for promoting safe, fast riding in a controlled environemnt and have been especially good for bike sales, part sales and aftermarket parts suppliers (suspension & tyres etc)

Glen

What he said...
I did a couple of track days to try and improve my times in the Cliffhanger and ended up racing.
My behaviour on the road has improved considerably as well. Things that a year ago I would have considered a "challenge" are now passed off with a smile and the thought "I bet they couldn't get round Wanganui in 58 seconds". I figure that the riders of the other 190 bikes that competed at Wanganui have a similar reaction. (Just for the record 89 people did get round faster than 58s )

Umm... back to the topic:

• Track days got me racing
• Racing is better than trackdays
• I need to do some trackdays to get used to my new bike as it is "track" only

[owner]

Buggar this thread!! I was all keen to get Choppa's old 6R.
Now you lot have got me thinking
I have done a load trackdays and love them. I'm not competative at all other than racing myself.

Does this make sense

After a couple years doing track days. Is the best way to get faster to go racing?

Or to buy a lap timer and just race myself (unofficially ofcourse!) at trackdays on my insured road bike.

[sinfull]

Buggar this thread!! I was all keen to get Choppa's old 6R.
Now you lot have got me thinking
I have done a load trackdays and love them. I'm not competative at all other than racing myself.

Does this make sense

After a couple years doing track days. Is the best way to get faster to go racing?

Or to buy a lap timer and just race myself (unofficially ofcourse!) at trackdays on my insured road bike.

DMNTD is selling his 07 600 at a bloody competitive prive and yeah ya do go quicker when ya start from a grid !

[NinjaBoy]

After a couple years doing track days. Is the best way to get faster to go racing?

Or to buy a lap timer and just race myself (unofficially ofcourse!) at trackdays on my insured road bike.

If you do enough racing you will get faster but there are other ways of going faster. Getting a dedicated track bike which doesn't financially ruin you if it goes down the road can help as well as talking to and following the lines of faster guys also helps. At the risk of being flamed... fancy suspension or at least well setup suspension gives you more confidence to go faster ! Along with nice new track tyres.

I started racing because I got bored of riding around on trackdays without much purpose. Racing filled that gap.

Also you will find that laptiming is strictly forbidden at trackdays due to insurance reasons.

[puddytat]

In the latest news letter from Motorcycling Canterbury, there is special mention of "the large number of new members joining", which Id put down to a great club organizing with sponsors, well run trackdays.
I think that at the last one there was about 190 odd bikes there
It was them that got me started racing,as I found it simply more of a buzz than the road & the fuzz
Road bike is for sale....

[owner]

DMNTD is selling his 07 600 at a bloody competitive prive and yeah ya do go quicker when ya start from a grid !

Yes I know mate bloody good deal that bike thats what got me thinking

[owner]

If you do enough racing you will get faster but there are other ways of going faster. Getting a dedicated track bike which doesn't financially ruin you if it goes down the road can help as well as talking to and following the lines of faster guys also helps. At the risk of being flamed... fancy suspension or at least well setup suspension gives you more confidence to go faster ! Along with nice new track tyres.

I started racing because I got bored of riding around on trackdays without much purpose. Racing filled that gap.

Also you will find that laptiming is strictly forbidden at trackdays due to insurance reasons.

Thanks I hear what your saying. I know about no timing at trackdays. But the missus does a mean stopwatch
I think racing a trackbike might make me push that little bit harder than I do at trackdays which will probably mean......... I'll crash and hopefully only financially ruin myself

[Spyke]

We need more production indurance races! now that would be cool. then you'd have so much time on the track.

[Kickaha]

Your point has really struck home. Basicly with so many trackdays available its actually become counter productive.

I doubt it, a track day is not even close to real racing, those who are interested in taking the next step up to real racing will take up the sport regardless of the trackdays available

[DEATH_INC.]

A mate of mine came with me to a track day last saturday done 7 sessions for $100 bucks, i talked him into racing the next day it cost him $150 entry and he did 18 laps and waited around for a long boring day! Doubt he will race again....

That's a point we've gone on about for ages....value for money is pretty shit as far as track time goes when you race....and to be competitive it get's even worse....

[DEATH_INC.]

Also, riding with better riders is safer - it's the random lines, early braking, slowing for wheelies on corner exits, parked bikes in the corners etc that gives me the trackday shits. A `racing' group is a must.

Have you ever raced here? I've seen at least as much bad riding when racing as in some of the trackday groups...

[DEATH_INC.]

To answer Tony's original question though, I think they do help. I know a few who've gotten into racing from doing trackdays (me included), mostly from doing them with someone who races talking you into it. It helps to have the confidence to know (or at least think) that you can do ok if you go out on a trackday and run competitively in your group.

[DEATH_INC.]

Less classes would be the ticket, why the f*&k have 2 motard races! All the 450 riders rode the open class anyway why not just score them seperate, same as the 600 and 1000s.

Surely the bikes from the previous race dont have to be back in the pits with there tyres warmers on before we can go out for warm up as well. Once there half track on there warm down lets go!

Both good points, I've suggested mixing classes before too, why run f1 and f2 seperate when most of f2 run in f1 anyway....same with the mootards, and I'm sure there'd be others....

[scrivy]

I doubt it, a track day is not even close to real racing, those who are interested in taking the next step up to real racing will take up the sport regardless of the trackdays available

Hang on a second Kick........

For a moment there I almost got the impression that you actually thought you were racing when you were out there (rather than just doing a track day).......