Robert (bins) arranges a handful of 'road bike only' trackdays each year. Although labelled as BMW there are many other bikes that attend. They are a great way to enjoy riding on circuit without the intimidation of tyre warmers, slicks, and Rossi wannabes. I went along to two of these last year, and two again this year. Because our forum has a wide range of riders with differing levels of skill, and many who will be 'concerned' about riding on a trackday, I thought I would write this post about my experience to give some insight and hopefully covert a few more to these activities.
To start.
The forecast was looking very favourable for Monday. I had a 3 hour ride down from Leeds on Sunday afternoon meeting up with a mate at a hotel close to Snetterton circuit. The HP4 was saddled with my Kreiga 10 and the Wunderlich tankbag and I was good to go. Bins traditionally does a BBQ evening the night before with an open door policy. I went along last year and got fed and watered
, this year by the time we checked in, showered and changed, the hotel bistro (and waitress) looked far more appealing so we stayed put, sorry Robert.
As I made my way through my first jar of amber nectar I realised I had forgotten my driving licence. Oh fu*k. Sure it'll be fine....
The trackday.
Slept really badly, probably worrying about the licence problem. But it was a beautiful morning. Trackdays are a fairly early start, particularly for me as I am not a morning person. The process starts with arriving at the track and signing on from 7.30am, which involves showing the track organisers your licence and filling in the usual indemnity / in case of emergency forms. In return you get a stickered number for your bike and a wristband that identifies your group for the day.
I found Robert, who in turn, led me to a very helpful chap who would ring the DVLA at 8.30 to validate my licence eligibility over the phone. In the meantime, every bike needs noise testing before they are allowed on track (not strictly true for the first session but lets not get into that here).
Noise testing can be a long, painful process of queueing. Today was no different. I tend to leave it until the last minute before tracktime when the queue has gone, but today I had the licence thing to sort out so it was the queue for me.
At 8.25 I sneak back into the signing on room and get the call to the DVLA made. Within 2 minutes I was cleared to get on track, result!
At 8.30 there is the compulsory safety briefing that everyone must attend. This covers all the do's and dont's as well as the various flags the marshalls use, and what to do if things go wrong. All sensible stuff, surprising how many people fail to understand simple instructions once they get on track, but that is digressing....
Because it is a 'ride-friendly' day, there are some additional rules about how people behave on track. Diving up the inside is not acceptable, nor is completing an overtake after the turning in point and forcing a change of line. It is a friendly day, everyone is expected to ride with that frame of mind and give each other space and overtake when it is sensible to do so. And it works.
Wrist bands are given out at the end of the briefing to show you have attended. Without both the safety briefing band and the group band you wont get on track.
Riders are split into three groups - Experienced, Inters, and Cautious. I don't know why but some people put themselves in faster groups than they should be, which is frustrating for others and can't be a great experience for them either.
The format for these days is slightly different from normal trackdays. On a standard trackday you would usually get 3 sighting laps in your first session and then you would left to lap at will. For the experienced group this is the case, but for the I and C groups they do a number of led sessions before they go out alone. This is to help build up an understanding of the racing lines and braking points, as well as give the riders a feel for being on track without the pressure of riders 'pushing it' around them. These guys are split into sub groups of around 8-10 bikes with an instructor for each group.
In the paddock area bikes start assembling for their first sessions:
Looking down the pit lane before the tracktime starts:
Pits were not very full... Normal trackdays everywhere is packed out. I like it like this....
Tracktime is split between the 3 groups. This gives each group 20 minutes on track each hour, with a break for lunch.
Then the tracktime:
Started off doing 2.19 laps. Stiffened up the suspension and it immediately felt better.
By the end of the morning I got my lap times down to 2.16. I had also had a number of aborted laps where my laptimer was showing a fastest lap in progress only to end up in traffic and slowing down. From memory I had 4 clear laps in the morning sessions. The other 'little' problem I was having was my handlebars were vibrating violently on heavy braking down both the Bentley and Senna straight. It was starting to bother me, a lot.
We broke for lunch and I ended up sat with an older chap who had been literally all over the world on a BMW in the 1970s and early 1980s. Fascinating stories and very typical of these trackdays, very sociable, meeting all kinds of people.
For the afternoon sessions I had a plan.
There are instructors all over the place on these days, all happy to give tuition and advice if wanted, all FOC. I found Baz in the pit next door to me and convinced him to go out with me after lunch to help me understand where I could find some more time. Baz knows Snetterton very well and anything he could teach me was going to be an improvement.
After lunch we followed each other around for a couple of sessions, with debriefing inbetween.
Baz also has an HP4 which gave a good comparison. He also had a good look at my front brakes and concluded the vibration was probably the pads were nearly gone, ooops. So with that in mind and his advice on my riding, I finished the day with a 2.14, again with a number of aborted 'best time in progress' laps due to traffic.
Conclusion.
For a trackday where you can ride up and go there isn't much better I have experienced. Organisation is spot on. The whole atmosphere is very friendly, you can't help but meet new people and have banter with other riders. I now recongnise so many people who return each year, some we stop and chat a little, others it's a wave or smile, no idea about names most of the time. And as each event passes, the number of familiar faces grows, all sharing the enjoyoment of riding our bikes, whatever they are.
Personally I got a lot out of my day. For my second visit to Snetterton, ending on a 2.14 with baked front brakes, down from 2.19 at the start of the day was a real achievement. Baz's advice has given me a couple of specific things I need to work on to get my time down further, but not just at Snetterton, but everywhere, so big thanks Baz. The M7RR tyres performed brilliantly, both riding there and back from Leeds and on the day around the track, these tyres do do everything very well.
Well done bins on organising the day and ensuring perfect weather conditions. I expect no less next year!
To start.
The forecast was looking very favourable for Monday. I had a 3 hour ride down from Leeds on Sunday afternoon meeting up with a mate at a hotel close to Snetterton circuit. The HP4 was saddled with my Kreiga 10 and the Wunderlich tankbag and I was good to go. Bins traditionally does a BBQ evening the night before with an open door policy. I went along last year and got fed and watered
, this year by the time we checked in, showered and changed, the hotel bistro (and waitress) looked far more appealing so we stayed put, sorry Robert.As I made my way through my first jar of amber nectar I realised I had forgotten my driving licence. Oh fu*k. Sure it'll be fine....
The trackday.
Slept really badly, probably worrying about the licence problem. But it was a beautiful morning. Trackdays are a fairly early start, particularly for me as I am not a morning person. The process starts with arriving at the track and signing on from 7.30am, which involves showing the track organisers your licence and filling in the usual indemnity / in case of emergency forms. In return you get a stickered number for your bike and a wristband that identifies your group for the day.
I found Robert, who in turn, led me to a very helpful chap who would ring the DVLA at 8.30 to validate my licence eligibility over the phone. In the meantime, every bike needs noise testing before they are allowed on track (not strictly true for the first session but lets not get into that here).
Noise testing can be a long, painful process of queueing. Today was no different. I tend to leave it until the last minute before tracktime when the queue has gone, but today I had the licence thing to sort out so it was the queue for me.
At 8.25 I sneak back into the signing on room and get the call to the DVLA made. Within 2 minutes I was cleared to get on track, result!
At 8.30 there is the compulsory safety briefing that everyone must attend. This covers all the do's and dont's as well as the various flags the marshalls use, and what to do if things go wrong. All sensible stuff, surprising how many people fail to understand simple instructions once they get on track, but that is digressing....
Because it is a 'ride-friendly' day, there are some additional rules about how people behave on track. Diving up the inside is not acceptable, nor is completing an overtake after the turning in point and forcing a change of line. It is a friendly day, everyone is expected to ride with that frame of mind and give each other space and overtake when it is sensible to do so. And it works.
Wrist bands are given out at the end of the briefing to show you have attended. Without both the safety briefing band and the group band you wont get on track.
Riders are split into three groups - Experienced, Inters, and Cautious. I don't know why but some people put themselves in faster groups than they should be, which is frustrating for others and can't be a great experience for them either.
The format for these days is slightly different from normal trackdays. On a standard trackday you would usually get 3 sighting laps in your first session and then you would left to lap at will. For the experienced group this is the case, but for the I and C groups they do a number of led sessions before they go out alone. This is to help build up an understanding of the racing lines and braking points, as well as give the riders a feel for being on track without the pressure of riders 'pushing it' around them. These guys are split into sub groups of around 8-10 bikes with an instructor for each group.
In the paddock area bikes start assembling for their first sessions:
Looking down the pit lane before the tracktime starts:
Pits were not very full... Normal trackdays everywhere is packed out. I like it like this....
Tracktime is split between the 3 groups. This gives each group 20 minutes on track each hour, with a break for lunch.
Then the tracktime:
Started off doing 2.19 laps. Stiffened up the suspension and it immediately felt better.
By the end of the morning I got my lap times down to 2.16. I had also had a number of aborted laps where my laptimer was showing a fastest lap in progress only to end up in traffic and slowing down. From memory I had 4 clear laps in the morning sessions. The other 'little' problem I was having was my handlebars were vibrating violently on heavy braking down both the Bentley and Senna straight. It was starting to bother me, a lot.
We broke for lunch and I ended up sat with an older chap who had been literally all over the world on a BMW in the 1970s and early 1980s. Fascinating stories and very typical of these trackdays, very sociable, meeting all kinds of people.
For the afternoon sessions I had a plan.
There are instructors all over the place on these days, all happy to give tuition and advice if wanted, all FOC. I found Baz in the pit next door to me and convinced him to go out with me after lunch to help me understand where I could find some more time. Baz knows Snetterton very well and anything he could teach me was going to be an improvement.
After lunch we followed each other around for a couple of sessions, with debriefing inbetween.
Baz also has an HP4 which gave a good comparison. He also had a good look at my front brakes and concluded the vibration was probably the pads were nearly gone, ooops. So with that in mind and his advice on my riding, I finished the day with a 2.14, again with a number of aborted 'best time in progress' laps due to traffic.
Conclusion.
For a trackday where you can ride up and go there isn't much better I have experienced. Organisation is spot on. The whole atmosphere is very friendly, you can't help but meet new people and have banter with other riders. I now recongnise so many people who return each year, some we stop and chat a little, others it's a wave or smile, no idea about names most of the time. And as each event passes, the number of familiar faces grows, all sharing the enjoyoment of riding our bikes, whatever they are.
Personally I got a lot out of my day. For my second visit to Snetterton, ending on a 2.14 with baked front brakes, down from 2.19 at the start of the day was a real achievement. Baz's advice has given me a couple of specific things I need to work on to get my time down further, but not just at Snetterton, but everywhere, so big thanks Baz. The M7RR tyres performed brilliantly, both riding there and back from Leeds and on the day around the track, these tyres do do everything very well.
Well done bins on organising the day and ensuring perfect weather conditions
. I expect no less next year!
