Track Craft
Dean Ellison is back with more great track advice
Since our second national lockdown started to relax and No Limits Trackdays began to run again, I’ve seen a lot of mistakes being made from a lack of knowledge – quite surprising when most of the core information is in your confirmation email and online briefing. Hopefully this article will help a few regulars and new trackday riders alike, but those seven 20-minute sessions are like gold and I don’t like wasting a single lap, so get yourself better prepared next time. Here’s how to make the most of every minute, starting off with the stuff you need to think about before getting on track...
Choosing the Right Group
I was recently asked how you choose which group to ride in if you’ve never done a trackday before. I thought the obvious answer was the lower group, but then if you think you’re the fastest rider up the local section of A6 or hit 150mph in a straight line down the German autobahns, you may have other ideas. But picking the correct group is a serious matter; those riders too slow for a group will cause frustrations for others, just as anyone who is stand-out too fast would likely get frustrated with everyone else in the group.
Both situations can be dangerous, so you must select a
group you’re comfortable riding in and not the group your friends are all in.
● If it’s your first ever trackday, book in the lower group regardless of your fastest top speed on the motorway.
● If you’ve done a few trackdays, then monitor your overtaking:overtaken ratio. Trackday grouping isn’t set by a range of lap times; it’s down to you as a customer to initially select the group and get a feel for how you sit within it. Don’t wait to get feedback from other riders, marshals, the trackday organiser, or instructors. If you’re doing all the overtaking, then move up – and if you’re frustrated with getting overtaken all the time, move down.
● If you want advice about potentially moving groups, then speak to whoever is running the event. They can arrange for an instructor to ride with you and confirm if you should move.
Online Registration
MSV and No Limits have done a brilliant job with their online registration. This was brought in last year after the first lockdown to help maintain social distancing at each event, but it’s turned out to be a keeper and definitely speeds up the signing on process when at the track. FYI, it’s always the same URL for the No Limits online check-in – I
get asked by a lot of regular trackday riders if I can send the link for signing on at a particular event. Maybe they don’t have the email, bought the space through Trackday Trader, or just forgot, but remember signon. nolimitstrackdays.com and the next seven days’ worth of UK events will be there to see.
For first-timers, your details will be saved for an even faster check-in next time. Your compulsory online briefing will be available to view 24 hours before the trackday and you just follow the same link; my advice is to watch this at home or in the hotel the night before and listen to it properly. It’s quite clear that some riders haven’t been watching these online briefings but we’ve recently seen a welcome return of the trusty morning briefing at all No Limits trackday events, and that’s going to help.
Bike Preparation
You don’t need to be a qualified mechanic to prepare your bike for track use, and there aren’t many requirements for your bike to be trackday-ready, but there are a few simple checks that might just save a few quid in crash damage.
● Having a front brake lever guard fitted to your bike is now compulsory and I’ve seen stacks of them fall off on track. I still see people rushing around in the morning trying to fit one; I’ve even seen a rider fit one to the left hand side only, claiming it was a ‘lever guard’ and it was ‘fitted’… what can you say to that? Anyway, all road bikes have very different handlebars and bar-end fitments, so finding a universal one on the day can’t be guaranteed, especially if you’re on your road bike and don’t really want to drill out the internal thread. I just went online and bought a GB Racing lever guard to fit to my standard Yamaha R1. It went straight on within seconds and I haven’t touched it since. I can now remove the lever guard and put the original bar ends back in for when I’m out on the road again.
If fitting one yourself, please make sure it’s properly installed. The universal type with expanding internal dowl is the most common found trackside, and it’s because they weren’t fitted or checked properly. If you put the spliced dowl in the wrong way then it doesn’t expand and grip the inside of the handlebar tube.
● Make sure you have good tyres – not necessarily the best gripping race slick, but a reasonably new tyre with plenty of life left in it. Some road tyres have a flat spot in the middle of the tread; this makes the bike very difficult to turn in and at risk of blow-out due to the limited amount of rubber left in the middle. If you run scrub race tyres, the same goes for the side wall; the profile of the rubber flattens because racers drive hard when exiting the corner and this eats away at the rubber. Again, this flat spot affects the handling of the bike and that lack of rubber reduces your level of grip – you might not even get a full day from a scrub.
If unsure, take your bike to the tyre support service on the day of the event and they will advise; you can also get some advice on tyre pressures.
● Brakes are so important and you shouldn’t cut corners or ignore signs that your brakes need some attention. This year I’ve seen a number of riders run off track and crash in the kitty litter because they ‘lost their brakes’ – which means they overheated due to not having enough brake pad material and have eventually cooked the fluid to a level where nothing works and the lever travels all the way back to the handlebars.
Another rider went straight over the front of their bike because their brakes seized on; the bike hadn’t been used for a while and after checking it out, it seems the caliper pistons had been sticking.
As the rider’s pace increased, the heat expanded all the brake components and eventually got so hot that the front brake came on at about 80mph in a straight line and brought the bike into a stoppie. The rider went over the front and into the tyre wall, sustaining a broken leg… not a nice crash.
Do some visual checks and make sure you have plenty of meat left on the brake pads. Don’t over-fill the brake fluid reservoir (this can also cause over-heating) and seek advice if unsure about how your brakes feel. When it comes to track riding, if something doesn’t feel right, it’s probably not.
Also:
● Tape up or fold in your mirrors; focus on what’s in front.
● Tape over your speedo. You can cover a fair distance in the moment you glance at your top speed and could miss your braking point.
● Tyre pressures need to be set much lower than on the road. Seek advice by the tyre support service on the day.
Kit Preparation
If it’s your first trackday or first in a long time, then please try on your gear in advance. Don’t just rock up with your kit back from pre-Covid and expect everything to be okay. Leathers shrink over winter just like your normal clothes, or you may have forgotten about the zip that burst on your boots or that your knee sliders are worn out, or that your helmet is now 10 years old and not fit for purpose.
● Leathers should be one-piece or two-piece that zip all the way together at the waist. The zip must encircle your torso and there should be no gap between the jacket and trousers.
● Helmet must be an ACU Gold Sticker certified safety helmet.
● Gloves must be of the leather gauntlet type.
● Boots must be full leather, and cover the shin area as well.
● Always wear a Level Two back protector.
● Always wear earplugs.
● I would highly recommend wearing a technical base layer top and pants. It’s much more comfortable when riding and easier to get your kit off afterwards.