DUCATI RIDING ACADEMY
Schooled by the very best on a world class circuit
HEN THE INVITATION to test ride the 959 manigale arrivedI it wasn’t as much as the bike itself than the three lettersI aobI inscribed on the mail that made me do a double backflip.
The Ducati Riding Experience, for those not in the knowI is one of the best track day experiences you can attend. I was introduced to it by my former colleague AbhayI who regaled us with tales of his experience aboard a 1199 Panigale on the Sepang circuit, chasing a legend. He talked about an instance where Alessandro Valia picked up the front wheel of the manigale and wheelied down the main straight in excess of 250kmph before putting it down at the end of the straightI locking the rear and drifting in to the corner as if it were the easiest thing in the world. Aside from watching Alessandro in action, I hoped to take away some positive experience from the track.
So what is DRE about? It essentially is a premier factory riding school initiated by aucati for their customers to enable them to ride better and safer. And it’s not just the track. DRE has four courses: Intro, Precision, Track and Enduro.
Intro, as the name suggests is to introduce new customers to aucati bikes and how to handle them. The course involves fundamentals of road riding, like the riding position, visualising corners and tackling them the right wayI how to best achieve the maximum from ABp brakingI and so on. A limited number of pupils are divided into groups with a specialist instructor and the session takes place in a controlled environment.
mrecision involves tackling simulated emergency road situations where riders are taught how to control their bikes in different conditions and avoid dangerous situations that may occur. This includes a bit of track riding and primarily involves teaching the rider better control at speed.
Track riding is divided into four parts – tarm upI bvoI Track jaster and Champs academy. tarm up is for novices to get acquainted with the etiquette of track riding. Track bvo has aob instructors focussing on improving the rider’s track riding skills. Track jaster is for those who want to get in to the sport professionally and focusses on everything needed to improve lap times. Track jaster is the crème of the crop of the academy. eere you get to ride with aucati oacing’s track champions and learn the dark art of going faster aboard a manigale o!
bnduro is a new offJroad course for riders wanting to master the jultistrada N2MM bnduro.
that we experienced was the Track bvo session. It started with a briefing and a bit of theory on taking the correct lineI throttle control and track rules. Before we were let loose on the trackI the posse of journalists were divided into groups of threes and fours with each group having a different instructor that included names like aario jarchetti and of courseI Alessandro salia. lurs was an affable Thai named iek mhanyuenyong. kow iek used to race aucatis and has won quite a few championships. lnce we got to the paddockI iek wasted no time in getting us aboard a parked 959 manigale and getting our riding position right. These static poses help a lot in deciphering what we are doing wrong and getting it right before we hit the track.
The first session was more of a familiarisation one with iek leading and pointing out the braking and acceleration points on the trackI where to roll off the throttle and to lean in. The session consisted of six lapsI enough to get used to the track. lnce back in the pitsI iek took our feedbackI asking us about how comfortable we wereI whether the bike setup was right for us. This was turning out to be a highly personal experience.
The next three sessions were practice sessions with the lead rider upping the pace after each session and getting us into a rhythm. iek seemed to constantly monitor our riding through his mirrorsI checking our comfort
THE SESSION CONSISTED OF SIX LAPS, ENOUGH TO GET USED TO THE TRACK
levels and adjusting the pace accordingly. The next time we went out on the trackI iek followed us for two laps making mental notes and figuring out where each of us could improve to be faster on the track.
iek made me realise that my upper body was not hanging off the bike as much as my lower body. The reasonI he said was f was getting my shoulder out and suggested f get my elbow out and lower to get my body lower on the bike the next time f went out on the track. ft worked. f was able to go at least NMkmph faster around cornersI being able to lean more and get my knee down with ease.
The last two sessions were all about going fast and by the end of it, I felt more confident on the bikeI able to extract much moreI and was way faster than when f started. To say the session improved my track riding would be an understatement.
The good news is that aucati is considering getting aob to fndiaI well not the track bit but the fntro and mrecision classes for now. f reckon the bnduro class will follow when aucati launches the jultistrada N2MM bnduro here. thile the courses strictly use aucati bikesI non aucati owners should be able to avail of bikes for the course for an extra fee. The plan is to introduce these courses in cities having an existing aucati dealership with a team of experienced fndian instructors. The aob fntro courses in Thailand cost around NNIMMM and we expect it to be more or less the same here. ff you wish to participate in the Track experienceI you could try the buropean aob courses. They are expensive at around a thousand euros each but on the flip side you get a chance to ride on some of the best circuits in the world. po if you are a track connoisseur and wish to learn from the very bestI aob is a oneJway ticket to track day nirvana.