Take to the track to master the art of fast but safe riding
Top track schools help improve your road riding ‘A trackday crash at Cadwell had left my confidence shot’
It’s 9am on a Wednesday and the Donington Park pitlane has disappeared under a sea of polished and precisely parked Hondas, rows of them glinting in the morning light as wide-eyed students and their business-like instructors attempt to locate their steeds for the day. The atmosphere is like a busy club racing weekend, only better, with little of the feeling of stress and mounting tension among the participants. Instead, the bustling assembly of paying riders can barely contain their excitement as they talk road bikes and the possibility of knee-down action, while pointing out to one another the various racing stars instructing that day.
Making my way between a long line of brightred CBR600RRs and stealth-black Fireblades for my riders’ briefing, my ears pick up the distant thrum of a swarm of angry single-cylinder
CBR300 and 125Rs, as they begin snaking their way down Craner Curves. Ridden by kids as young as 12 as part of the school, it’s not long before they are tucking in for the Wheatcroft Straight and buzzing past the pit wall like it’s a (slightly muffled) Moto3 GP race. Into my classroom, and I am met by the welcoming face of one of the school’s many instructors, who then talks my group through the Donington circuit corner-by-corner and explains the format of day, and suddenly any doubts I have about attending a race school begin to melt away.
Riders seek out track training for a multitude of reasons but like many I took the plunge because my confidence was shot. A heavy trackday crash at Cadwell Park two years ago cost me my beloved Suzuki GSX-R600 and took away my trust in the rubber beneath me. And also like many road riders, following a track accident I struggled to put it fully out of my mind and found that the memory of the crash inhibited my cornering; I felt awkward and uncertain at high lean angles, always tentative rather than positive.
I needed a fix but realised the relative anarchy and sometimes mildly intimidating atmosphere of a normal trackday wasn’t it.
So I opted to try the Ron Haslam Race School Premier Experience, which costs £310 and gets you three coached sessions on a CBR600RR. Debriefs are given between sessions with a chance to discuss what you’ve learned or where you are struggling (each instructor is shared with just one other similarly skilled rider on the day). This in-depth tuition and the chance
‘I yearn for another stint, this time with a clearer track’
to talk over my riding problems are exactly what I need and Kevin Atkins, a former club racer who’s been teaching on the 600 school for three years, is just the man for the job.
“The reason I love instructing is because I enjoy trying to improve people’s riding ability. This is probably the only place where you can learn in this type of environment and allow people to explore the limits of the bikes,” Kevin says.
Fast forward two sessions of confidence-boosting riding chasing Kevin on his Honda VFR800, and I decide to step it up for the final session. By doing what Kevin has advised – shifting my body weight and bum further off the bike through each corner and looking through the corresponding hand, I can carry more corner speed through a bend, before accelerating harder out of it than ever before.
And, just like, that I am a track rider again. A small amount of coaching has gone a long way and, with beads of sweat trickling down my face, I yearn for another stint, this time with a clearer track. Unfortunately, the school is very busy and we find ourselves catching less experienced riders, or having to pull over to one side for faster riders catching us. Pick the wrong time to leave pitlane and multiple laps can feel like a procession.
But before I know it the chequered flag is raised and my morning of genius instruction has come to an end. I’m riding faster and safer than ever before, too, which for the sake of £300, feels like decent to value to this nolonger vexed track rider. Tick that bucket list box.