Track day at VIR – session 5

April 29, 9:44 PMDC Motorcycle Travel ExaminerMark Poesch

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the DC Motorcycle Travel Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

This time, it’s personal!  Back out on the grid after lunch, one of our group, Darius, is in front of me on his lambo-orange Honda CBR 600.  On the streets, Darius is a bit of a hooligan, often having trouble keeping his butt in the seat and his feet on the pegs.  But on the track, he’s all business.

Up to speed through turn 1, I’m following a few bike lengths behind Darius.  His line is good, and his pace comfortable.  On the straight up to the braking point for turn 5, I maintain pace with Darius’s 600.

Entering turn 5, I notice that he’s turned in tighter and his pace has slowed.  I’m able to comfortably maintain a quicker pace through the turn and close the gap to within a few feet, as we flip the bikes over and into turn 6 and then flip again into turn 7 accelerating hard to 100 MPH on the back straight.

From turn 7, I have the power to overtake Darius, but with one brake and cold tires, I’m comfortable hanging back and “only” accelerating to keep pace.

Braking hard for turn 9, then tight into 10, 11, 12, we hit the apex of 13 cleanly and pick up the pace heading through 14, 15, and 16.

The next lap is quicker, but Darius’s line is still good – except for turn 5, where he is still turning in too soon to maintain a quick pace through the turn.  This is where it’s getting fun, because I can feel how much more comfortably I’m able to ride the line by hitting the late apex turn.

Again in turn 5, I’m closing the gap: 10 feet, 8 , 5, 3, 2… brake!  Ack!  So, that’s what a rear-end slide feels like.  Fortunately, I didn’t have to brake hard.  But, leaned into the turn closing rapidly on Darius’s tire, it was enough.

We continue to lap the track, picking up the pace, and connecting the dots.  I’m now maxing out the revs in second gear (120 MPH+) but with only half a brake, I’m not pushing it any faster.  The GSX-R1000 will wheelie in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and with encouragement, 4th… on the back straight, I’m barely feeling the front get light.  There’s a lot of room for increased pace for anyone comfortable using more brake prior to turn 9.

Coming off the track, this has been the best session yet!

Post-session 5 training

This’ll be our final round of classroom training.  From here, we’re out on the track just to practice what we’ve learned for the final few sessions that remain until 6PM.

The discussion in this session has turned to braking.  Now that our pace it considerably faster than in the first few sessions, braking is a critical skill.  Glen reviews pre-braking (to set the suspension), primary braking (where most of the work is done) and trail-braking (to adjust speed through the turn and modulate the line).

My memory is hazy here because the exhaustion from session 5 and post-lunch coma have knocked me out.  That, my shoulders are sore, and I feel like I’ve been running all day -- this is a workout!

But with the time remaining to rest, I should be ready for session 6!

Catch the whole series:

• Track day as a journey to self-discovery
• Track day at VIR – first-hand report – the first warm-up laps
• Track day at VIR – session 2 – taking it up a notch; stay on the line!
• Track day at VIR – session 3 – out in front of the instructors
• Track day at VIR – session 4 – picking up the pace
• Track day at VIR – session 5 – the best session yet!
• Track day at VIR – session 6 – death of a gixxer
• Track day at VIR – session 7 - final session! – taking advantage of the run-off area!
• Track day at VIR – conclusion – confidence without discipline spells disaster
• Track day at VIR – epilogue – lessons learned on and off the track