News

TTD

August 31, 2006

Tony asked me to come up at help at his 8/29 event, which I gladly accepted. We got to the track in the morning with very cloudy skies, and about 45 minutes into setup for the day it started to rain. So be it, rain riding is good practice for smoothness, so out we went to do follow the leader (FTL) sessions for each group.

All the sessions went well, with the exception of a crash in blue group and a crash in yellow group. Red group did a nice job of making it through their session on 2 wheels, and my group seemed pretty comfortable out there.

The first 3 sessions stayed wet, but after lunch it dried right up. I never really rained hard, so there were no puddles to have to dry up. While corner working during lunch we just saw the track dry right up and knew we were in for a good afternoon of riding.

We had a lot of people looking for some individual time, which is great! Its how I learned, and still learn the track better. At one point I was out for 4 sessions in a row. The folks I worked with seemed really smooth, and found their way around the track very well. There seems to be the same spots where riders will make the same mistake, turn 9 is a classic example. I had a session with a rider who had good line, but it was a little wide at the turn-in points around the whole track. He had a good pace, so we slowed down a bit, tightened up the line, then picked the pace back up (and maybe a little quicker). When we came in he said "that felt so smooth".

From the last TTD I worked, this group seemed more in control of their riding. The folks that were looking for help were not trying to "hot dog" it in front of the instructors, or push their limits. They went out there and rode like they had been, which made working with them more enjoyable because really help them instead of just say "ya have to slow down".

I put down A LOT of laps for the day, which was great. I really enjoy being out on the track, whether it be racing or at a track day.