Tuesday morning started early, the B&B serves and early breakfast for trackdayers, so was sat at 6:50 chowing down on a full english. The ride to the track built a little bit of trepidation about the day. I've not been on a track for a few years now (think it's nearly 5 years) and it was very foggy, the closer I got to the track the thicker the fog got.
On arriving I just pitched up in the first garage I saw with space and moved on down to the registration queue. There I met a few guys from the rsvr.net forum and got chatting, a quick text exchange and rocket got himself pitch up in the same garage. We where lucky to be setup with some really great guys round us, I really enjoyed the chat and banter through out the day.
By the first session the fog was virtually cleared and the sun was peaking through, but the time I was out on track the sun was shining brightly. I got my arse into gear and got myself to the front of the queue so as to get a good look at the instructor and the lines, 3 laps later the instructors moved out and the session got underway. It was like riding the M25 of bikes, where ever you looked there where bikes in the way and while you worked out where to overtake you got over taken on either side.. After a couple of laps it eased up a little and I started to find a bit of clear track.
The second session was supposed to be with an instructor, but he was out in the group before and didn't have time to meet up. This was probably a good thing as it gave me some time to get to grips with the circuit. Session 3 saw me hook up with the instructor for a session and also was the first session with a camera attached to the bike. That was quite an experience, I'm pulling the video over now so will post up soon. There was a bit of swapping of lead as he showed me where I was going wrong and then a good chat on the garage gave loads of tips on lines, the instruction finished with a quick lesson on body position which was very useful as there where some things I would never have thought about.
Between sessions Jack turned up, camera in hand. Always a pleasure to see him, I'm really looking forward to seeing the shots that he got of us
Session 4, the last before lunch. The camera was still on the bike and I was feeling good. The session was probably one of the best of the day, the track, I got a lot of clear space and was running with another bike that was pretty damn quick. I was a little quicker round the back of the circuit and was really trying to stick a clean overtake in. I had a fast run right from craners to schwantz and moved for the inside line on McLeans, it was all good but then I found a problem. I was a lot hotter into Coppice then I had ever been, there was no chance of getting it round the corner so had to opt for standing it up and hitting the brakes as hard as possible. It was almost enough to keep me out of the kittty litter, but not quite enough. Fortunately there is virtually no damage to the bike, only a few light scratches on the faring, even better I've got it all on video...
The afternoon went much better, the first session after lunch was a bit slower, but sessions 2 and 3 picked up nothing really to special to talk about. A guy in the fast stacked his bike properly just before the last session, I was starting to feel a bit tired and dehydrated already so after seeing that decided that the day had been a good one, and with the long ride home it was time to call it a day.
Thanks to all the guys that I met at the track that made it such a cracking day.. Now the only question that remains..... When's the next on
kind of sums it up..
My front brakes really need some TLC (and probably new disks), gravel is a bitch...
