Post up your race/trackday reports!

[zooom]

So, here's my 1st track report of the year...

The place was VIR outside of Danville in VA on the North Course on Monday and Tuesday the 6th and 7th. It was the MAD club (Mid-Atlantic Ducati owners club) date that we have annually and semi annually put on with Cornerspeed. Weather on Monday started out rainy and cool, but not downright cold yet. I could not get my bike running in time for the event due to a corroded ground that needs to be rebuilt/replaced and my battery went south sometime over the course of the winter. I was then relagated to using a friend of mine's new to him track pregnant dog. The machine was a fairly clean example of the 07 Parts Unlimited edition 999S. It was a fairly unnmolested and very unbeaten, given the evidence by care and wear that was visually seen apon inspection. The bike was taped up and readied for track duty per specifications by the Cornerspeed folks for track use.

Over the course of the winter, some of the areas of the course that had rippling and bumps and sealer and other imperfections from the abusive cars that run the course, were ground down and regraded over the course of the winter. The once again promise of repaving was left out in the cold along with other expensive measures that the economy left on the table when they all went south. The 1st session on Monday was pretty much a puddle jumping wash as far as I was concerned. Pooling in certain sections made for a real unknown idea as to what awaited in terms of traction along with reference points having been ground away and some weary expectations.

By the time the 2nd session was called to the grid for my group, some clearing of weather had occurred along with some circulation by other individuals braver than I. Figuring some standing water my have run off and been moved, I decided to casually venture out in a more or less parade type fashion to view things 1st hand from the mounted perspective. The stock Bridgestone BT014 tires that had chicken strips on them wider than a Razor cell phone were very squirrelly and the bike stepped left and right a fair bit more than I was comfortable with. I came into the pits after 2 laps and chalked what I was feeling up to just an excessive amount of water still abound and a need for more to be run off and moved.

By the 3rd session for my group, the weather system had moved out of town and more and more bikes had circulated about. The track was by no means dry, but there were no more standing puddles and things were clearing up seemingly fast. I put myself together to go out with the idea in mind similar to where I was in the 2nd session. I went out in more of a parade pace to get an idea of the unfamiliar machine and its adhesion and surface traction. Though things were obviously better than the previous time out, there was still a bit of a nervous feeling about my riding and I was taking it rather easy. 2/3rds of the way around the course, climbing the hill towards the highest point of elevation, I was changing direction from right to left into turn 10 (sometimes called Stevie Wonder due to the blind uphill apex), when the front end washed out from under me in a patch of wet run off from the hill to the right. Only moving at roughly 35-ish MPH at the time, it was kinda of freakish how it occurred with no warning, but I found myself sliding on my knees and palms on the surface watching the bike slide away from me while listening to the metal bits grind away on the surface that was shredding my rain gear. The thoughts of "Oh Shit" and "make the beast with two backs" can't be explained enough as this was happening. The bike slid across the surface, then across the curbing, and settled into the soft earth. I tried to get the bike up myself, but it had settled nestled into some soft mud and grass that sucked it in a bit. I sat on the armco barrier and waited for 5 laps of the session to finish before the crash truck arrived. The 2 meaty gentlemen grunted rather heavily when struggling to get the bike out of the sopping agriculture. The bike was then strapped in to the trailer for the ride of shame back to the pits.


Back in the pits after expressing my disatisfaction of the situation , and repeating to alot of folks how okay I was physically, it was time to start really assessing the damage. Really and truly, it wasn't that bad. The upper,mid and lower fairings had suffered some scrapes. The Pazzo shorty lever had tweaked a couple of degrees upward, and the bar end was ground away.The Woodcraft footpeg and LP rear stand knob had saved the day for the most part and the worst of things was the tailsection that had cracked up considerably. My friend the owner asked me if I was okay, and I told him yes, then he asked me how bad the bike was and I told him not so bad, and he then told me to get it fixed and get the make the beast with two backs back out on the track with it. Woodcraft spares were quickly applied after a healthy hosing down to release the bits of sod and earth off the bike. Some color matched duct tape was applied to the tail to rig it back into being 1 solid unit again. Some new zip ties were applied to the bike to make sure everything was snug, and then a test ride around the pits. Everything felt good, and then a retech inspection cleared me for the ride the bike again.

The rest of the afternoon found to have increasingly better weather, not ideal mind you, but better than how the day started. I went out for 4 more sessions on the bike learning it's little bits and ways and found myself comparing it to my track Monster in alot of ways. I surprisingly found myself not as enamoured and drunk with upgrade envy as people expected me to be. It is certainly a better machine than mine in alot of respects, but none of them were enough to blow my doors off, More on that later though. My times I turned were 10-15 seconds a lap slower than what I had turned there last on my Monster. I wasn't racing, but I wanted to see out of curiousity where I stood in measure with a different bike.

That evening, much unwinding commenced as we BBQ'd in the pits and BS'd and recounted the day and amused one another with many a story. Catching up with my MAD family at the end of a day at these track events reinforces that sense of family that I have grown to love. It is truly a unique experience that has soiled and spoiled other track events for me.

The next day we all awoke to a hugely colder morning that left no one urgently looking to get on the track. It was in the high 30's and very windy. I sat out the 1st session and warmed up with some Hot Cocoa and Coffee. The second session led me out to be back in the tenuous riding mode as cold tires aren't the best thing in the world to try to get around on. Things improved as far as feeling as the day progressed and I did get smoother and more with the bike, but not to a point of being truly comfortable. My lap times improved by a couple seconds, but I was still no where close to where I am on my own bike. I love VIR's North Course and the new resurfacing seems to have done some good, even though I had to find new reference points to get around.

My Comparo of the Triple9 to my Monster starts more with what I think set me in the wrong direction. The SBK had a 190 rear which caused me very slow turn in on the tight corners. The slightly longer wheelbase also added to that feeling. The lack of feel and grip from the BT014's was also not really inspiring either. The bike also was not set up for me in terms of the suspension. I just didn't have the confidence to turn it in like I do with my Monster which has had the suspension completely redone and set up for me. The 180 series Pirelli's I run aid in that respect and helps me point and shoot and get on the gas better with my own bike. I maintained better cornerspeed with my own bike.

The SBK however has 2 very specific things on my bike that, while not completely intoxicating, were nice and have me thinking. The brakes on the bike were vastly superior. I was in a new stopping zone like I had never been in before. The bike lurched forward to a halt with authority. It was very nice and has me thinking for upgrades so as to aid in setting up my braking later and deeper. The other things was the powerband. While the 4V Testretta was more power, it was not freakishly so. It was linear and smooth to a point. I shift by ear with my bike, as I have no cluster, and found myself at the point of where this motor matched the sound of mine for shifting, I was only in the 7500-8000 range. That is the seemingly happy place where things wake up and get a bit different for this motor. I have to admit, it was nice to wind it up to 10.5 and feel it pull more frenetically past 8K. The kink on the straightaway where I am usually pretty close to topped out on my bike, I was still freakishly accelerating hard and I never even went to 6th gear, yet I added on 25+ MPH to my high speed on the straight.


There is more in my head I am sure, but right now, I am going to stop here.

[ducpainter]

I just figured I'd post up about my first two trackdays. I posted in TOSAT, but most of you don't go there.
Monday was uneventful, and was just shaking out the cobwebs for the first day of the year, getting used to the mag wheels I put on over the winter, and scrubbing in tires. My suspension definitely needs some fine tuning as I had the shock freshened, and I think the mags made a difference in settings. The bike feels harsher.

Tuesday was hot and windy. Because I cornerwork for Fishtail Riding School, we can't ride for the first two sessions of each group. So at 11:00am I head down to pit out to ride my first session of the day. I was on my first lap. I got on to the straight and...pinned it. I guess I shifted into 3rd and held it WOT. I went to shift into 4th...and it wouldn't shift...I shift without the clutch.
So I tried a few more times before I realized when I backed off the throttle the bike wasn't slowing down. By this time T1 was approaching rapidly...so I grabbed the front brake to shorten the bike a few inches  ...
and hit the kill switch. I left it in gear and coasted around NASCAR T1 and into two. I pushed the bike up the banking and sat up next to the wall till the session was over.
Long story short....the ITG air filter delaminated and the coarse inner filter which supports the outer finer foam got sucked into the vertical throttle body and jammed the throttle plate open.
It's a good thing it happened where it did. A 996 will go pretty fast in third, and there isn't much room at NHMS to take the time to figure what's going on, and do the correct thing. It would have been ugly if it had happened between 2 and 3 or between 8 and 9.
The hardest part of it all was to climb back on the bike after we figured out the problem and open the throttle.
All in all a good first outing with some exciting trackday fun and a great bench racing story for when I grow up.

[Statler]

For those who don't know ducpainter, it was his first two trackdays this season....not his first two ever.   I think he was doing trackdays before I was...well....before I was.      

[ducpainter]

For those who don't know ducpainter, it was his first two trackdays this season....not his first two ever.   I think he was doing trackdays before I was...well....before I was.      

Before I tell you to bite me...

I rode Bryar Motorsports Park...

when Loudon was Loudon.

When Kenny was king...

and motorcycles were not for the weak of heart...

[Speeddog]

.....when tires were skinny and ties were wide. 

[ducpainter]

.....when tires were skinny and ties were wide. 

Almost sounds like you remember. 

[ZLTFUL]

When men were men and real superbikes flexed like prima Russian Ballerinas.

[duc 620]

Well I survived my first track day on the Ducati.  It was a fairly intense day with a 1 1/12 hour ride in the freezing cold to get to the track, a couple of wrong turns but still made it in plenty of time. I'm pretty sure that the lady at the servo where I stopped to get fuel and ask for directions played the mother card on me and sent my on a wild goose chase in a last ditched effort to save my life.  It had been forecast for showers all week but as the cool morning fog lifted the sun came burning through and the track revealed itself, twisty undulating and technical (shit….what have I done).

It's a bit sad really the track is on its last legs and is set to be closed down at the end of the year making way for some more Sydney urban sprawl (just what this place needs).  So a quick Hi an sign here and I am ready for my first nervous pee…. Pit garage is filling up with some serious two wheeled hardware and I am starting to feel a little inadequate on the little Monster. Another quick glance over pit lane and I have found some comfort that we will only being using the South end of the track and only 2/3rds of the down hill straight.

Before long we were out lapping around the track and the blood was pumping and the Duc was howling down the straight crackling through the gears and leaning to turn one… Brilliant!!!

The course started with some intermediate stuff, bike set up, posture, breaking while down changing and emergency breaking and some obstacle avoidance but it was the afternoon cornering that I was gagging for. 

The track has proved to be a the perfect training ground and riding home felt like I had huge amounts more control of the bike and somehow it felt quite profound something that I had been thinking about for years maybe even as a kid.

Here's some pics..

[http://www.picsandglass.com/store/ImageFolio42/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=stay_upright_galleries/advanced_june_5_oran_park&image=D2M_0095.jpg&img=96&tt=]

[http://www.picsandglass.com/store/ImageFolio42/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=stay_upright_galleries/advanced_june_5_oran_park&image=D2M_0103.jpg&img=96&tt=]

[http://www.picsandglass.com/store/ImageFolio42/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=stay_upright_galleries/advanced_june_5_oran_park&image=D2M_0088.jpg&img=104&tt=]

[http://www.picsandglass.com/store/ImageFolio42/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=stay_upright_galleries/advanced_june_5_oran_park&image=D2M_0115.jpg&img=88&tt=]

http://www.picsandglass.com/store/ImageFolio42/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=stay_upright_galleries/advanced_june_5_oran_park&image=D2M_0130.jpg&img=80&tt=

http://www.picsandglass.com/store/ImageFolio42/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=stay_upright_galleries/advanced_june_5_oran_park&image=D3X_5615.jpg&img=40&tt=

http://www.picsandglass.com/store/ImageFolio42/imageFolio.cgi?action=view&link=stay_upright_galleries/advanced_june_5_oran_park&image=D3X_5633.jpg&img=24&tt=

[duc 620]

[KnightofNi]

OK..my first full on track day.
i did a couple of "try the track" type things and have ridden with people that are far faster than i can ever imagine being plus i have hung out with friends at track days and i learned quite a bit.
however, i learned a whole lot more by actually doing it.

i signed up for beginner because i really didn't want to overestimate my abilities and get stuck trying to avoid other riders who are much faster than i am or conversely slow them way down.

the first 2 sessions annoyed the living crap out of me. i don't think we went over 70 on the straight, and speaking of straight...the turns were taken at barely any degree of lean. it sucked and i was just waiting for them to say we could pass people on the straights at least.

3rd session started passing (although i missed that announcement) and instead of being on passed ont eh straights people were passing on the inside of turns, the outside of turns, entrances to turns, and the exits of turns. that calmed down by the 4th session and sicne i knew i could pass and where we were allowed to pass the day got tons better.
i had a control rider get in front of me and tell me to follow him. i did and i suddenly realized that i can ride faster, and jsut how far over the bike would lean. deep in a left hander i realized the peg was about to hit and i shifted myself off more. then i felt something very odd. my knee had just hit the ground. thank god someone else there insisted that i borrow their spare set of pucks. after our time was up he says "this group is holding you back. next session we'll go out in front of everyone else and see how you do and then move you up."
the next session he was nowhere to be found.   
so i stayed in beginner, but in the afternoon it was very much faster and i was continually passing people. some of them 2 or 3 times. i esp loved it when i passed the guy on the busa coming out of a very fast banked right hand turn where i would have been going much faster if it weren't for him. that's when i really put the whole corner speed, entrance, apex, and exit points of turns together. he kept his bike inside the turn i kept on the throttle and as soon as we were past the exit point, i was past him. i used that turn to pass several people and had the a CR do a double take after passing the guy he was leading. now i'll admit that a lot of what allowed me to pass the busa, the rc51, the cbr100, the gixxers, and the warrior (yes, we had deval's own mr wilson out on the track on a cruiser. and yes, he was passing people )was the engine. had i been on something smaller i would not have been able to outmuscle them down that straight and would have been stuck behind them int he turns for another lap.

the day ended with both pucks scraped up, no incidents, and a smiling me.
we went out to dinner, and then i rode home on a bike with fully loaded hard bags, camping gear, and a gas can strapped to it. and i had to keep reminding myself not to try and rail the turns. the turns that are normally quite fun were very boring last night. lol

overall, i'm glad i did it, but i won't be spending $200+ for a trackday. luckily the group i ran with does them for closer to $150 

also, i REALLY wanted to put the bags on the sprint and go out. i could only imagine the laughs i would have gotten dragging a knee (and possibly a bag) through turns. 

[KnightofNi]

i forgot to mention. the huge feelers on the pegs are probably what prevented it before i lerned to move my body off enough, but the center stand of the sprint never touched the ground 

[fasterblkduc]

The fourth round of my race season is now over and so far, it's been awesome. I'm currently 9th Expert overall going into the last round with a good shot at holding onto a single digit plate for next year! I'm leading three class championships and plan to work hard to try and hold onto points.

I'll summarize a report here and direct everyone to my website for full race reports for both myself and my teammate who is racing a Monster too this year.

I will say that I learned that on a shorter track, I can be competitive against SV650s on my 620. I entered two LW races and earned an 8th and 9th place out of a grid of 15 experts on SVs! Who knew that I could manage two top 10 finishes being that down on HP?

In my classes, I won two races, a 2nd, and was bumped off the podium for the first time this year for a 4th place. The competition is getting tougher as the year goes on because of more and more motards racing. They kick butt on a 620 on shorter tracks. In fact, they are doing well against SVs too.

Next month is the last round. I'll be racing in the 5 hr. endurance on a 900SS with a team of very fast guys. We plan to shake the bike down and work on our endurance plans for next year. If funding allows and sponsorship comes through, we will be entering the SS in AMA MotoGT for at least one round......fingers crossed!

So, check out my website for some Monster racing updates. I haven't been posting here much this year because I've been too busy. There is a race report section, and a photo section as well.
www.teamatomicracing.com

 

[Monstermonkey]

I recently traded in my S2R1000 for a new Hyper.  The Monster was fun but I wanted something more upright for everyday riding.  Plus, I have an SV650 track bike.  I really wanted to ride the new bike on the track to experiment with it's handling.  A friend was riding my SV so I spent all day on the hyper.  Here's what I learned:

1.  With stock pegs, toes are the first thing to touch down.  This was a problem on the Monster as well.
2.  Top speed was under 130!  I was a little disappointed by this especially on the 3500 foot front straight at Miller. 
3.  It's probably the least aerodynamic bike to ride on the track.

Here's a video taken by my friend on his 749. 

[zooom]

I recently traded in my S2R1000 for a new Hyper.  The Monster was fun but I wanted something more upright for everyday riding.  Plus, I have an SV650 track bike.  I really wanted to ride the new bike on the track to experiment with it's handling.  A friend was riding my SV so I spent all day on the hyper.  Here's what I learned:

1.  With stock pegs, toes are the first thing to touch down.  This was a problem on the Monster as well.
2.  Top speed was under 130!  I was a little disappointed by this especially on the 3500 foot front straight at Miller. 
3.  It's probably the least aerodynamic bike to ride on the track.

Here's a video taken by my friend on his 749. 
 

couple comments/questions....FWIW

what camera was your buddy using? GoProHeroWide?

its a 2 valver air cooled machine with no fairings-how can your expect more than 130? (and BTW, I am doubting it was really 130 despite what your speedo was saying, so you were actually going slower probably)

were you having problems getting the compression and damping dialed and ajusted in properly on your Hyper? I have heard this as a common complaint about the bike.

going back to the Hyper on the track or as a track bike. To me on a wide open track like Miller, it is the wrong tool for the job IMHO. On a tight technical circuit or doing just say just the East Course or just the West Course there, you might fair much better with the bike, but once again, it goes back somewhat to using the right tool for the job...like using a chisel to get out a flat head screw...sure you can do it, but wouldn't it have been easier and more efficient to use the proper flathead screwdriver?...I know, you have the SV, and you really don't have to worry about it when all is said and done and you wanted to take it out just to say you did it...but I just had to reply to your complaint....

glad you had fun and the video looks good!!!

[Monstermonkey]

Zoom:

I agree the Hyper is the wrong bike for the track but I wanted to learn how to ride it in a controlled environment, not the canyons.  I had the suspension tuned for me and it felt great once I figured out to wait as long as possible before turning in.  I know that Ducati Speedos aren't the most accurate, so the 128 I read was probably more like 120.  My SV650 has more top speed than that!

My buddy was using the go pro hero with the wide lens.  Here's a video that he shot of himself from the tail:

http://gallery.me.com/chasethefun#100046