Well it was just an ordinary day on the track really (hint - don't think there's such a thing as an ordinary track day on a bike!). I was signed up for the intermediate group but after being bumped to the experienced group at Oulton Park last month I asked about being bumped again. There turned out to be space on the day so my blue wrist band was swapped for red, I had a quick chat with the organiser (I'd just missed the experienced pep-talk) and then straight up to get my clobber on and get on the bike.
As per my last couple of outings I hired a bike for the day. For £200 including fuel I don't see how the guy makes any money renting them out but I can't complain about his service. Bike was there bright and early and through scrutineering and sound checking. I just had to appear around the corner and Martin would pull off the tyre warmers and put the bike on it's side stand ready for me to climb on, start it up and ride off. My own bike is fine for on track but the argument is that if I damage it then a) I have to get it back home, b) my fairings will cost considerably more than his to replace and c) I'd be on the bus to work until it was fixed.
First few sessions were fairly uneventful and 20 mins each time seemed to go quite quickly, followed by me stuffing my face with food and liquid to keep hydrated between sessions. There were a couple of very slight showers but nothing that had any affect. On the fourth session I went out at the start of the pack with John, one of the instructors. He did the initial lap as per normal, with no overtaking. Then the next lap he led, just to give anyone chance to get past. They didn't. Then it was my turn to take the lead. I think I did about 4 laps before he hopped back infront and used his special handsignals to tell me when specifically to watch his lines.
Nothing seemed overly different to what I was doing but he did seem to gain about 10 bike lengths on me at the end of the straight and into the fast left hander Coppice. Turned out chatting afterwards that he thought I was just slowing down too much and just needed to drop a bit of speed and chuck it in. Practising this after lunch proved he was right and I must have gained 10mph average around that part of the circuit, hitting the rev limiter in fourth on the back straight at one point as I wasn't expecting to get to it so quickly.
That session was one of my favourites. It was fast, with lots of overtaking (I started at the back) but without getting too mad. I recall a 4 bike overtake at one point
just from outbraking them.
The afternoon just got faster and faster and the bigger bikes were holding me off on the straights without hassle, however most of them I could get under braking and sometimes in a corner - particularly around Chris Curve and before the Gooseneck.
Just before the last session it did start to rain for a few minutes. I was about to call off the rest of the day as I didn't fancy trying to learn the wet pace/line but it soon stopped and it hardly seemed to affect the track. So out I went. Managed to catch up to a GSXR750 who'd confidently had "1000cc killer" put on the bottom of his reg plate. Well I struggled to get past him before we caught up with traffic, where he got past and it took me another lap to get past. I caught him up again and we took a couple more bikes but for the last 8-10 mins we were stuck behind two bikes and without taking a complete liberty with an undertake we would struggle to pass. I did try and take one of them down into Mansfield, after the Gooseneck but I outbraked myself and ended up giving him the line back. Hopefully he didn't think I was going to ride into the side of him.
Overall a fantastic day and I came out of it again unscathed, unlike some - including some rather tasty hardware that went down the road/grass on it's side. No injuries though to the riders. Best memories for me will be overtaking all those 1000cc bikes on my rental 600cc
and getting Coppice (more) correct and hooking it up into Charlies - a great feeling.
That's it bike wise for me for 2008 but I'm looking forward to RapidTracks releasing their 2009 dates next year so I can try and get some mates there too.