Snetterton: The Review (long, long post)

[G]

Snetterton...

Firstly I'd like to say a big thank you (and some karma ) to Kev for lending my his recently acquired KR1S track bike... without which I would have had to make do with blagging a session on another bike and spending the rest of the time fettling with the minimoto.

There was me on the KR1S, Alex on an R6, Mark on a SV650 and Mike, who had his racing 250cc MZ. It was a lot more of a squeeze than we were expecting for the van... it ended up with the KR1S diagonally across the back with a wheel on the wheel arch, Alex and Mark then took it in turns to cuddle it, sitting on some tool chests in the back as there was only space for three in the front.

We got a B&B for the night, so that we could get to the track in time, without leaving in the middle of the night... one about 10 minutes from the track had a 4 bunk room at £17 per person per night, this included a proper English Breakfast and the room had en suite, a fridge with beer and a wide screen TV with playstation. Definitely recommended.

Mike, who was driving and had raced there previously parked the van on some grass overlooking the rest of the paddock.. getting there at about 8am meant we were far to late to get a pit garage. After signing in we were hurried along to a briefing, which went through all the basics, flags used, track etiquette etc. Because we were first time track day-ers we were kept behind for an extra briefing, to go through some of the things in a bit more detail. One thing that was emphasized was that this was not a competition, no lap timers were allowed and it was your prerogative to make sure it was safe to overtake, if you were going to do so. We were also warned about pushing it to much, because it wasn't a race, just a bit of fun.

The intermediate group then went out, followed by the fast group, which gave us in the novice group time to prepare our bikes, there wasn't any scrutineering though. A single klaxon sounds followed by a tannoy announcement to call the novice group to form a double line in the pits. As this is the first session and not only are there people that have never been to snetterton but there are people like us that have never been to a track before, there are 3 'sighting' laps. The group is split into three, each section following an instructor, no overtaking and if possible everyone to keep in a line behind the instructor, so that we get an idea of the lines we should be taking. The first lap is completed very slowly, to let everyone get an idea of what the track looks like etc, the second lap is speeded up a little.. but everyone's still got pretty cold tyres. The third lap is again speeded up a bit, but still a fair bit slower than most would ride on a similar road. At the end of the third lap the instructors pull to the side of the main straight and let everyone else speed up.

For me the first two sessions were shared between getting to know the bike and getting to know the track. Despite being quite cautious I still found my self going round a few people on the third section... obviously being on a 250 2st meant I was usually at least 40hp down on the straights, so no chance of passing there. As I got into the flow I was often able to out brake a lot of the bigger bikes that had just passed me on Revett straight, I also managed to get round the outside of a lot of the bigger bikes on Coram Curve, which I felt particularly confident on... to the degree that I got a nasty little slide when pushing it a bit too far. I did have to remind myself that a lot of the people there weren't pushing their bikes for various reasons, so it really wasn't anything to be greatly proud of.

The first session after lunch there was another two sighting laps, to let everyone's get back into it after eating, as well as to get the tyres warm again. Once I had got a settled into the track and the bike to some degree I took up the offer of free tuition from one of the 100% Bikes instructors. For the fest few laps the instructor followed me around, to gauge what I was and wasn't doing. Once he had got an idea of how I was doing he pulled ahead so that I could follow him and get a better of idea of the correct lines, once I had followed him for a few laps he dropped back again to observe me again. Half way though the session he waved me on and gave me thumbs up. Once the session was finished there was a short debriefing chat.. just going through the a few bits, I was apparently doing a few things that might have been good when actually racing, for instance braking very late or taking the inside line, but weren't good as far as learning to ride faster goes. I definitely noticed that when I was braking late into The Esses that me and the bike were a little unsettled and I didn't really feel comfortable on the left hand corner.

I definitely enjoyed the day and would say it's money well spent. It does come out pretty expensive per minute on the track, but you probably wouldn't want that much more time.

Those that may be hesitant about such things because they are afraid of crashing... I think if anything I was riding slower than I would have ridden on similar roads for the first few sessions, though this was partly due to riding a new bike which wasn't mine. There's a lot less danger compared to riding on normal roads, never minding the lack of cars, on coming traffic or road imperfections, just the fact that other bike riders are a lot more aware of each other makes it a lot safer. As far as pushing yourself/your bike goes, it's definitely going to be safer than doing the same thing on public roads. There doesn't seem to be any stigma in going slowly and taking it easy, there was quite a few newish litre class bikes that were being passed by a lot of smaller bikes and nobody seemed embarrassed or troubled by it. Because it's a track that you have been riding all day, if you do feel like pushing it a bit more you don't find yourself suddenly going way over your skills. Rather, through out the day you slowly push it a bit further, leaning slightly more and braking slightly later as you get confident with what you're doing.



I thought I had been going fairly fast on the bike, with a few slides suggesting that I couldn't push it much more... until Mike took it out for a session, he got back and 'Great bike.. the tyres are fucked though!... wouldn't want to take it on the track again like that.' Oh well... I definitely have to have a go with decent tyres!

Some pics here:
https://www.giffould.com/rpics/snetterton/

[kevo]

Looks good G, so what did you think of Kev's bike?.

[Ste]

Sounds like a good day.

I would like to be doing a track day at some point when I have money to

Outta interest, do they check licenses or anything when you arrive?

And those pics are straight outta the '70's but alex.jpg is a cool pic

[G]

Kevs bike:

Generally, really good... sounds like it will get loads more lean with decent tyres, but as I said I was going a fair bit quicker than others in the corners as it was.
Brake lever is too far out for me and non adjustable. They also seemed to be a bit lacking in 'feel' .. decent pads might sort em out.
Otherwise nice engine... not perfect for a first tackday because you ahve to be up and down the box constantly, but still nice.
Very light and flickable.


Ste:

They check them when you're signing in, you get wrist bands, though they only seemed to check them the first session.
33hp isn't a prob AFAIK.

[Viper]

Very very happy to hear you had a good time.
You deserve to have some fun after the torture of having to look after drunken-and-sick-old me. ...and my shoes.

And you have even got me vaguely tempted as well, and that is quite impressive.
...But probably at a time when i can financially afford to risk a crash.


...unless some gullable unsuspecting millionaire is wanting to give me a loan bike for a day.
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https://213.86.53.185/images/smilies/tomato.gifVx

[Mr C]

weyhey, welcome to the addiction that is track days

you KNOW you want more
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187.3bhp = 201mph

[G]

hell, yea

Been saying all of last summer that I /was/ goign to do a track day... but never got round to it

[retrofly]

hi
looks like a wicked day out, take a cam-corder next time , whens the next one, i would deffo want to come

Luke
____________________
"The food was not undelicious"
-Homer Simpson (Exceptional beast : Underachiving Human)
www.geocities.com/retrofly

[G]

I did take a camcorder, but as I was riding most of the time I didn't have much of an opportunity to use it

I did get footage of the whole of the last novice section at russels... not that great, would have been better at Corams/The Bomb hole ... but Russels is near the padock and has a good position for pics.

[Kris]

how come the ZX9 didnt go G?
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NSR125RR - ZXR750H1 - ZX9R E1 - GSF600S - GSF600SK3 - VFR400-NC30 - SV1000N - ST1100-R - CBR900RR-R - GSF1200SK5 - GSF600SK1 - VFR1200FA - GSXR1000K2 - ZZR1400 D8F
www.prisonplanet.com

[G]

I got the forks checked out.

They were straight.

Therefore it's the frame that's the prob... a bit more hassle to sort out.

[Dusty]

Have finally got round to joining........

I'd agree with G, £90 for two hours(ish) track time sounds alot, but imo is well worth it. For people worried about crashing, in a way this is quite alot safer than thrashing it on the road - although the guy with the gixxer may disagree.......

/me is returning as soon as possible

6th of May anyone?

Alex

[retrofly]

hi
/me books 6th of may off

Luke
____________________
"The food was not undelicious"
-Homer Simpson (Exceptional beast : Underachiving Human)
www.geocities.com/retrofly

[Danny]

What equipment do need to go on a track day, apart from a bike and lid? eg. do i NEED leathers etc...?

[Mr C]

You will deffo need 1 piece or full zip together 2 piece to go out on the track, lid, gloves and boots.

and a bike
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187.3bhp = 201mph

[Danny]

[Demonic69]

Yeap! Nothing else will protect you
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Back on a Blade. Just feels so right.

[Danny]

[Demonic69]

Yep, leathers will save your ass at higher speed than textiles
____________________
Back on a Blade. Just feels so right.

[Dusty]

Yeh, you deffinately want leathers, coming off at 160mph in textiles would be messy, not to mention painful....

Also do your textiles have a slider/velcro patch, because imo you are likely to need one....

Alex

[G]

100mph on a NSR... but still, yes, never mind it being the rules, you do need full leathers... 100mph *Will* seriously stress textiles.

Try looking at j&s accesories, they do decent deals on leathers & boot/gloves etc

You /do/ need a full licencen as well, though 33hp isn't a problem.

[Danny]

[Viper]

[Kickstart]

[Danny]

I managed to find the date 4 Peterborough (17+18 May) but i don't think i'll be able 2 save up enough money by then. So i'm gonna have 2 go for a later one, thx for the help mate