North Florida Motorsports Park - First Visit

[RickyRacer]

Me :)



Lots of room everywhere on this track.

Nice 900SS

BB copy "Randy"

[Admin]

Nice pictures Ricky!

Shawn

[RickyRacer]

Thanks

A friend that came along bought all the pics from the Photographer that day.
If anyone else was there and wants some pics? Just ask and I look to see if I have them and post them if you want.

11/10/01 Track day

[RickyRacer]

RRW did a write-up on NFMP. .

http://venus.13x.com/roadracingworld/scripts/NewsInsert.asp?insert=1784

Track record so far is 1:24.5.  I know I can bust that next time out.  If only I had the nerve to hold it WOT all the way from turn 2 to 3, I could have gotten closer. :D

[Admin]

I'm heading back there this weekend.  If I can get within 10 seconds of that time, I'll be happy!

Shawn

[RickyRacer]

So Shawn, did you go out to NFMP this weekend?  How did it go?  Did you improve your lap time?

[RickyRacer]

So Shawn, did you go out to NFMP this weekend?  How did it go?  Did you improve your lap time?

[Admin]

Ricky,

Not one iota.  I ran a 1:37:53, with my best having been a 1:37:50.  I can't get past this plateau I have hit.  My bike wasn't running very good either...which wasn't helping matters.  I think it needs new sparkplugs.

Well...back to Keith Codes book in hopes that I will learn something.  I'm getting tired of people passing me like I'm standing still.

Shawn

[RickyRacer]

Huumm. What are you riding?

Why don't you post how you ran the track. If anything, it'll help you to put down your thoughts on paper.   Maybe I or someone else might have something to help you with.

How was the turn out? I heard is was pretty big.

[Admin]

There was a fairly large turnout...probably around 60-80 racers.  The race class, which I run in, had about 25 people...but there was a wide range of speeds included in that.  In fact, I may be slow, but I was passing many people like they were standing still...so they must have been doing 1:45 and up.

So, you really want to know how I am riding the track?  Unfortunately, I'm not sure even I know!  I'm doing a lot of seat of my pants riding right now on that track.  I ride a superbike FZR400, so I'm probably about the same speed (bike!) as you.  

I have to admit that it feels like there is so much for me to work on that it is hard to contrate on any one thing.  I'm not a patient person, and not increasing my speed s really beginning to bother me.  Never-the-less, I will continue to attempt to get better.  I think what would help me most is having an opportunity to ride around with someone faster then myself who could do some one-on-one instruction.

Any takers? :)

Shawn

[funksouljon]

Amen to that Shawn. Must follow faster people to get faster yourself.
That and the other thing I figured out is attack the small things. Go deeper just a tad each time into a turn. Get on the throttle a little earlier. I read an article in a british mag that was compairing the speeds, braking, lean, and times between soem dude and a pro-racer. Fairly interesting stuff on what they do different. Brake less (by that I mean on the brakes later, off the brakes faster, and used the brakes harder in each section) and carry more speed into and out of the turn which obviously translates into more straight-line speed. And they were on the exact same bike. Brakes were the main diff if I remember correctly, but it translated into a large overall improvement.
Good luck on it. I am still so new that just getting more comfortable allows me to drop a lot of time. The slower you are, the more time you can drop, and the better you feel! :D Can't wait to get another bike and get a full season under my belt.

[RickyRacer]

Unfortunately, I'm not sure even I know!  I'm doing a lot of seat of my pants riding right now on that track.  

Well, that sounds like a problem. You should be able to at least describe how you do some turns.

After I have ridden a track, I write down everything I did. This helps me to review myself.  I also do it so I can look back at it to see how my riding is evolving.
In fact, I keep a journal of all my track day/racing. I write down notes about the track like what gearing I used, type of gas, tires, etc, etc. It all helps. Try it next time you go out. Seat of the pants riding is fun but you have to ask yourself if that's all you want.

You can follow a faster rider around and probably drop your lap time. But if your not sure what or how you did it, next time out you may fine yourself back to square one.

But keep in mine that my times were on a 2000 748. And there's no way a FZR 400 can keep up with that. It may have a better chance against my 93 750SS. But I have a lot more torque than your 400 and can get off the corns a lot harder.

But you're not doing all that bad. I was timing some guys on much more powerful and newer bikes than yours. And they were in the 1:40's and up. So don't knock yourself too hard. I think though that if you want to be more competitive, you will need a different bike. The FZR400's was a great bike for its day.  But if you're just out there to have fun, well that bike is fine. Just MO.

I heard there was a big turn out this last weekend and that the track record is now down to 1:20 something. :eek:  I think the guy that did that was Dave Roy, an X Ducati racer and now on the USA Ducati factory team as support. Dang, I ant going to beat that lap time anytime soon. :(