PazzoSteve
New member
My 2 cents
Z3n,
I am a little in front of you with track day experience I think, even though you are probably are faster than me and certainly got the body postion advantage...and thanks again for your comments.
I have run a total of 4 track days and all of it in C group. I am going to run B at Infineon in August with Z2 and I am comfortable with it for the following reasons, some of which you have mentioned:
1) Generally I can carry more corner speed than most but not all C group riders.
2) I also pass a reasonable number on the straightaways.
3) Generally I can also brake later going into turns. A lot of the less experienced liter bike riders really approach turns slowly.
I continue to struggle with passing in or around corners and short straightaways in C in part because a lot of the riders are so unpredictable. A huge advantage to B group is that most all riders will hold a consistent line and in general are faster. In fact at Willow Springs I was doing open laps and there was a school going on and they were following the leader working on the correct line. In turn 2 which is a right hand sweeper I took an outside line (per the rules...) and began to move past the group when one of the riders decided to pop out of the line right into my line. I had to grab a ton of brake and managed to avoid him.
Another good thing thing, IMHO, is knowing your lap times. I have tracked my mean time as well as the fastest lap (which generally is the lap where I am not impedded by slower riders) and then discuss those with an on track instructor and used that as at least one gauge to determine if I can keep up in B. That said, when I am working on BP or other skills, I don't care at all about lap times.
Finally, as far as lines are concerned, I have have become more comfortable with it by:
1) Tagging an instructor and asking him to show me the line for a few laps.
2) The very best thing I did was at Willow Springs with Cal-Trackxperience where at lunch Todd (Owner) loaded a bunch of us up in a pickup truck and we drove the track and sighted the entry, apex and exits. When I went out for my first afternoon session I went up a gear at every location on the track. If I took a turn in 3rd, I was not going in 4th etc... This was HUGE but rarely practical.
3) Late apex'ing seems to work a lot of the time.
4) The schools really help.
Good Luck!
Steve
Z3n,
I am a little in front of you with track day experience I think, even though you are probably are faster than me and certainly got the body postion advantage...and thanks again for your comments.
I have run a total of 4 track days and all of it in C group. I am going to run B at Infineon in August with Z2 and I am comfortable with it for the following reasons, some of which you have mentioned:
1) Generally I can carry more corner speed than most but not all C group riders.
2) I also pass a reasonable number on the straightaways.
3) Generally I can also brake later going into turns. A lot of the less experienced liter bike riders really approach turns slowly.
I continue to struggle with passing in or around corners and short straightaways in C in part because a lot of the riders are so unpredictable. A huge advantage to B group is that most all riders will hold a consistent line and in general are faster. In fact at Willow Springs I was doing open laps and there was a school going on and they were following the leader working on the correct line. In turn 2 which is a right hand sweeper I took an outside line (per the rules...) and began to move past the group when one of the riders decided to pop out of the line right into my line. I had to grab a ton of brake and managed to avoid him.
Another good thing thing, IMHO, is knowing your lap times. I have tracked my mean time as well as the fastest lap (which generally is the lap where I am not impedded by slower riders) and then discuss those with an on track instructor and used that as at least one gauge to determine if I can keep up in B. That said, when I am working on BP or other skills, I don't care at all about lap times.
Finally, as far as lines are concerned, I have have become more comfortable with it by:
1) Tagging an instructor and asking him to show me the line for a few laps.
2) The very best thing I did was at Willow Springs with Cal-Trackxperience where at lunch Todd (Owner) loaded a bunch of us up in a pickup truck and we drove the track and sighted the entry, apex and exits. When I went out for my first afternoon session I went up a gear at every location on the track. If I took a turn in 3rd, I was not going in 4th etc... This was HUGE but rarely practical.
3) Late apex'ing seems to work a lot of the time.
4) The schools really help.
Good Luck!
Steve
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, which is slow in the B- group (there were only perhaps one, maby two people slower).
