I have successfully, completed my first track day on my 749. I didn’t think I’d get to do one this year but my bike club talked my wife into funding the event at our last BBQ. It almost didn’t come off though because I got called out to sea at the last minute the week before and when I went to sign up on-line the Beginner group was full. So I prepped my bike anyway and we left on Sunday for the Monday track day at VIR north with TPM. I checked in early to make sure they had my name and knew I was present so if there were any no shows I could get a spot. There was also a girl with us from the bike shop one of the guys works at that also was on the waiting list. I went to the riders meeting, just in case, and they talked for a long time about taking it slow and having fun, to many crashes lately. “Take it easy have fun” and go home with you and your bike in one piece. (More on this later.) I didn’t hear anything and after the first session started I went up an asked. She looked real quick and said; “bring your bike and gear to be tech’d”. So I was in, and very nervous of the first session.
I had come with a group of seven, the only girl with us had to wait list with me and she got on with me in the White group. My buddy Tim was on his GSXR-1K in the white group, and Ray on his 636 started in white and was bumped to red after lunch. We also had two blue group riders.
On the first session I followed Jen, because she has done several track days and is riding a GSXR-600, to learn the track. I followed her for two laps then felt I could do better and then started riding my own laps.
After the second session I got pretty comfortable with turns 1 and 2 and then just fell in love with the 3,4,5 transitions. Turn 7 was giving me all kinds of problems, couldn’t find a comfortable line through it and was intimidated because it’s a blind uphill right hander. Our Blue rider Mark told me on the next session to just work on 7. So I did, taking it a little faster each lap until I went wide one time and hit the off camber exit, and pushed the front end out a little. Didn’t go down, but scared me a bit and that told me to keep 7 tight. Once I did that seven became a drive into the back “s” turns. The downhill still needs a lot of work and I discovered that the 749 really accelerate WFO and banging through the gears as fast as you can. I’ve never had it at full throttle before this.
Apparently many riders didn’t listen to the riders meeting talk and we had a lot or wrecks. On the first session a guy went straight off turn one into the dirt in front of me. That continued all day guys blasting through and ending on their butts. Two guys pitted next to us one with a GSXR-1000 and the other with a Kawi ZX-9. The gixxer last two laps of the first session and the Kawi was back on the trailer by the mid point of the second session. They loaded and left before noon. On the second to last session of the day we had two red flags. One before we got through turn two on the start, and the second when a guy on a R-6 almost took me and two other riders out on the entry to seven, blasted up the hill went wide and when I came around I found a spinning R-6 in the middle of the track. It slid off to the right and the red came out, that was it for the day for me. To many Rossi wanabees trying to get in their last fastest lap times. I had a five-hour drive home so we loaded and left. As a club we didn’t get off scott free. We came with 7 bikes and left with 6 ½ as one of our blue riders low sided his bike in turn 4 pretty much destroying his instrument panel and front fairing when the rear-set dug in and flipped the bike. He didn’t get a scratch, good gear and leathers work.
I expected it to be fun but what really surprised me was the experience itself. I was talking to my wife after and said that she'd laugh at me for this next statement. I told her anyway even though it does sound kind of hokey. It was such a "pure" experience, no distractions, no stray thoughts, nothing but the ride, you are so wrapped up in simply keeping ahead of the bike that nothing else penetrates. Very exhausting but man you feel great after a session. She didn't laugh.
I was by no means fast but I had a great time. This track day stuff could be dangerous to my marriage. New mistresses do that to a wife. I will definitely be doing this again when the job (and the wife’s purse-strings) allows.
The photos are proof from
www.racedayphoto.com. The prints are very high quality and the prices are good for a professional photographer. I'm buying a couple of prints to commemorate my first time on the racetrack.
