Jester_ Posted October 28, 2014 Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 Spent the weekend with MCRA at NCM, was the first bike event there. I had heard some mixed things about MCRA but I thought that they did a very good job for this being the first day at a new track. There wasent much of a PA system so they had a large air horn setup, one honk was first call.. etc... In the riders meeting they went over each section with a huge map of the track and let us know what to expect in each section. Turn 12 is a blind right hand turn that is very easy to run wide on, they put a tall cone up so that you could see where the curbing would be before you crest the hill which helped loads. They let us know that all of the curbing has traction aside from a real small patch on the last turn of the track so they made sure we stayed off of that. Each group had 2 parade laps the first session of the day which also included using pit in/out, they did this for both days. They had alot of challenges to overcome and I thought everything ran smoothly. This was the layout we used. The track has the same pavement as COTA and I wasent sure what to expect going out on a green track. Obviously lap times were slow the first morning there as everyone was learning so it was hard to judge traction "also I was in intermediate, since I hadent ridden with them before I couldnt register in advanced" so pace was a little off. In the afternoon as the pace was picking up I never slid the front or rear. The next morning there was heavy fog and sessions were supposed to start at 8:30, they were postponed until 9:30 and they made up the session at lunch. The fog had lifted about 30 minutes before we went out and it was still relatively cool however the track was still very grippy, I think I ran a best of a 2:12 that session. The traffic was so bad that I couldnt learn the track at full pace and ran a best of 2:10 in the weekend and I never did find the limit of the grip. I think had I been in advanced I could have been in the 2:03 range. Tire wear sure was nice though. This was my quickest lap but far from the cleanest, it just happened to have the least amount of traffic. The layout is very fast and very technical, im not sure if anyone ever figured out turn 10. You can also get a decent wheelie after going through turn 14. Overall it was a great weekend and its a track I plan to visit again in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J_Copeland Posted October 28, 2014 Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 Nice write up Dan !Would love to give NCM a try sometime !Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RHill Posted October 28, 2014 Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 you notice any sand/debris on the track? there is a lot in the video as you brake/turn into the chicane at the end of the front straight...few other spots, but not nearly as heavy Looked pretty damn sweet, wish I would have signed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester_ Posted October 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 (edited) Only where cars had crashed and drug mud onto the track from earlier events, but they went over the track with a sweeper to clean everything off. Turn 8 has a "weeper", which I guess is water that the sun draws out which then runs down the track. I between every session they went out with brooms to sweep the water back up the track. Edited October 28, 2014 by Jester_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F4iguy Posted October 28, 2014 Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 Awesome. Sounds like it was crowded, even with the 3 miles of track. i noticed on a video on AJ site that the pit out/entry onto the track looked tight. It didn't seem like they give you a lot of room to blend in, and there is grass very close on the left.Nice set up with the Solo. Looks like it worked out well!Definitely going next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester_ Posted October 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 It wasent to crowded, just needed a group with a little more pace, I think the fastest lap of the weekend was a 1:56 or something like that as I said I think I could have gotten into the low 2 minute range with a tow and the ability to learn the track at a higher pace. One thing I forgot to mention is that all of the control riders had numbers assigned to them and those were put on the back of their shirts they wore over their leathers. That way after a session you could come back and look for that specific control rider rather than "the one on the black bike". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RHill Posted October 28, 2014 Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 Numbered jerseys is a neat idea....I know I suck at remembering details coming off the track, but could probably remember an easy to read jersey number. Gain any confidence in the slipper? Noticed you were gingerly downshifting in a couple spots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester_ Posted October 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 I tried blipping but when I did I kept hitting the brake harder. The throttle doesn't seem as snappy or free moving as my cbr was so I gave up and just let it out between shifts. It might be because of the safety wire on the grips, not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue03636 Posted October 28, 2014 Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 I may have missed it somewhere, any runoff issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester_ Posted October 28, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 There were spots where runoff could be an issue but it was a fairly smooth weekend in terms of crashes. One red flag on Saturday that didn't need medical and I think 2 on Sunday that did. One of the people who was involved with the design of the place stopped to see what we thought of it. We mentioned the run off issues and he said they were planning on moving alot of the guardrail to make it more bike friendly and also the track would buy air fence for the places that they couldn't relocate. Will see if any of that comes to fruition I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue03636 Posted October 29, 2014 Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 That's good. I need to try and hit it up next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester_ Posted October 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 I would like to go back again. It is not spectator friendly yet either, only a couple good places to see anything. However they are trying to get money so that they can put 3 or 4 pedestrian bridges over the track and put stands up in the infield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRMN8TR Posted October 29, 2014 Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 On the list of tracks to go to...hopefully by the time I make it there they'll have the air fence in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester_ Posted October 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 Have some good pictures getting uploaded now, pretty excited to see the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester_ Posted October 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RHill Posted November 4, 2014 Report Share Posted November 4, 2014 need to get some real number plates and hit some races next year haha I said real number plates and mine are electrical tape Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester_ Posted November 4, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2014 Its in the works for this winter, new paint job and number plates. Bike looks good from a distance but has alot of clean issues and paint is peeling off some. How does one get a number for motoseries? Buy the license and put it in at that point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue03636 Posted November 4, 2014 Report Share Posted November 4, 2014 Pretty much, you could email Todd to see if the number you want is available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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