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where to start?


candybluzx6

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Depends on how far back you want to place. The fast wera novice guys will be going about midpack advance trackday pace. The guys in the back will be going more like a quick I pace. Best thing would be to run a trackday at a place wera goes to and see what kind of lap times you can do. Then go to mylaps and see what the wera peeps are running.

If you are looking into racing work on being consistant with line choice and not swooping all over the place.

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Ya, running 1-2 track days doesn't really qualify for jumping into race school, races, etc. It just won't end pretty. I am sure you are a very good rider, etc. but there is a lot more going on in a race than one thinks until they go through the race school, and a race. I found out myself how different trackdays were vs. racing just earlier this month.

Like I said take a look at the motoseries threads from earlier this month, tons of great info in there.

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i ran mid ohio. how do u know long dog lol

the year was 2008. i was totally addicted. ran the entire east coast CCS series. Daytona, Barber, CMP, VIR, Summit, etc.

won the regional championship.

that stupid two-dollar trophy at the end of the season cost me a teacher's salary! new set of rubber every round. the SV was BUILT to GO!

(wouldn't trade it for anything, though! it was my best riding season ever! probably won't get to revisit those days again unless i hit the lottery!)

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Racing, and racing competitively are 2 different things.

How you will place depends completely on who else shows up that day.

Before trackdays existed, guys would literally ride to the track, tape up their bike, do the race school on Saturday, and race on Sunday. With no prior track experience.

You can still do that, but it's a lot more likely that you'll be alone at the back of the pack.

I've said this before, but my race school (at Nelson) had over a 20 second per lap differential between the fastest riders and the slowest riders.

I waited until I was a fast "intermediate" or slower "advanced" rider (depending on the org) to go racing; but I honestly wish I'd done it sooner.

You can look at lap times all you want, but yuo won't really know where you stack up until you get out and race.

And don't fool yourself into thinking that "novice" means slow. I know at least a couple of guys who just didn't race until they got "bored" with trackdays. Both of them run very competitive "Expert" times with novice plates. The fastest novices are often quicker than the slowest experts.

Come out to BeaveRun this weekend. Race school Saturday, race on Sunday. I'll be there :D

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I can show you a novice time at Mid-Ohio that is faster than the top 5 experts that were running the same class. I can also show you an expert time that should be back of the pack novice times.

I have seen track day guys that I KNOW would be great at racing, but will not take the plunge. I also see many a track day rider jump too early.

Everything out there has a variable. Everyone out there has a limit and a place they start.

If you are running :30s (I assume high 30s) and low 40s after two track days at Mid-Ohio and two total ever track days, you are faster than most and I would say you would be ready. If this is a time from a stop watch from a buddy, you might want to get a lap timer and make sure.

Reality is that times mean shit. I see guys running :36s at Mid-Ohio and they are WAAAAY beyond the limit. There is a reserve and if you use it all, there's nothing left when shit hits the fan and that means serious trouble...

Point is that if you feel you are ready, do it! Moto Series is a great place for numerous reasons. One, it is getting packed up there. You have a HUGE range of abilities that you can fit into. They are getting some seriously fast guys up there as of late and the rest of the field is starting to gain in ability and speed also.

That idea of how fast you become is based on the company you keep. Yopu can be king of track days, but do shitty at the races. Why? The company you are out there with. The more people and the better the quality of racers you compete against, the better you become.

Anyways, my vote is to try it. If those times are legit, they are solid and worth trying to do a race series. Moto Series is cool because it is a fraternity feel and a place where we all seem to have fun. That allows it to be less business and more exciting and fun. It also is a place where you can learn a ton as the racers that are there and that are good, are all willing to help out with any questions, etc...

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If you are running :30s (I assume high 30s) and low 40s after two track days at Mid-Ohio and two total ever track days, you are faster than most and I would say you would be ready. If this is a time from a stop watch from a buddy, you might want to get a lap timer and make sure.

I think he's running 2 minutes. not 1:30-40s.

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I think he's running 2 minutes. not 1:30-40s.

In that case, he needs to keep getting seat time. It isn't an insult as we all start somewhere, but at that pace, it is really more a deal where until he learns and progresses a bit, it isn't the right time.

If he can get into the 40s, that a time to start considering at Mid-Ohio at least...

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yea i got 2min at the end of the day i was at 2:26 so i figure not bad for the first time and my tip over sensor was messed up and reading front to back movment so i had to slow down way early. i dont take anything as an insult if i did i wouldnt have posted lol. i am just trying to get an idea but know i still have a long way to go. and thanks for all the help

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Speaking from experiance here!!!! I made the plunge into racing WWWAAAAYYYY too soon, I can hold my own line and I am (for the most part) very predictable my my times are slow and I'm nothing but a back marker right now, I wish I would of waited until next season but glad I didn't at the same time. My second trackday I did the race school. So just do what you feel is right like chris said (redkow) bac in the day they would just show up and race now we have trackdays to help prepare for racing, but alos just because your fast at a track day doesn't always mean you will be fast come race day!

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well, I have mixed feelings about whether or not the change is a good thing.

The result has been great for us as riders, becuase there's no pressure to go fast in a trackday environment. That's conducive to learning.

On the flip-side, there are some fucking fast trackday guys. I've raced against "novices" who are control riders with NESBA. I will likely race against this guy Randy again this weekend. He did the race school about the same time I did. I was doing high 1:05's that day, and finishing pretty mid-pack.

Randy started from the back of the grid, on a track he'd barely seen before, and proceeded to turn 1:03's the entire race. If not for getting buried at the start, he would have won.

Is his a "novice?" Not really... But he's never raced before. Is that "fair" to me? Depends on how you look at it.

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i'm gonna jump in there and say that there's more patience with track days and other riders. when they say it's not a race at the riders meeting of track days, i never knew what they meant until after i started racing and did a trackday after.

at the trackday, i found myself waiting a little more behind other slower riders where if it was a race situation i would've stuffed them into the corner. granted, i don't get to stuff other riders much as i'm still learning a lot but i do expect it from others and they from myself if given the opportunity.

if you're not ready to have guys unexpectedly show up as you're diving into the corner and immediately needing to change your line or touching elbows with other riders in close quarters with someone else, i'd probably hold off a bit.

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I would like to start racing too but I think mid season next year is probably more realistic for when I would like to start and that would be with me doing 1-2 track days a month from April until whenever I decide to jump in. I figure I will end this season with 6 or 7 days. Who knows, I may get into it earlier than that but I want to be really comfortable out there and try to be just a little tiny bit competitive. That and I would like to have a dedicated bike for the track by then.

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