Thinking about racing!
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http://www.mylaps.com/results/showrun.jsp?id=857515
WERA Novice 600 times. For your first races just go out and have fun. If you have never raced you'll get a Provisional status for the first 2 weekends. Age is not a factor unless you are over 40.
John
WERA Novice 600 times. For your first races just go out and have fun. If you have never raced you'll get a Provisional status for the first 2 weekends. Age is not a factor unless you are over 40.
John
rk97
Member
There was a discussion on the WERA board about this, but "novice" racers are a lot more prepared than they used to be. They were saying how it's more common to see guys roll up to their first race ever with more expensive bikes, tire warmers, etc.
in the 'good old days,' you'd get a lot more guys showing up with a pickup truck and a bike.
Track days have all but eliminated the true "novice" racer. Probably makes things a lot safer, but if I suspected it before, I'm now CERTAIN that I would be dead last my first race. I've never run a lap timer, but based on what other people have run, I would say the best I could hope for in the race linked is to keep the slowest 2 riders in SIGHT. Consistent 1:10s would be a moral victory for me at BeaveRun
in the 'good old days,' you'd get a lot more guys showing up with a pickup truck and a bike.
Track days have all but eliminated the true "novice" racer. Probably makes things a lot safer, but if I suspected it before, I'm now CERTAIN that I would be dead last my first race. I've never run a lap timer, but based on what other people have run, I would say the best I could hope for in the race linked is to keep the slowest 2 riders in SIGHT. Consistent 1:10s would be a moral victory for me at BeaveRun
What group do you ride in Nesba?
rk97;5874 wrote: There was a discussion on the WERA board about this, but "novice" racers are a lot more prepared than they used to be. They were saying how it's more common to see guys roll up to their first race ever with more expensive bikes, tire warmers, etc.
in the 'good old days,' you'd get a lot more guys showing up with a pickup truck and a bike.
Track days have all but eliminated the true "novice" racer. Probably makes things a lot safer, but if I suspected it before, I'm now CERTAIN that I would be dead last my first race. I've never run a lap timer, but based on what other people have run, I would say the best I could hope for in the race linked is to keep the slowest 2 riders in SIGHT. Consistent 1:10s would be a moral victory for me at BeaveRun
just remember too that lap times arent EVERYTHING.... take a look at those lap times.... i am having a major mental issue with passing since my wreck.. i got what - 19th.. started last of 30 something but still... the 10 guys in front of me are running slower laps... I just cant get by them!!
rk97
Member
totally understand this. after spending my first 5 TDs on the 500, when I moved to the 600, I literally forgot I was allowed to pass people - it just hadn't been an issue very often before
I've gotten more comfortable with passing, but I was sacrificing my lines to do it. Hopefully I can pull it together in a couple weeks
Passing in a track day and passing in a race is completely different.. FORGET lines.. they arent there in the back of the pack anymore - just too many people to go around... and passing is as aggressive as you can possibly imagine... not many clean passes at all.. and if you're not doing the dirty passing, people are STUFFINg you into every turn (includig the kink at beaver) imaginable.
You can win money in the solo's with wera.. its not at all worth risking your life/your bike for.. it MAY pay for some of your entry fees but at the same time the guys that are winning that money are ridiculously fast for novice.. sunday its for a plastic trophy and points... top 5 in points in each region at the end of the season will go to expert next year.
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also please note that I am in no way an expert on racing or anything.. just giving you my take on what it was like to come from the A group and get into racing and everything I noticed... even with the no passing rules in A i was surprised at some of the passes I see out there in the "meat grinder" class...
My advice: buy an sv650 and race it for your first year..
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also please note that I am in no way an expert on racing or anything.. just giving you my take on what it was like to come from the A group and get into racing and everything I noticed... even with the no passing rules in A i was surprised at some of the passes I see out there in the "meat grinder" class...
My advice: buy an sv650 and race it for your first year..
rk97
Member
sort of.
People race to win - that is for sure. There's a thin line between racing hard and racing dirty. thick skin certainly doesn't hurt.
Read any of Ron Hix's accounts of his weekends. www.ronhix.com. There is always a much larger grid for the "money race." It's usually not a whole lot, but it's something.
what's more common are contingency prizes - like gift certificates for tires or something. You win a race, your next set of tires is free. you may also get your entry fee back, or the next race is free or something.
this is just what i've read on the subject. Ask Ron - he actually WINS pretty often
People race to win - that is for sure. There's a thin line between racing hard and racing dirty. thick skin certainly doesn't hurt.
Read any of Ron Hix's accounts of his weekends. www.ronhix.com. There is always a much larger grid for the "money race." It's usually not a whole lot, but it's something.
what's more common are contingency prizes - like gift certificates for tires or something. You win a race, your next set of tires is free. you may also get your entry fee back, or the next race is free or something.
this is just what i've read on the subject. Ask Ron - he actually WINS pretty often
I consider myself really lucky to be racing around the people that I have been this year. I leave the c classes (600) alone but the same guys are winning everything anyway. I have been fortunate enough to be running toward the front, not at the front necessarily but toward the front anyway. I got points early so I have started near the front. I start pretty well so I can get into the top 3 on the start. All of the guys at the front in the WERA NE and MA region have been great, really predictable and I have not experienced anything crazy, just good clean racing. With no points starting from the back it is probably a different game.
Katie, come run the B and A classes and leave those 600 yahoo's alone. Your Drew and the whole rest of the gang running at the front are absolutely great. I couldn't ask for a better group to be racing around.
John
#607
Katie, come run the B and A classes and leave those 600 yahoo's alone. Your Drew and the whole rest of the gang running at the front are absolutely great. I couldn't ask for a better group to be racing around.
John
#607
RacerRuss
Member
I don't know if I agree with that strategy. At the races I have attended, most of the helicopter rides this year have been out of the "D" classes. I think the machines are so equal that they have to put more hairball passes on each other. In my case, my old bike is so slow that everyone passes me down the straight where it is perfectly safe. The craziest pass on me this year was by Katie at VIR in March in the HW Solo, up the inside of me in turn one and past 3 others on the outside through turn one (still in her orange shirt). She only weighs like 60 lbs, so her bike just accelerates like hell. Damn good riding as far as I was concerned.
:cheers: