Riding CotA Summary

[sckego]

Ooh, ooh, can I be one of the cool kids with a fancy sig pic? Thanks DS!

BTW I hate you guys who got to ride COTA. Jealous as hell!

[Rhino]

At least you're not one of the dorky kids trying to be cool with COTA on the list twice.

[DarcShadow]

Just testing out how I like the 3D version, and I did ride it twice after all.

So...funny story. Those of you that have take the level 2 class, do you recall the video of the guy on the BMW at TWS running way wide in a turn and low siding? That guy was at CotA on Sunday with his BMW. Guess what. First session after round robin, about 2, maybe 3 laps in he dumps it in turn 12, right in front of Mike so it's all on cam once again. ha! I'm sure it'll make it into some of the future training video footage.

[DarcShadow]

And speaking of which, there's a video of it

[Rhino]

So funny--once again he ran wide, went off the race line, ended up in schmutz, and lowsided. Poor BMW.

[shilka99]

COTA sure is a nice track. I get that it was built primarily for F1 but the three hairpins seemed excessive. If turn 11 had been a 2nd or 3rd gear sweeper it would have been much more fun. And turn 1 just seemed stupid. But everything else was incredible. The surface was so smooth that my sliders just melted through 14/15/16. And the drainage was so good that lap times in the wet round robin were identical to the previous days dry times - even in Level 1!
The garages were the only treacherous part of the circuit. The epoxy coating on the floor was like ice when it got wet. I saw a few people slip over stepping onto it, and i came close several times

(Lol i forgot how many tracks i'd ridden until i started going through my racing diary. Thanks for the idea DS)

[DemonDuck]

Shaun how was the RSV4?

[shilka99]

Shaun how was the RSV4?

It was the perfect bike for this track and for teaching. I had Roger set up the suspension Thursday and it was flawless all weekend. I had students on liter bikes who couldn't shake me on the main straits and yet it still handled so well it was sublime through the Esses and chicanes.

I had one student who was ready to move up to Level 2 and even though he was on an S1000 I could catch him easily on the back straight as long as I got a good drive off 11.

One funny incident happened when I missed a gear while driving hard off 11. I was trying to stick with an MV Agusta 312 but I got neutral at exactly the wrong time. With the quick shifter I never back off so it revved pretty high just as I managed to shift up. As a result when it went into gear I did a huge wheely right past another student. I caught the MV under brakes but felt I had to explain to the TM why I broke the rules right next to a student. Funnily enough in class the student came to me and said "holy crap that was awesome to watch!"

And I was worried he'd be pissed ...

[DemonDuck]

ROFL that is freaking great man! I cant wait to get on the track with you. Will you be at Cresson on the 29th?

[shilka99]

ROFL that is freaking great man! I cant wait to get on the track with you. Will you be at Cresson on the 29th?

Thats my wifes birthday so I wont be at the track. I'm thinking July 20/21 at ECR will be my next day out.

[DemonDuck]

I will see ... not sure if I can make that but I might. Only problem is that I will be on a 12 hour shift. I might get vacation though.

[DarcShadow]

Finally found some footage of me on someone else's youtube post, jump to the 2:35 min mark.
[youtubell][/youtubell]

[Stardog]

ROFL that is freaking great man! I cant wait to get on the track with you. Will you be at Cresson on the 29th?

Thats my wifes birthday so I wont be at the track. I'm thinking July 20/21 at ECR will be my next day out.

Shaun - Do you generally instruct L1 or do you do L2 sometimes? Depending on how quickly I can get set up with tires and a basic suspension setup I might be out at ECR on the SV650 that I will probably be buying in the next couple of days. My first track day on it might be slightly terrifying, new bike, 2 months since last track day etc.