Ducati Sporting Club UK > Sport > Trackdays & Race Schools > Thomas Luthi and the DDC

[Andy Ibbott]

Hi Guys,

Well with the DDC well underway I thought you might like to know what I have been working on with Thomas Luthi in the GPs.
I have to say first off that he is a good kid and really beileves in the CSS techniques. He has gone from a crash king last season to currently 2nd in the Championship this season.

The biggest breakthroughs we have had sitting in the truck working out the non perfect corners have been:
Throttle Control, getting it on as early, not as hard as possible.
Vanishing Points, all the different kinds and how they appear. Walking the track with him and looking for them has been a major help to him.
Relaxing on the bars. Suddenly the bike has fewer chatter problems!

There are the main ones but there is still work to do. His outside arm on rights is still too high and his 2 step timing a little out. However, with so little time on the practise and qua;ifying sessions you canot try too much!

Assen next followed by 2 days of testing in Brno. I will not be in Holland as we have a School in Greece but will fly direct to Brno to teach him suspension set up and deal with those less than perfect points like the outside arm.

Best of all is what I'm learning from him and how a GP rider thinks and looks at riding a bike that fast, it's amazing the sheer level of recall he has.
But the biggest thing I have learnt is even at this level, only work on one thing at a time, and that's the strongest advise I can give to you DDC boys!

All the best

Andy