Ducati Sporting Club UK > Sport > Trackdays & Race Schools > Going quick on parts of a circuit you don't like???

[WeeJohnyB]

Know what you mean Steve. I used to fear the Gooseneck when I first went to Cadwell. I was soooo heavy on the front in the right and left that I was sure I was going too quickly and thought I would wash out the front or not make the turn and go straight on.

There is little substitute for getting decent instruction and mucho practicing. I got some help and now realise that I need to be on the power through it and therefore loading up the back and getting the bike better balanced, followed by good quick turns and accelerating hard down the hill. Fabulous when you get it right.

I went out with a couple of No Limits instructors at Oulton yesterday to help me correct a couple of corners. Following them in and trusting them that changing my line/turn in point and quick turn would help, it was an amazing difference to take a corner I've done hundreds of times in a different way, but it certainly helped me. Plus it was brilliant to follow close to someone who is so much smoother and quicker than you thinking 'if he can I can' and coming out the other end with your eyes on stalks.....yeeha

WeeJohnyB

[andys 900ss]

You hit the nail on the head there John,

Last time I was at Cadders I followed a guy who was racing his R6 the very next day and he was really quick, just having the confidence to follow his lines built my confidence too and his lines were also very different to the ones I had been taking.

I big learning curve is life, I have been swimming competatively for 25yrs and still pick little things up that make so much difference.

Andy

[Jools]

Funny that so many people have mentioned The Gooseneck and Mansfield at Cadwell as bogie corners - I loved those corners from about the third lap EVER at Cadwell, the one I don't like is the right hander at the bottom of the Mountain but I digress...

Lots of people have said that practise is the answer, but to me just doing things over and over again is no real answer because you could just be reinforcing the things that you're doing wrong.

So, how do you improve?

When I did CSS level 1, I got the hairpin wrong towards the end of the first third session, screwed up the quick turn drill and lost the front end. The resultant lowside bent the bike up a bit, chewed my gloves up and dented my pride. It also meant that I was approaching the hairpin very gingerly after that and to be honest a bit scared of it.

My CSS instructor for the day (Richard Snieg) and Mathew the following day on L2 decided that we were going to work on the hairpin for the, pay particular attention to all the CSS techniques on this one corner so that I could end up mastering that corner instead of it being the boss of me.

So we paid particular attention to:

The 'start of braking marker'
The 'end of braking marker'
The corner entry speed
The turn in point
Sighting the apex
Throttle control
Having reference points through the turn and on the exit
Looking wide and not target fixating
etc, etc...

So now, my approach to any corner that I don't feel comfortable on is to try and get all these things tied down. If I do that I find that I can hit the same patch of tarmac lap after lap and take consistent lines.

Once I've got the technique, I then try to add the speed. When I add the speed I find that some of my reference points need adjusting but by then I've usually got a fairly smooth and consistent enough speed and line to make minor tweaks without upsetting the whole thing.

Works for me

[WeeJohnyB]

Exactly Jools, PRACTICE

WeeJohnyB

[Iconic944ss]

Isnt there a danger of just being good at one circuit though, instead of learning the underlying principles about how the corner/hill/hairpin (gup...gooseneck) needs to be ridden?

Frank