The right or wrong depends on wether you're looking for your fastest lap time or wether you're making sure nobody can nip up the inside of you. There's a big difference :)

I'm looking foward to the next ride out, to see the new Ruth back to her old self again;)

Like many things, turning points and lines etc are the subject of much debate. The CSS put out markers for your turning point to introduce the concept and to give you an idea of the classic racing line. I spoke to Andy on my level 1 day about them because they felt uncomfortable to me. Bear in mind that I did my level 1 the day after my second track day which was 3 weeks after my first, ie, I didn't have much track experience. What he told me was that they are guidelines and not necessarily to be taken literally. When you are introduced to the concept they give you a starting point but eventually you'll find your own. Some I used, and some I pushed back. Some people even brought them forward. The point being that eventually you will find your own to get you through the corner, we're all different. Level 2 teaches you more about reference points and how to find your own. Tie the two together and you're finding your own turning point to help you through the corner faster and set you up for the next one.

About the point that Weeksy raised above - they maybe classic fast lines but you're inviting everyone to do you on the brakes, nip up the inside etc etc. I also spoke to Andy about this because there was no way I would have been able to follow the lines that we were following the day before on the track day. Everyone would have been diving up the inside and parking on your line while they struggled to turn their bike etc. In a race people can block you this way by diving up the inside and taking the line. If they are quicker then they will get through and not really stuff you up much, but if they are just a bit quicker then it will slow you down. So which is the best line? Depends on what you want to do - to go as fast as you can you need to take the classic line and if you get overtaken well generally you're slower than the guy coming past. You could very well be even for pace and you get done on the brakes in which case the opportunity will present it back to you later. You could take a tighter line to prevent this happening but it will be slower. Something I'm struggling to put into practice is an idea of how to prevent this - go so much faster than the guy behind you so he can't stuff you on the brakes :D

The example used above about the bottom hairpin in the DD races is interesting. We were all using different lines in there for different reasons. Geoff, who won both races, took a classic line in there and could get away with it because he was quick. I couldn't find a way to get myself through there quickly and knew I'd get done on the brakes in the race if I persisted. I think I could have figured it if I did a whole track day on it but I didn't have that. So I concentrated on taking a tight line and going as deep on the brakes as I dared, turn it quickly and get it up quickly to fire it out. Well, fire it out as much as you can on a DD bike .. you get my drift. That worked for me during the race pretty well. I'm pretty inexperienced at all this so take it as its meant. If I was really good at this I would have found a good line through there and just been quicker! :lol:

If you are geting done on the brakes regularly - brake later and go faster :D That's what I keep telling myself anyway.

I'll stop rambling now.

Oh and, congratulations Ruth. I told you it would be worth it!

Glad you had a great day Ruth,sorry we didnt get a chance to talk.
Chris had a good day and managed to pass his assesment so its into the training proper now (june 6th ,rockingham with Johnny Haynes as pupil!)
The monster returned home with NO damage (and very little tread on the back tyre) so maybe the stabilisers worked!
Butch

[Edited on 19-5-2005 by butch890]

:o :o

Is Chris learning to ride a bike then? :o


CSS must be bloody good then...

...Well done Chris...

..Butch you must be so proud :D

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

You're SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO gonna get ya ass kicked Tony :lol: :frog:

Wow..the best training money can buy.........:P..

:rodent:

:frog:

Hi Guys,

Turn points are there at the Schools to give the students somewhere to turn, and they are later than they (students) were turning at the start of the day. This is so they can see the benefits of a straighter line through the corner. They are not the racing line or the fastest line, they just work (given the statement above).
The purpose of the lesson is to show that without a Turn Point YOU WILL TURN TOO EARLY! This was really proven to me working with Thomas Luthi in the 125GP last weekend. He didn't have a Turn point for Turn 4 and then ended up turning in some 10 meters later than before!

Nothing more complex than that.

All the best

Andy