| And there is a difference between timing yourself to see if you can just go faster and faster, and timing yourself to see how changes to the bike (gearing/tyres/suspension/fuel loads etc) have effected things. The first option does mean trying to ride flat out the second requires the rider to be consistant in what they are doing.
This is why a lot of race teams in various forms of motorsport have test riders/drivers that are not as fast as those doing the racing.
Sadly there seems to be less race practice days around now than a few years ago with many of those days now been run as trackdays.
I have raced at Oulton twice now, once in 1998 when there was a practice day there on the Friday with racing on the Saturday and the second time was this year with the racing again on a Saturday but the Friday was a car trackday.
Its not that easy to set a bike up for Oulton by going to a ACU Wednesday afternoon practice at Mallory or a Friday track practice at Pembrey.
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