[U.k School ,silverstone Stowe / September]

hello all

been trying to book a date for this year for my 3rd level 4 ,but not yet as haven,t had chance to get out and get practise in on track .

i would like to make 1 of the new s,stone south dates but may struggle , my question is i think i saw somewhere else on the site that the stowe track will be reversed direction from normal any one any info on this ?

my thinking is while i relish the challenge of learning a new track i don,t want to distract myself from making good progress with my riding techniques with the coaches ( my brains only so big you know ) , made some good progress at school last year at rocky , a track i know reasonably well .

 

same situation with south track i suppose as i haven,t ridden it b4 ( any one know if any of the track day people are hiring this track so i could get a day in b4 )

cheers .

 

Hi there,

 

I think it has been discussed that we'll be running the Silverstone Stowe circuit in clockwise manner, which is differnt to our usual anti-clockwise direction. I guess this is only of an issue if you've done Stowe before, though I'm unclear from your post if you have or not? To this date, it hasn't happened, and we've continued to run Stowe in it's usual configuration of anti-clockwise, and I know not of any desire to change it, though this could happen.

 

The southern loop is a new to us circuit, you can find a video of it here http://www.superbikeschool.co.uk/video/ and you'll see it is in the main, in actual fact the lower part of the GP circuit from what is the Maggots complex, down hanger straiight, club, alway back up the other side, then back across to Hangar straight. The configuration looks excellent for sure, and definitely worthy of a trip to Silverstone in my opinion.

 

I don't believe any of the trackday companies use this lower circuit loop, as its almost exclusively used by the Silverstone race school for Ferrari / Aston experiences. Some of the race clubs do use it, but I am afraid I don't know if any trackday companies provide this sorry.

 

Hope this helped with your questions?

 

Bullet

(Uk Riding Coach)

[Uk - Level 2 Question]

Hi bullet, good to see a UK coach up on this forum!

 

No problem, I'll be about quite a bit from now on, to help out with UK queries.

 

Be nice to hook up, say hi at Rockingham my friend.

 

Bullet

[Uk - Level 2 Question]

Hi,

 

I took the Level 1 course last year and got a hell of a load out of it especially after only riding for a couple of months. I'm keen to do Level 2 this year and the preference would be prior to July when I'm riding to Spain. I see the only available one at the minute is Brands Hatch but this doesn't have the lean bike (I'm guessing why there are still spaces), how much would I be missing out on?

 

Hi Thomas

 

Glad you enjoyed level 1 and are coming to see us in the UK for level 2. Am not sure if you have booked with us already, but there at the time of writing this post only 1 slot at both Brands Hatch, and 1 on the second date we have in June at Silverstone.

 

We aren't able to run the lean bike at Brands as there is not space in the paddock to do so, and we're often constrained by other events running at Silverstone which also don't allow us to run the lean bike.

 

Whilst having a go on the lean bike is a very valuable experience, certainly in getting your body position established correctly for level 3, your day will still be exceptional without going on the bike should we be unable to run it due to either space, or weather restrictions.

 

I hope this helps answer your question, though if you have further comments, please just ask.

 

Bullet

(UK riding coach)

 

 

Hi,

I completd level 1 in the UK in 2002 and have only just been able to book level 2. It's been a long wait and i too am keen to experience the lean bike for the next level. Everything that i've read about this and the other training aids is positive. After all, Keith wouldn't have gone to the trouble of designing them if they weren't of benefit.

Having just booked i received the information pack in the post. I was extremely disappointed to read 'Due to the circuits now wanting to charge us for the use of paddock space, we are no longer able to run the lean bke for level 2, the brake rig for level 3 and the slide bike for level 4'.

It appears that UK Students will not have the priviledge of using these training aids. Maybe it would have been a little easier to swallow if it had previously been mentioned on the website before i booked?

 

 

Hi there,

 

Clearly the drill do offer benefits, as you rightly pointed out Keith did indeed invet them to help with the body position situation in isolation in a paddock area without distractions of corners etc. It is possible to have similiar improvements with your riding coach, though this is typically addressed in Level 3, rather than 2.

 

I appreciate your situation, and I know this something thats been mentioned to the coaching staff by Andy at one of the schools of late that the circuits were charging excessive, (and I mean excessive), amounts of money for being able to run the lean bike/Slide bike and brake rig. Steering drill has still been possible, as it takes so little room in comparison.

 

I think the challenge that the school has had really is, should the cost of the having this open to each student be tagged onto the school cost, and when we say additonal cost, we're talking around 50 quid extra per student for the privilege. In the current economic climate, and with prices already edging up anyway, it was felt I understand that people wouldn't stomach this cost and so I believe this decision has been taken. I'd be interested in your view on this point by the way?

 

I'm not certain if this is the case for all locations, though Brands has always been possible, and I know that Silverstone has become constrained by costs. For confirmation of whether they'll run at Rockingham or not, ring into the office, speak with Lynn, and she'll be able to provide a definitive answer on this.

 

Sorry if you felt misled in some way, but I hope this explanation helps a little the reasoning behind this decision.

 

Bullet

(UK riding coach)

[Uk - Level 2 Question]

Hi,

 

I took the Level 1 course last year and got a hell of a load out of it especially after only riding for a couple of months. I'm keen to do Level 2 this year and the preference would be prior to July when I'm riding to Spain. I see the only available one at the minute is Brands Hatch but this doesn't have the lean bike (I'm guessing why there are still spaces), how much would I be missing out on?

 

Hi Thomas

 

Glad you enjoyed level 1 and are coming to see us in the UK for level 2. Am not sure if you have booked with us already, but there at the time of writing this post only 1 slot at both Brands Hatch, and 1 on the second date we have in June at Silverstone.

 

We aren't able to run the lean bike at Brands as there is not space in the paddock to do so, and we're often constrained by other events running at Silverstone which also don't allow us to run the lean bike.

 

Whilst having a go on the lean bike is a very valuable experience, certainly in getting your body position established correctly for level 3, your day will still be exceptional without going on the bike should we be unable to run it due to either space, or weather restrictions.

 

I hope this helps answer your question, though if you have further comments, please just ask.

 

Bullet

(UK riding coach)