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Recording Lap Times


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I'm scheduled to attend Level 1 and 2 at VIR in September. During registration (online), I was asked whether I wanted my lap times recorded (for an extra fee). I opted not to do so, assuming this meant by way of a transponder.

 

Does this mean that a beacon will not be on track for my lap timer?

 

If not, may I place a beacon?

 

Thanks in advance for help in clarifying...

Don

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I'm scheduled to attend Level 1 and 2 at VIR in September. During registration (online), I was asked whether I wanted my lap times recorded (for an extra fee). I opted not to do so, assuming this meant by way of a transponder.

 

Does this mean that a beacon will not be on track for my lap timer?

 

If not, may I place a beacon?

 

Thanks in advance for help in clarifying...

Don

Don;

 

I do not speak for the School and I'm sure that after they wrap up at NJMP today, someone will respond but I will share a perspective.

 

The Superbike School is all training all the time with a wide gap in experience of its students. You could be on track with a student whose lap times vary by 30 seconds or more and they have strick passing rules (6' of separation). Their timing format is set to show to the individual student how their own lap times improved over the course of the day and not in the context of how those times stack up against other student's time or times established for the particular track you're on that day.

 

They will tell you and I will reinforce the notion that it isn't a track day - it is a School and as such, you and all of your classmates will have a specific drill to work on in every session you ride without exception so to be looking at your timer is to be working against your investment in your training. I share this with you from personal experience where I squandered opportunities to learn from them in the past. I would recommend you leave the lap timer at home.

 

You can be railing around VIR with an open track only to come up upon a cluster of five or six less experienced students who are following their coaches at a slower pace then yours...poof! - there goes your lap time. You are allowed to pass, but not in the same mannor allowed in the advanced group with NESBA so you back it down until you're clear of the Hog Pen and you can safely pass on the main straight. Unless you have multiple beacons set, your timer won't give you splits from sections of track without traffic so the times you record will be meaningless.

 

That all said, I can recall that Course Control did allow a beacon to be set up at an event at Watkins Glen a few years ago but after reaching the conclusion I share with you above, we took it down after the second session. YRMV

 

Kevin

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I'm scheduled to attend Level 1 and 2 at VIR in September. During registration (online), I was asked whether I wanted my lap times recorded (for an extra fee). I opted not to do so, assuming this meant by way of a transponder.

 

Does this mean that a beacon will not be on track for my lap timer?

 

If not, may I place a beacon?

 

Thanks in advance for help in clarifying...

Don

Don;

 

I do not speak for the School and I'm sure that after they wrap up at NJMP today, someone will respond but I will share a perspective.

 

The Superbike School is all training all the time with a wide gap in experience of its students. You could be on track with a student whose lap times vary by 30 seconds or more and they have strick passing rules (6' of separation). Their timing format is set to show to the individual student how their own lap times improved over the course of the day and not in the context of how those times stack up against other student's time or times established for the particular track you're on that day.

 

They will tell you and I will reinforce the notion that it isn't a track day - it is a School and as such, you and all of your classmates will have a specific drill to work on in every session you ride without exception so to be looking at your timer is to be working against your investment in your training. I share this with you from personal experience where I squandered opportunities to learn from them in the past. I would recommend you leave the lap timer at home.

 

You can be railing around VIR with an open track only to come up upon a cluster of five or six less experienced students who are following their coaches at a slower pace then yours...poof! - there goes your lap time. You are allowed to pass, but not in the same mannor allowed in the advanced group with NESBA so you back it down until you're clear of the Hog Pen and you can safely pass on the main straight. Unless you have multiple beacons set, your timer won't give you splits from sections of track without traffic so the times you record will be meaningless.

 

That all said, I can recall that Course Control did allow a beacon to be set up at an event at Watkins Glen a few years ago but after reaching the conclusion I share with you above, we took it down after the second session. YRMV

 

Kevin

 

 

Don,

 

I do agree with Kevin, especially for level 1 and 2. I am doing the level 3 and 4 at Barber in a couple of weeks and I will be getting my lap times there, but I am not interested in how I do compared to track day lap times, nor against other riders. I am interested in the different techniques and how consistent I am in each session/lesson. I am there to learn some tools/techniques. In order to learn the techniques, I will have lower lap times than usual but I don't care. Faster lap times are in the months after the school. If you can learn and implement all of the techniques they teach you at the school, your first track day after the school, you are a horrifically more gifted rider than I will ever be.

 

BTW: You are going to love the school! I learned so much in my first 2 levels, it was truly amazing.

 

 

Meat

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