The More I Learn, The Less I Know

[faffi]

Having watched onboard videos of member khp as well as my brother, both about 25-30% off top level WSBK race pace, then watched yesterday's race from Silverstone, it is hard to fathom that the latter were still circulating quicker on slicks when the track was moist, and even wet in places! Especially since the bikes were almost upright in the corners, engines were bare idling to prevent highsides and they had to turn in ever so gingerly.

 

Again, it is blatantly obvious that there are so much more to going fast than what I understand or can see/observe with the naked eye. That one bike/rider combination looking very slow can be noticeably quicker than one looking fast boggles me mind!

[Bullet]

Don't be too hard on yourself Elirik. It's very competitive at the very top, and you've also got to appreciate those WSBK bikes are rapier fast (as are the supersport bikes), very light, 220-240BHP, flyweight riders, the best of every component money can buy and so on. Silverstone is a very, very fast circuit, and (from memory), there's something like 18- turns there. Lets say the WSBK riders are .5 of second into and out of each turn quicker, there's 9 seconds just like that. Racing slicks are ok in some water (oddly), as long as you can keep them warm, and racing wets are, well, way better than the tyres you ride on the road or on a track nice and hot beautiful day.

 

 

It's possible as a good rider to get within 10% of those kind of riders times, getting the rest of is very, very hard. To give you an idea, I can do Silverstone arena circa 2:20 if I'm absolutely flat out on my Race bike, (which has around 190BHP), the WSBK riders were doing what, 2:05 -2:-06 in qualifying. lets say race pace circa 2:07- 2:08 for the leaders.

 

 

Don't judge yourself by the very best in the world, these guys are professional racers, years or riding on the edge, you'll always feel inadequate and incompetent by their standards, but just keep chipping away at yourself and you keep edging forwards piece by piece and you can still achieve impressive results in your riding and progress.

 

 

Bullet

[faffi]

But these lads turned 2:25-30s on slick in the rain, standing almost still in the bends, braking gingerly and turning in ever so slowly. It looked slow, but wasn't. Watching the video of khp and my brother looks pretty fast, but isn't.

 

However, I'm not let down of their performance vs. mine. I live very well with being slow. It's how it appear that I struggle with. Like watching Hailwood at the IoM from 1961 when he was about as far from today's lap times as current superbike champions are in the wet vs dry. But when you look at the old 500cc singles, their tiny drum brakes, the narrow and hard tyres, the horrible suspension and how apparently slowly they went around corners, it's hard to understand how they are still so fast. I mean, put Hailwood or Agostini at their prime on a 50 hp 500cc Norton race bike from cirka 1960, and they would still circulate faster than the vast majority of the people doing trackdays.

 

So I guess my question is; where in the hell do they make up the time?

[Hotfoot]

Maybe we also need to look at why those racers LOOK slower on TV, even though they aren't. Do you suppose they are less "busy" on the bike, so their motions are less rushed and it makes everything look calmer? Or maybe the regular trackday riders use more lean angle than they really need to (not making enough use of quickturn, or poor body position, or bad turnpoints) and that makes them APPEAR to be going faster than they really are?

 

I know I've seen school/trackday photos of riders that are going the same speed but look radically different; if you didn't KNOW they were riding at the same pace you'd swear the one that was leaned way over, or hanging way off, was going a lot faster.

 

But, in general, if you get a really good answer on WHERE the really, really fast guys make up the time, please let us know, I'm sure we'd ALL like to use that info!! :)

[khp]

So I guess my question is; where in the hell do they make up the time?

 

The answer is simple: they're faster everywhere

What I've found is that watching an on-board video makes it look slower and more relaxed than if you're riding yourself. You go "hey, I could do that" - only you can't in real life.

 

Or maybe the regular trackday riders use more lean angle than they really need to (not making enough use of quickturn, or poor body position, or bad turnpoints)

Hey!

 

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[Hotfoot]

So I guess my question is; where in the hell do they make up the time?

 

The answer is simple: they're faster everywhere

What I've found is that watching an on-board video makes it look slower and more relaxed than if you're riding yourself. You go "hey, I could do that" - only you can't in real life.

 

Or maybe the regular trackday riders use more lean angle than they really need to (not making enough use of quickturn, or poor body position, or bad turnpoints)

Hey!

 

.

.

.

 

 

Looking forward to seeing your CodeRace video - you'll post it up, right?

[khp]

Looking forward to seeing your CodeRace video - you'll post it up, right?

Sorry, but I didn't bring the video camera & mount to China, so no video from CodeRACE

 

For myself, I am quite certain that I brake too slowly and too much so my cornering speed is too low (everywhere in the turn), that I probably don't accelerate as hard as I could out of the turn, and I could lean more/better.

RP/TP and body positioning can probably also be improved.

 

Hmmm. Did I forget anything from TOTW2? Yeah, quick turn