[Ducati] 1st Time Racetrack Experiences part 2

[Gleeb Gliber Galactica Gavorti]

   Continuing along the “east loop” of the track (I think we were riding the track in “configuration one” for those who have checked out the maps on the website-FYI the track runs clockwise) you are greeted with some straight tarmac for a few hundred feet.  To be honest, I have no real concept of actual distances anywhere on the track and my estimates are bound to be brimming with inaccuracies, but please play along.  Next time I ride there I’ll try to focus on more trivial, less survival-related aspects of the course.
   
  Once you are briefly up to perhaps 90 or 100 MPH (who the hell has time to look at the instruments?) it is time to brake for another near 90 degree right-hand bend which is immediately followed by a left.  In it’s current state this left-hand corner is in pretty rough shape.  If you have good suspension (I did) it’s no big deal but the track’s imperfections erode the confidence of us newbies nonetheless.  Come out of the corner and slam your bike over on its right hand side for a fun 3rd gear “yee haw” experience.  The corner before “the Grapevine” has a nice little rise to it.  Right at the corner’s apex it also has a crest in elevation.  So there is zero visibility as to what is beyond the corner.  That, combined with the feeling of negative G’s as the corner is carved give this turn a unique pucker-factor all it’s own.
   
  Down the other side and you are greeted with a brief straight section before the “Grapevine.”  At Buttonwillow Raceway Grapevine is a term that can be translated to mean “unremarkable right hand corner.”  Then you are greeted with another straight section.  This lets you pick up some speed and perhaps make a pass or two.  You can carry this speed into the following lazy left and then flog it again.  For a little while.  Don’t forget to apply a dose of brakes in the approach of a quick left.  Clear this section, mysteriously named “bus stop” and it is on to the most wonderful part of the track.  
   
  Keep up a bit of confidence as you approach a gentle, wide and smooth part of the track named “Truck Stop” and “Riverside.”  Here, if you keep up your speed you will be rewarded with a perfect, fast, sweeping right hand corner, which seems to go on and on.  The tarmac is ample for passing at triple digit speeds and the flow is consistent all the way through.  This corner puts a shit-eating grin on your face every time as you pass a couple guys on the outside while hanging ape-like off your bike’s right side, mere inches from the pavement which is rushing at you at speeds which seem to have no limit.  The corner is finished off with what seems to be a bit of an increase in radius but that may have been my imagination.  No matter.  The corner can be nicely cleaned with a bit more lean.  No need to get off the throttle.  Just push on the bars a bit more and let the tires do their job.
   
  Over in the “lost hill” section of the track you recover from the previous perfect bend and prepare yourself for another hill-top right hand combo.  This section is similar to the one I described earlier, but the elevation change is less dramatic which is good because you carry more speed through this turn.  On my bike I rounded the “Lost Hill section in 4th gear somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 MPH.  Then it’s an easy left hander followed by more straight sailing and full throttle.  At perhaps 125 mph the throttle is chopped and the front tire may squeal in protest (and elation, no doubt) as you drop your speed way down in preparation for the “Mazda Turn.”  This turn has a lot in common with turn 2.  It is very sharp right and more than 120 degrees in radius.  And like turn 2, the best way to approach it is to enter from the far left side of the track and lean off the right side of the bike like you’re looking for a lost contact lens down on the track’s surface. That
 will let you carry a bit of speed through the turn without scraping your boot, muffler, foot peg or brake lever (or self).
   
   I overshot this corner once, having entered it a bit too hot.  When you are going 130 mph one second it is not always easy (for someone new to this kind of all-out riding experience) to judge just how much and where to brake for a sharp corner of this nature.  To be honest, every corner has “brake markers” which give you a reference point as you approach the turn.  But my lack of experience had me forgetting to use these most of the time.  Which is one reason I need to get back onto the track ASAP ;-)  
   
  Round the Mazda corner and it’s into the “Esses.”  The Esses is a section of  fast “S” turns that are pretty fun.  But on a narrow motorcycle they are a lot like a straight section.  The track snakes back and forth but you can just ride right down the middle if you want to.  However I found it to be more to my liking to ride the Esses as they were intended and practice my high-speed side-to-side handling abilities.  That probably bothered people who wanted to try to get around me, but hell I was just following the track ;-)
   
   
  Ride Well
   
  Gabriel



"There's nothing wrong with you that an expensive operation can't prolong."  -Python, Monty.
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