Hey guys.
Yesterday I've been to Ron Haslam's Race school at Donington Park, UK. In one word, AWESOME
It lasted much less than i expected though. 3 sessions of 15mins on a Honda CBR600RR '05, with briefing and debriefing between. Every instructor rides with 2 riders, so it's pretty personal. On top of that, after the 1st session it turned out that my co-rider was riding at a different pace than me, so another instructor volunteered to ride with him, so eventually both of us had a personal instructor for the remaining 2 sessions cool.
So, what do i have to say about the bike? smaller than i though . the damn thing is really tiny, and the seating position is almost impossible (although i'm a bit above average, 1.85m). pretty strong though. 115bhp @13k RPM on bridgstone tires which i was amazed with. your elbow, knee and ears are an inch from touching the tarmak, you open full throttle and the damn thing just sticks to the floor. really fun
the track itself was also.. smaller than i've expected and smoother than i expected. you go out of T1 full throttle, right right right, fast left, fast right, left left, right, blind double-apex right, backstraight (wtf?? so short?...), chicane, short straight, hairpin, hairpin, DONE. it ends really fast it also goes much smoother than in most raceing games i've tried it. especially out of T1 untill the bridge. really smooth series of turns. and, there was a GREAT weather just like the sunny one in LFS
Eventhough the track time was only 45 mins, and the bike was too small and the track too small etc, The experience was second to none I would really recommend it to anyone who likes riding a bike. I do own a sport-tourer bike (Suzuki DL650) but i've never really reached the limits on public roads (well, i'm sure some car drivrs thought i was way over the limit. i wasn't ).
On the track, however, it's a completely different thing. You get full leather suit (the one with the airodynamic bump on the back), boots, helmet and gloves. you go up in pace slowly, and i think i managed ok. by the end of the 2ns session we've been passing most other groups on the track (overtaking is not allowed unless you're instructed to by your instructor). I felt very good on the bike, well into the race lines (the yellow pylons markers for turn-point were very usefull for me) nice speed up from around the apex, tuck in befind the windsheld for extra speed on straights. it felt very smooth to me, and it felt as if i could go much faster if my instructor would (he was riding ahead of me). on every turn exit i was on his tail. it didn't feel like riding on the limits, the tires were amazing and the whole things just felt "right".
too bad that on the last session after few laps when we were passing few groups one after the other, just before starkey's bride, i was looking left at someone we've passed, then eyes back to the road and like, OMG it's the GRASSSS!!!! :/ WTF am i doing here????
[TBC]
Yesterday I've been to Ron Haslam's Race school at Donington Park, UK. In one word, AWESOME
It lasted much less than i expected though. 3 sessions of 15mins on a Honda CBR600RR '05, with briefing and debriefing between. Every instructor rides with 2 riders, so it's pretty personal. On top of that, after the 1st session it turned out that my co-rider was riding at a different pace than me, so another instructor volunteered to ride with him, so eventually both of us had a personal instructor for the remaining 2 sessions cool.
So, what do i have to say about the bike? smaller than i though . the damn thing is really tiny, and the seating position is almost impossible (although i'm a bit above average, 1.85m). pretty strong though. 115bhp @13k RPM on bridgstone tires which i was amazed with. your elbow, knee and ears are an inch from touching the tarmak, you open full throttle and the damn thing just sticks to the floor. really fun
the track itself was also.. smaller than i've expected and smoother than i expected. you go out of T1 full throttle, right right right, fast left, fast right, left left, right, blind double-apex right, backstraight (wtf?? so short?...), chicane, short straight, hairpin, hairpin, DONE. it ends really fast it also goes much smoother than in most raceing games i've tried it. especially out of T1 untill the bridge. really smooth series of turns. and, there was a GREAT weather just like the sunny one in LFS
Eventhough the track time was only 45 mins, and the bike was too small and the track too small etc, The experience was second to none I would really recommend it to anyone who likes riding a bike. I do own a sport-tourer bike (Suzuki DL650) but i've never really reached the limits on public roads (well, i'm sure some car drivrs thought i was way over the limit. i wasn't ).
On the track, however, it's a completely different thing. You get full leather suit (the one with the airodynamic bump on the back), boots, helmet and gloves. you go up in pace slowly, and i think i managed ok. by the end of the 2ns session we've been passing most other groups on the track (overtaking is not allowed unless you're instructed to by your instructor). I felt very good on the bike, well into the race lines (the yellow pylons markers for turn-point were very usefull for me) nice speed up from around the apex, tuck in befind the windsheld for extra speed on straights. it felt very smooth to me, and it felt as if i could go much faster if my instructor would (he was riding ahead of me). on every turn exit i was on his tail. it didn't feel like riding on the limits, the tires were amazing and the whole things just felt "right".
too bad that on the last session after few laps when we were passing few groups one after the other, just before starkey's bride, i was looking left at someone we've passed, then eyes back to the road and like, OMG it's the GRASSSS!!!! :/ WTF am i doing here????
[TBC]