Raceinfo
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Raceinfo
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So you want to race motorcycles?If you enjoy the idea of carving up canyon roads with a few friends, cursing the speed limits and hoping that the cops won't catch you, well then you should probably be on the race track. The race track is the safest place to go fast on a motorcycle. Being on the race track doesn't necessarily mean that you have to race, but if you try it, you'll probably get hooked. I race with the Loudon Road Racing Series at New Hampshire International Speedway. The Penguin Road Racing School provides a racing school about once or twice a month during the racing season at NHIS. If you live in the Northeast, I strongly urge you to attend this school and learn what you can from them. For a more general article about what is required to get into racing, check out Robert Robillard's excellent web page on what it takes to get into motorcycle racing. The following information mostly regards Loudon. On the race track, everyone is there to help you go faster. People are there to bail you out of an emergency. An ambulance is seconds away at all times. Corner workers are at every corner to keep the track clean, help get your bike back up and get you out of harm's way should something go wrong. Schools and fellow racers are eager to help you learn how to use your machine to it's maximum advantage. Unlike the street, everyone drives in the same direction. There are no oncoming cars. But racing is expensive!It doesn't have to be. Also, most people don't realize this but you don't actually have to race. You can get your school certificate and just go to the practices, which are held every Thursday at NHIS. Practices require minor preparation to your motorcycle and it is easy to convert your bike between track and street. You'll be required to have a Snell 95 approved helmet, full coverage leathers which should be one piece, but a two piece suit with a full circumference zipper that connect the two pieces is acceptable, over the ankle boots and gloves. No exposed skin is the key here. You want to be fully encased in quality leather. Your bike must also be in good mechanical condition with decent tires. All of the above can be rented from the Penguin school on Fridays during race weekends. You can also rent what you need from them to enter a race and get your license. Besides the bike, leathers are probably the most expensive item if you're looking at buying new. I would recommend visiting the Vanson Leathers factory in Fall River, MA to look at used leathers. I purchased a previous years model for $800 and a friend of mine purchased his used for $350. Definitely worth the trip. Above all else, make sure you have decent medical insurance coverage that will cover racing events. If you already have all the safety gear, or can borrow a set of leathers from a friend, you should be able to get your racing license for about $375 using your own bike. If you need everything including a race bike and leathers, expect to pay a minimum of 3 to5 thousand dollars. OK, Now what?Once outfitted, you'll need to attend a school. Expect to pay about $25 to just get in to the track and another $200 or so for the school. Once you're in, you'll sit in a classroom for a few hours going over track rules, flags and communications and basic riding skills. The Penguin school gives you a written test at the end of the class, so pay attention. Following the classroom, you'll grab a quick lunch, bring your bike through tech inspection and get ready to go on the track. Once on the track, you'll play follow the leader with some expert racers at a fairly slow pace. They'll show you the "line" around the track and you'll stop from time to time to review basic concepts and observe some fine points by observing the advanced school riders who will then be on the track. After playing follow the leader for a couple of hours, you'll get a few open practices. You'll be allowed on the track to go as fast as you feel comfortable. There is absolutely no pressure at all. You must complete two open practices without crashing and obey all track rules and flags to get your school certificate. Ok, I've done the school.Now you have a choice. You can keep the school certificate and continue to do open practices and track days, or you can go to the next step and get your racing license. Note that the school certificate is only good for one year and you'll have to renew it annually (i.e. take the school again). A cheaper alternative to this is to rent a Penguin bike for the race, get your license, and then just attend practices. It's only $100 to renew your racing license annually. Otherwise, you must fully race-prep your motorcycle. This is fairly involved and requires safety wiring many small bolts, re-routing overflow lines into catch containers, removing lights and mirrors and several other details. Expect to spend about 20 hours doing this. Don't expect to easily switch between a track and a street bike. To get your license with LRRS, you'll need to register for at least one real race to be eligible to enter the "rookie race", which will be your first "race". The rookie race is not really a race, but just a first time, three lap tour of the track under race conditions. If you crash during the race, you'll have to pay for and repeat the school before you're allowed to get your license. Most people just go out and take a Sunday drive around the track for their rookie race, take the checkered flag on their 3rd lap and earn the title "Motorcycle Road Racer". Entry fees at NHIS are currently $50 for a sprint race and $100 for a 1/2 hour endurance race. Let the race beginNow, since you had to enter an actual race, the adrenaline starts to flow as your first real race draws near. Race time comes and you get all your gear on to head out to the track. You first goal is to line up for pre-grid in your assigned position on pit road so the race crew can check you in. Then you wait. You wait some more. Seems like forever. Finally, they let you out to do a warm up lap and you come around to the start/finish line to your grid assignment. As everyone comes around the track, some guy is holding a board with numbers on it. It starts at #5 and for each minute that goes by, drops by one. Finally, the number board goes to #1, and your adrenaline starts to increase. The #1 board turns sideways in anticipation of the green start flag. You start to rev your engine, the adrenaline is at 100%. Your heart pounds a thousand beats a minute. A million thoughts go through your mind. The green flag waves and you feed your machine clutch as quickly as you can without flipping it over backwards. Next thing you notice is there seems to be hundreds of riders all trying to get first place into turn one at the same time. You make it through turn one and things start to spread out. Now you start to concentrate on riding. The adrenaline slows and you're back in control trying to ride at your best and fastest. You may pass a few people, a few people may pass you and the pack evens out some more. Four laps later, you see some guy at the finish line with flags crossed. This is the halfway point. You think to yourself, "Wow, only the halfway point and I'm already spent." Racing really is hard work. A few more laps and you see a white flag indicating the last lap. "Whew, finally.." you think. One more lap around and you see the checkered flag, a welcome sight. You do your cool down lap and head back into the pits realizing what a real race is like. You immediately realize that it's one of the most fun things that you can do with your clothes on, but it's even more of a workout than you thought. You get back to your pit, struggle to put the bike on the swingarm stand, pull your helmet off and grasp desperately at the nearest water supply to get a drink. Finally you sit down and try to recollect everything that just happened. The thing you realize most is that you have never pushed your bike that hard on the street. You just went out on your bike and pushed it as hard as you possibly could for the whole time you were on it. You just can't do that on the street.
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