Hey All,

I've been looking at the Intro to Track programs offered by Racer 5 at Mosport and the Intro to Track School at Toronto Motorsports Park maybe next month..

I'm still very new riding and wondering if doing one of these intro programs would be a great way to learn control, leaning/cornering and other skills in a controlled environment with experienced riders to coach me. My only hesitation is like I said, I don't have much road experience yet. That's mostly because I don't really have many people to ride with, so I've been teaching myself and it's been slow going. I've been focused on my slow speed control and in town riding so far. Needless to say, there's only so much I can read about these skills before putting them to use and I'm dying to get out on the open roads.

Thoughts? Good way to learn and ok for a total newbie? Or wait a bit?

 

i have been thinking the same thing, I'm from england but the roads near me aint great but the problem for me is the track is really expensive to get on! not heard of a intro course though could be worth looking at!

 

Oli, did you do this? Don't know how I missed this 1st time around. But, I'm going to give my feedback now anyway. Hope it helps for anyone who needs it.
---

Yes, this is a good way to learn.

Most quality track day organizations have - new rider programs. These typically will have 'classroom' instruction & control rider instructors to teach you. B/f the track day/school starts, you'll get that classroom instruction on how to ride the track, recognizing flags used on the track by track staff. You'll go over the very basics of just riding the track. There should be plenty of Q&A during this process. Once the track portion actually starts, you'll be riding in a group of your piers in the 'Beginners' group. They control rider instructors will follow you & help evaluate your technique & help you w/ your lines/etc riding around the track. After ea session, you'll come back to the classroom area to discuss w/ your instructor & get more tips. A track day/school like this typically has 6-7 20 min riding sessions. If you can get on for a second day, you can really increase your learning curve. Having all of this instruction & riding in a controlled environment really is beneficial to the learning process. I def recommend it.

 

I'm a coach for the California Superbike School and have been for the past 14 years. CSS offers a great way to get a first look/introduction to the track environment while also learning all the valuable fundamental skills of riding that apply to both street and track riding. Things like throttle control and visual skills will be taught and the end result is higher confidence in your own riding skills as well as experience riding on track in a safe and very carefully regulated manner.

The school will be at several tracks on the east coast of the USA in May and June and offer great opportunities to ride world famous tracks like Barber Motorsports Park. The schedule can be found at www.superbikeschool.com

Feel free to ask me any questions about what is taught during the program or anything about riding skills and techniques. I'm a fellow Canadian from Vancouver