Crossing the blend line | Page 3 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Crossing the blend line

Brian P said:
I don't know if this was the issue or not ... but it does NOT help that there are two different "red flag rules" out there. SOAR uses the traditional one, coast down with your hand up and stop at the next manned marshal station and await instructions. The alternative, slow down with your hand up and take the next exit from the track (may be almost a full lap away ...) is out there somewhere.

And that is why you go to rider's meeting and pay attention to what they say about the flags ... particularly if you are dealing with an organization that you haven't been to before.
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The latter rule still states you slow down and signal. Not full gas past the guy lying on the track.

Jayv said:
Have you done a red group at Bogie?

Some trackdays can be sketchy, but not all.
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I went yellow last time. No issues. Local red guys are too fast for me Lol

doozerdave said:
You guys make it sound like racers never do anything stupid.

I never cross the blend line. Never. Not even when I'm the first one on the track for the session. Even then I look before I'm out of the blend zone. Good habits need to be kept up because bad habits grow too easily.
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Sure racers do dumb stuff. In my own personal experience a lot less stuff seems to happen than at your average TD.

The risks one will take to win a race vs making laps at a track day are very different(to me anyway).
 
Some of the blame is on the shoulders of the track day organizers. I've never heard any of them explain the importance of being predictable, and what it means. All they say is green group can't pass here and here, yellow can't pass here, and red is open.

But it's all about being predictable, as others have said. It's not about the blend line or even the racing line. It's about behaving as if someone is closing in on you or about to pass you, wherever passing is allowed. That means staying on your part of the track in a straight, and keeping the throttle open from the apex to the next braking point, at least enough not to slow down. The only place that it's acceptable to slow down is off line, and then only gradually. The only time it's acceptable to go off line is if you start from the apex. Even with a mechanical problem you stay on your line, and slow down only if you have no choice. That includes not looking behind you, nor 'getting out of the way' of other riders.

I had an experience at Shanny where I was struggling to get by another rider for a couple laps but he was riding flawlessly in terms of being predictable. It looks frustrating and someone who didn't know better would think it was his fault for holding me up but it was entirely my responsibility to get by him. Then in another session a guy did everything wrong in front of me even though I was able to get by him much more quickly.

https://youtu.be/bd0uo_tgBlM
[video] https://youtu.be/bd0uo_tgBlM[/video]

I think track day organizers really need to step up their game when it comes to explaining how to ride predictably.
 
AGAVE said:
but if i was racing bikes and i ran zx600 off the track because i was dumb and caused him 2000$ in damage, i would feel obliged to fix it for him.
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ohhellnopd.gif~c200


Red at Bogie with Pro6 is super fun, I didn't see any stupid shenanigans during the entire day, Probably comparable to racers (in most cases), most of the equipment is better than what you see on a SOAR or RACE paddock and so is the skill.
 
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N3WMAN said:
The latter rule still states you slow down and signal. Not full gas past the guy lying on the track.


I went yellow last time. No issues. Local red guys are too fast for me Lol


Sure racers do dumb stuff. In my own personal experience a lot less stuff seems to happen than at your average TD.

The risks one will take to win a race vs making laps at a track day are very different(to me anyway).
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Which is why I've chosen to spend more of my time at above average track days.
 
I've shared many a track day weekend with pro racers at Jennings, the weekend before Daytona. Three years on the bounce - Total incidents? Zero. It's down to individuals, not racers versus track day riders. Individuals and their level of smarts and respect for other riders.

This place never changes. Every thread becomes a dick measuring contest between people.
 
doozerdave said:
You guys make it sound like racers never do anything stupid.
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Absolutely not; people do make mistakes, but my actual experience has been that racers make fewer of them (because they have more experience!) and the structure of a race inherently separates the faster and more consistent riders from the pack ... and outside of endurance racing, it pretty much eliminates the blend line situation because everyone is going out onto the track from pit lane at once, not while someone is already out there at speed.

We've certainly had issues in the endurance race with people cutting across the track to make it to the exit for the pits ... and it ain't Scott Rupert making that mistake; it's the newer riders ...

P.S. The incident that turned me pretty much off doing track days happened in red group at a Pro 6 day at Bogie.

And by the way, the intent of this original post was certainly not to pit track days against racing or anything of the sort. It's merely a reminder to THINK about what you are doing out there. Doesn't matter track days or racing. You need to think about what could be happening behind you and that includes being predictable so that those coming up behind can predict your actions and deal with the situation accordingly. There is real risk involved.
 
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Fiery254 said:
I've shared many a track day weekend with pro racers at Jennings, the weekend before Daytona. Three years on the bounce - Total incidents? Zero. It's down to individuals, not racers versus track day riders. Individuals and their level of smarts and respect for other riders.

This place never changes. Every thread becomes a dick measuring contest between people.
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I've done track days that were oriented at a more experienced crowd, and they've been much better than average in terms of incidents. "Respect for other riders" is the key phrase here.
 
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