Now that you'll be doing a track day without having taken a training course first ...
Be at the track with plenty of time to spare. You will have to unload and set up your paddock area, register and go through tech, and attend a rider's meeting. Pay attention in that rider's meeting considering that you have not done one before. Pay particular attention to the meaning of the flags and what you are supposed to do upon seeing a red flag. Some organizations require that you stop at the next available marshal station, others require you to continue at reduced speed to the exit from the track. Common to ALL red-flag situations is that you must NOT slam on the brakes. Best thing is to shut the throttle and coast, and put your left hand straight up in the air immediately. The reason for this is that it is quite possible that the rider behind you did not see the flag. If you slam on the brakes, you get rear ended. Hand up in the air attracts attention "There is a problem and I'm slowing down". Likewise, if you see another rider doing that, that's what it means ... and make sure you didn't miss seeing a red flag. "Stop at the next marshal station" does NOT mean slam on the brakes because you are about to pass one. It basically means stop at the next marshal station that you can COAST to. If that means coasting past the first marshal station ... so be it. Don't forget that in a red-flag or yellow-flag situation, you still have to ride the bike. Corners still come up fast when you are coasting. You still have to ride the bike.
First laps in green group will usually (not always) be behind an instructor to keep the speed down. Even if that's not the case, do the first few laps at low speed without passing anyone. Remember which way the track goes. Take note of where the flagging stations are. Work up your pace gradually. Figure out where you have to brake, where you have to turn in, where you have to aim the bike toward, which gear to be in, evolve that towards the number of upshifts and downshifts on each straightaway rather than actually knowing what gear it's in, take note of any markers on or next to the track that you can use as reference points.
Don't forget to use the WHOLE track. There are no lanes.
And the reason that I have pretty much stopped doing track days ... the general failure of other (untrained) riders to be predictable to others. If you are on a straightaway, go STRAIGHT towards your next turn-in point. Don't change your mind in the braking zone. If you make an error and are only (say) two-thirds of the way to the left of the track as you approach a corner as opposed to all the way to the left, DON'T CHANGE YOUR MIND. Stay the course. There could be another rider approaching from the back at much higher speed with a much later braking marker who has already made a decision to go around you on the outside because you are too far to the inside and they cannot have a good line through the corner by going inside you. If you change your mind and wander to the left while braking, and that rider behind is going 50 km/h faster and already braking as hard as they can with the rear wheel skimming the ground, you are cutting off their line, and it could get ugly.
I've been that guy approaching from behind. (Calabogie, going into corner 5, red group, which means the other rider ought to have known better - and realistically, shouldn't have been in that group and should have had a training course.) Didn't crash, but I was right on the painted line at the edge of the track with the rear wheel skipping off the ground, and it was far too close to comfort. I'm not even sure if the rider in front knew what just about happened to him. That's what ended my last retirement period from roadracing.
Be at the track with plenty of time to spare. You will have to unload and set up your paddock area, register and go through tech, and attend a rider's meeting. Pay attention in that rider's meeting considering that you have not done one before. Pay particular attention to the meaning of the flags and what you are supposed to do upon seeing a red flag. Some organizations require that you stop at the next available marshal station, others require you to continue at reduced speed to the exit from the track. Common to ALL red-flag situations is that you must NOT slam on the brakes. Best thing is to shut the throttle and coast, and put your left hand straight up in the air immediately. The reason for this is that it is quite possible that the rider behind you did not see the flag. If you slam on the brakes, you get rear ended. Hand up in the air attracts attention "There is a problem and I'm slowing down". Likewise, if you see another rider doing that, that's what it means ... and make sure you didn't miss seeing a red flag. "Stop at the next marshal station" does NOT mean slam on the brakes because you are about to pass one. It basically means stop at the next marshal station that you can COAST to. If that means coasting past the first marshal station ... so be it. Don't forget that in a red-flag or yellow-flag situation, you still have to ride the bike. Corners still come up fast when you are coasting. You still have to ride the bike.
First laps in green group will usually (not always) be behind an instructor to keep the speed down. Even if that's not the case, do the first few laps at low speed without passing anyone. Remember which way the track goes. Take note of where the flagging stations are. Work up your pace gradually. Figure out where you have to brake, where you have to turn in, where you have to aim the bike toward, which gear to be in, evolve that towards the number of upshifts and downshifts on each straightaway rather than actually knowing what gear it's in, take note of any markers on or next to the track that you can use as reference points.
Don't forget to use the WHOLE track. There are no lanes.
And the reason that I have pretty much stopped doing track days ... the general failure of other (untrained) riders to be predictable to others. If you are on a straightaway, go STRAIGHT towards your next turn-in point. Don't change your mind in the braking zone. If you make an error and are only (say) two-thirds of the way to the left of the track as you approach a corner as opposed to all the way to the left, DON'T CHANGE YOUR MIND. Stay the course. There could be another rider approaching from the back at much higher speed with a much later braking marker who has already made a decision to go around you on the outside because you are too far to the inside and they cannot have a good line through the corner by going inside you. If you change your mind and wander to the left while braking, and that rider behind is going 50 km/h faster and already braking as hard as they can with the rear wheel skimming the ground, you are cutting off their line, and it could get ugly.
I've been that guy approaching from behind. (Calabogie, going into corner 5, red group, which means the other rider ought to have known better - and realistically, shouldn't have been in that group and should have had a training course.) Didn't crash, but I was right on the painted line at the edge of the track with the rear wheel skipping off the ground, and it was far too close to comfort. I'm not even sure if the rider in front knew what just about happened to him. That's what ended my last retirement period from roadracing.
