Winning the Track Day
Work on stuff, don't fall down
I opened my 2025 [big track] season with a late February weekend at Thunderhill Raceway East with Carters at the Track. For whatever reason, there were only ~20-25 people in the A group, which is a very manageable number for some solid sessions at this track. The weather was generally pretty good, a bit of rain in a couple of sessions but it was warm enough that most of the late morning and afternoon sessions offered good grip. My goal for the weekend was to build some familiarity with the BMW having been setup by Mike Canfield and to try to get my data setup capturing what I want. I did have some trouble with a sticky rear suspension potentiometer (which has since been replaced by AiM). As far as my riding plan, that was fairly loose. I wanted to see how the off-season kart track training on the 400 might impact my big track riding and at the end of last season I was having a tough time finding the right amount of acceleration out of the last bit of turn 5 without compromising my turn 6 entrance (I had been ‘rushing the corner’). Because I’d been consciously thinking about that, I was more patient with my drive out of T5 which put me in a better position on the track to drive then brake into T6 so that was productive. I also wanted to take this opportunity to explore the BMW’s electronics by playing with some of TC and throttle map settings. By experimenting with different electronics settings, I have a much greater sense of how the different throttle maps and TC settings work. In reviewing data, I saw ABS intervention (I tried turning up the sensitivity on that too) so I have a better sense of the conditions for when the ABS might trigger. I know a lot of people think they automatically have to remove ABS on a track bike but I’d rather wait until I find that it’s impeding my goals and the ABS on most of the European bikes is so good that I seldom remove it. One of the cool things in the data acquisition for the BMW is that it captures not only hand throttle position but also throttle body position. This is useful for visualizing exactly what the different throttle maps do and while I don’t plan to use the softer throttle map unless the conditions call for it (lower grip due to temperature or worn tires), at least I understand the differences and have the data to back it up.
Between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, my riding coach reviewed some of what I was doing and reminded me to adjust my initial throttle input to ride the bike more smoothly and consistently (I was going to too much initial throttle, then backing out). When I followed his guidance of opening it slowly and more linearly, the speed on the straights was just as good and the acceleration didn’t feel as overwhelming because the bike’s chassis and I were calmer.
I’m a big fan of working on technique and letting the lap time come to you when the opportunity presents itself. Specifically working on a lap time at a public track day can often result in frustration and may put the rider or others at greater risk. There aren’t prizes or trophies at track days, this is the opportunity to work on stuff. You win the track day when you have been able to work on your own program, check off what you came to accomplish, and have some fun. I was able to hang out with some friends, do some chase video for one, got to ride some reasonably quick laps with a couple of staff, and left happy with the bike covered in tire smears and bugs and a well-worn rear tire. The bike is in one piece and just needs the regular cleaning and service for its next outing. This is winning the track day.
