[Meccanico]

For all motorsport fans out there, Donington Park rings a fanatical bell. An iconic race track located in Leicestershire, England legends from a plethora of motorsports have raced here. The tarmac here has been blessed by racing gods such as Senna, Prost, Rossi, Stoner and Pedrosa to name a very few. The sheer history and legacy of this racing circuit is matched by a few tracks around the world. This post is about the experience of a die-hard motorsport fan racing the Honda CBR 600RR on this circuit.

This post has been long due. It has been a whole year since this happened and I never got around to actually writing it. Surprisingly, it is almost time to do this again. I've been living in Leeds and really wanted to attend a motorcycle racing school. Not just to hone my riding skills but also to have an opportunity of riding on at least one of the several amazing circuits in the UK. The main requirements for me were a hire bike and riding gear. Packing all my gear while travelling to university was naturally not a priority. The two options I had were -

1. The California Superbike School
2. The Honda Ron Haslam Race School

Most know the California Superbike School or CSS which now runs at MMRC in India too. In the UK they have the Panigale 959's as the teaching bikes for hire. This itself can be intimidating considering the sheer power of the machine. They charge considerably higher than other racing schools and the insurance for the higher bikes is insanely high even after considering that they offer the exquisite Italian belles. Also, unless one is already used to large displacement bikes it does not make sense to attend a racing school on them. You’d probably spend the day getting used to the insane power.

The other option and the one I chose was the Honda Ron Haslam Racing School. Its run by an extremely kind gentleman who’s raced in the Isle of Man TT, MotoGP and British Superbike Championship. No prizes for guessing this one, its Ron Haslam. The school is sponsored by Honda itself, which means the bikes are in top notch condition and you don’t have to sell your soul in case you end up crashing your bike. The probability of which is high as the whole environment is highly overwhelming. (I don’t know how, but I managed to keep the wheels the right side down the whole time).


With Ron Haslam.

They charge an all-inclusive amount consisting of the teaching, bike hire, head to toe gear hire, fuel, tyres and insurance. Surely can’t have a better deal than that. They also offer several different types of coaching as compared to CSS’s Levels. They will literally teach you just how to ride a bike and also coach you on taming the 1000RR SP Fireblade depending on the experience you chose.

I went for the Premier course, in which two students are supervised by one coach. One has the option of the CBR125, 300R, CB500 or the CBR 600RR for this. Greedy for power, I went for the 600RR. I was skeptical about this choice as I did not want my focus to shift from improving my skills to taming the machine’s power.

I had been praying for the rare dry day in the UK ever since I made the booking. The track was only about 2 hours of travel from my place and this was the most exciting train journey I have ever undertaken. Just the idea of being at this circuit was enough to blow my socks off, let alone racing on it.

The Donington Park Circuit

The first race at the circuit officially took place in 1937 which makes it the oldest racing circuit in the UK which is till used. This is the very first permanent park racing circuit in England. The track was a part of the MotoGP calendar from 1987 – 2009. The 1993 European Formula 1 Grand Prix at Donington was entirely dominated by Ayrton Senna and he was awarded the ‘Drive of the Decade’ award for this race. Apart from these several WSBK and WTCC events have also taken place here.
The GP circuit is 4 kms long, as compared to the smaller national circuit which is 3 kms long. The school takes place on the full GP circuit.



School Day

The rain gods were kind and we had a dry track. Upon arrival I signed on and was provided with full riding gear, consisting of an Arai helmet, a Spada one-piece leather suit, gloves and boots. My excitement knew no bounds. We were briefed about the usual track etiquettes and session formats. Having done a fair bit of racing before, all this was familiar. There were a wide variety of age groups, some of whom who had never driven on a track before. The coaches were really accommodating and helped us all get into the right temperament. Walking through the paddock, memories of watching the MotoGP races here flashed through my mind and I really had to remind myself I was actually going to be riding on the full GP circuit. I imagined how the F1 and MotoGP teams must have once filled the garages in the pit lane and how the vast number of on and off-track racing heroes must have graced the venue. I had goose bumps and my heartbeat certainly went higher. I was quite nervous for several reasons. I had never ridden or driven on a full GP circuit before. I only had the experience of smaller circuits, go karts and bikes. It had also been a while since I had ridden a motorcycle. The only time I ride is when I am back home in India for the holidays.

In the briefing by the instructors, we were taught about the braking points and racing lines of the track. We were asked about specific areas we’d like to focus on and almost everyone had only one thing on their mind – the art of cornering. We were greeted by the long queue of the 600RRs lined up in front of the pit garages. They were looking absolutely stunning in the race fairings and Honda’s classic cherry red paint. The fear of the bike’s power and crashing were finally taken over by the adrenaline rush and I just could not wait to ride. I got on the bike, pressed the ignition switch in and the unrestricted exhaust let out a thunderous roar. Oh yes!



The instructors were leading their respective students on VFR 800’s, which in my opinion is one of the best and most versatile bikes ever produced. It took a few corners for the immense emotions to sink in, after which I was focused on pushing myself and the thing between my legs to the limit. We picked up the pace lap after lap, through the flowing corners and hogh elevation changes of the circuit. I had never ridden a bike this fast before. My confidence grew higher and higher as I braked a bit later each time, leaned in deeper and got on the power quicker. We were hitting 200kmph on the straights with ease.



The power of the inline-four however, was certainly not the thing that first scared me. To my utmost surprise, it was the brakes. As I gently lay my finger on the front brake lever, the calipers bit hard into the disks and I had performed an unintentional stoppie. I was lunged forward with the momentum. I got used to them after a few laps and they certainly inspired tremendous confidence. It is purely insane how late you can brake going into a corner. One of the hardest things for us mortals (unlike the GP riders) to do is to not give in to the mind’s idea of braking or slowing down when it wants to. Some fantastic bit of engineering lets you do this just a few meters from the lean in point.

After about 15 minutes we were back in the pitlane and the instructors gave us their first impressions about us. We had an open pitlane and you could come in anytime you wanted. I was told I was a bit erratic – not consistent, which was something I definitely realized while riding. As I pushed harder and harder I realized I either took a corner perfectly or just botched it trying to brake too late or to get on the power too soon. We were out on track again and I was determined to perform better. I followed the coach’s instructions about being smooth – something out of Lorenzo’s ‘hammer and butter’ textbook I guess. I just tried to be smooth with everything I did. From pressing the brake lever and the clutch, and while hanging off the bike for cornering. I was floating and dancing on it and it showed in the results. I was much more consistent with the lap times and marginally faster. There is no wonder why track days are so addictive. You always want to shave that extra second, that extra tenth off of your laptime. I could take a tighter line here, brake later there was all I was thinking about. I was feeling at home with the whole experience.



My favourite bit of the circuit were the esses. You come in at a high speed from Starkey’s Straight, to be greeted by the tight chicane known as The Fogarty Esses, named after the most successful World Superbike racer, Carl Fogarty. You brake hard, lean in at a medium angle, take the left hander and quickly flick the bike to the right pushing on the power as soon as possible.
We then had the second briefing and were provided with more feedback before going on to the last session. The coach mentioned he was really impressed with my confidence on the bike to which I smiled like a little child. I was told to hang off the bike even more than I already was. It did not seem possible at first but I soon realized there is always space for going even more ‘body-out’. My lean increased considerably which meant I was taking corners faster. I was very proud of myself because of the quick improvements. Just as the session was about to end, I witnessed a rider crash at the esses. He had a high side on the exit, but thankfully the rider was okay. I was glad I didn’t witness this at the start which would definitely have reduced my confidence.

I took a real slow final lap, going around the circuit for a last time, enjoying the view and the privilege of getting to do this. A dream of mine was achieved today. I had always wanted to race on a proper Grand Prix Circuit and I had just done it. My mind was inundated with ecstasy.



At the de-brief we were given an marksheet and certificate along with a bunch of goodies. I scored 70%, a mark with which I was very happy. It also included a detailed breakdown of performance analysis on factors such as track sense, speed, safety etc. Better consistency will definitely increase my result the next time. All in all, it was an experience of a lifetime and I simply cannot get enough of track days anymore.

[Nithesh_M]

I heard from a journalist based in UK that Haslam is looking to replace his 600RRs with the 2019 650R lineups soon.

[Meccanico]

Originally Posted by Nithesh_M

I heard from a journalist based in UK that Haslam is looking to replace his 600RRs with the 2019 650R lineups soon.

Yup! That's right. The current fleet has been replaced with the latest 650R's for 2019. It will be interesting to see how the change in power delivery will fair.

[manson]

No matter on the delay, thank you for a sharing a lovely experience! Coming from nowhere straight onto liter class motorcycles I have a lot of basic skills and technique to learn, this thread has reignited the itch to try and attend CSS in near future.

[aghate]

Hi Meccanico,

First of all let me thank you for the amazing post. Glad that you enjoyed the track day. Could you please let me know if the track day requires the person to have a UK Motorcycle License?


Regards,
aghate22

[Meccanico]

Originally Posted by manson

No matter on the delay, thank you for a sharing a lovely experience! Coming from nowhere straight onto liter class motorcycles I have a lot of basic skills and technique to learn, this thread has reignited the itch to try and attend CSS in near future.

Wow! I commend you for the bravery of putting yourself on a liter class straightaway. Not doubting your skills at all here but I would recommend doing a race school really soon. The speed at which you learn things in a controlled and safe environment is simply not comparable to riding on the road. In a race school or even on the track you have the safe space to learn and improve every single aspect of riding.

In my case it was just riding much safer. Even after riding a bike for 5 years I could never get the basics of counter-steering and hanging off the bike right. I am now substantially more confident on the road which it just a great asset to have. I can guarantee you will enjoy riding any bike so much more!

Originally Posted by aghate

Hi Meccanico,

First of all let me thank you for the amazing post. Glad that you enjoyed the track day. Could you please let me know if the track day requires the person to have a UK Motorcycle License?


Regards,
aghate22

And I am really glad you enjoyed reading it!

A trackday or any race school almost never requires any sort of driving license. You just have to display the ability to be able to ride or drive properly.

In the Haslam Race School, in the rare case where they feel like one is not being able to handle the power of the bike, they just give you a smaller cc one. So no you do not need a driving license!

[superbad]

Fantastic writeup of a memorable experience. This inspired me enough to research into available options in India. Any advice to a completely novice & inexperienced racer (albiet one having substantial miles under the belt racing chetaks & pulsars before turning 18 )?

[Nithesh_M]

Originally Posted by superbad

Fantastic writeup of a memorable experience. This inspired me enough to research into available options in India. Any advice to a completely novice & inexperienced racer (albiet one having substantial miles under the belt racing chetaks & pulsars before turning 18 )?

Lookup Ten 10 Racing Academy. You might have to travel!

[Meccanico]

Originally Posted by superbad

Fantastic writeup of a memorable experience. This inspired me enough to research into available options in India. Any advice to a completely novice & inexperienced racer (albiet one having substantial miles under the belt racing chetaks & pulsars before turning 18 )?

Thank you so much! Sir no racing experience is required at all. The whole point of a bike school is to learn to ride a bike generally better. The same skills apply on the track and road.

Quite a few racing schools have popped up in India in the recent years. Again, they're just called racing schools, but are mostly about sport riding in general. The ones I am aware of are -
1. Apex Racing Academy
2. Ten Ten Racing
3. Atomic Motorsports

[pavanmadhini]

Adding Indimotard to the list - they were one of the earliest people to organize a track school in India, if not the first. Lovely people as well.

[kailashnj]

Originally Posted by Meccanico

Thank you so much! Sir no racing experience is required at all. The whole point of a bike school is to learn to ride a bike generally better. The same skills apply on the track and road.

Quite a few racing schools have popped up in India in the recent years. Again, they're just called racing schools, but are mostly about sport riding in general. The ones I am aware of are -
1. Apex Racing Academy
2. Ten Ten Racing
3. Atomic Motorsports

CSS is coming back in Aug end Sep. This time they have also reduced the rates by 10 K which means the training is for 60K.

For a child or women they are reducing it further by 10K