[FURY_44]

TVS Racing Training School 2021
When: Feb 26th, 2021
Where: Madras Motor Race Track, Irungattukottai (MMRT)
Stay: Hotel Bashyam Park, Sriperumbudur

Being an avid F1 and MotoGP follower from 2007, riding on a race track, a "proper" race track was one of my wildest dreams. I was jubilant when the announcement was made to build the Buddh International Circuit, equally disappointed when it was being built all the way up North in Noida, on behalf of the entire South India's motor sports enthusiasts I am going to ask "but why there, in the middle of nowhere?". I vaguely remember watching scenes of Tamil movies featuring race tracks, only to later find that there are two race tracks in Tamil Nadu, the Kari Motor Speed Way in Coimbatore and MMRT near Chennai.

It was always an interest of mine to at least watch a live race on the track, forget about riding on it. This changed when I bought the Apache RR310 in Feb 2018, a lot was going on with TVS, they had different kind of groups for owners and experiences, with all honesty I did not expect TVS to be so much involved in racing history, I thought it was an eye wash to sell their bikes, but boy I was wrong. Being a part of their RR310 owners group we were invited to the MMRT early 2019 to watch on of their final round of the one make championships they were conducting. That was my first ever "real" race track experience even without being on the track, we were restricted to the pit lane and the watch tower, I got to watch the bike's gunning on the home straight, the tuck downs, knee downs, overtakes, crashes and them grid girls (hehe), that day I was as happy as a dog who as his head out of a car window.

TVS as far as I can remember are conducting these training school activities from the last couple of years, I always wanted to signup, but didn't have the courage to do so. I would like to thank deepfreak15 recent track experience thread at Kari which was my motivation and a deciding factor to sign up for the L1 certification programme, thank you sir, you have helped a kid live his dream.

Entry Fee - INR 13000 -/- : For Non - Apache Owners INR 10000 /- : For Apache Owners** (Includes Training by TVS Racing Champions*, Race Machine TVS Apache RTR 200 4V, TVS Racing T-Shirt, Breakfast + Lunch and Track Time )
Trainers - Harry Sylvester, K.Jagan Kumar, KY.Ahmed, Deepak Ravikumar & Aishwarya Pissay ( Indian National Champions )
Documents required - Identity Proof, Proof of Ownership (For Apache Owners**)
Safety (Mandatory) - Rider’s should arrange Full face Helmet with visor & Double D ring strap with DOT & ECE certification and the Racing Suite
Bike - TVS Apache RTR 200 4V, no own bikes allowed

Myself and 4 other friends of mine from the RR310 group registered for this programme at the end of January, we purchased the inner liners from Decathlon, we all had double D ring helmets with us. TVS had confirmed that they would be providing the suit, gloves and boots on a first come first serve basis. We decided to ride on our bikes the previous day and have a good nights sleep before we hit the track. We preferred the shorter Hoskote - Chithoor - Ranipet route to reach Sriperumbudur which was 20kms shorter. (Pssst, petrol prices)

The next day was

Track Day

The reporting time was 6:30 AM, the sign up process to be completed by 7:30 AM, complimentary breakfast and lunch was part of the programme cost, we just freshened up, had a cup of coffee and headed to the track which was a short 5km distance from the hotel we stayed. We were one of the first to reach and finish the sign up process, we were that excited.

That's me, all Covid 19 precautions were in place and strictly followed.



By signing this document, TVS is now in possession of your property. Nah, the bond just states that "you are responsible for everything".



TVS Performance Gear on display at the pit.



Fresh suits for the day



A total of 45 people (I expected a lot less, less people = less embarrassment) had signed up for the programme, we were split into 3 batches of 15 each, the batches were split on the basis of the registration, first come first serve, all the 5 of us were in one single batch, we were all happy until we heard "Batch 1, get your suits and wear it", all of us laughed till our tummy's hurt trying to wear the suit, everyone made it though, except for one of my friend who was on the "wider" side who had to try 3 different suit's to fit on. Oh my, haha

The first introductory class was conducted by Mr Pradeep HK, a man who has spent 2 decades with TVS and also won multiple National Championships representing them, he briefed us in general about TVSs racing history, our trainers for the day and what to expect from the training session.



Trainers for the day L to R, Deepak Ravikumar, KY Ahamed, Harry Sylvester and Jagan Kumar





Harry Sylvester was responsible for our theory classes throughout the day, he made sure that we would remember "flags are the only mode of communication between the pit and the riders on track".



A quick 15 - 20 mins session of how to start slow, what to do and what not to do, we were ready for a quick sighting lap across the track. We were led by our trainers who showed us the racing lines, a "X" was pasted on the track around the corners for us to better understand the lines to follow.

The class was split into multiple parts, a 20 - 30 theory session, followed by a 5 lap practice session on the track.

Line, Vision & Throttle Control
Braking
Body Positioning
Race Start & Launch

Our bikes for the day



Trainers bikes for the day



At the pit exit



Leg positioning in sync with the trainer, we were born racers, lol, I am no.8



Do you have the D ring



For our 1st lap we were told to ride in the 4th gear and not use the brakes, to understand throttle control. Each of us were given an opportunity to follow the trainer after each lap. One lap behind the trainer and then make way for the others by going back to the field, everyone gets their chance. We were also made to ride through the pits to understand the pit lane speed limit, the pit lane is quite bumpy (that's how fast I am learning the track, )







The theory classes were not boring at all, we were even more curious to concentrate in the class since we would be hitting the track right after, this method worked wonders. If you phase out during theories and hit the track, anything could go wrong, you could be hard braking while everyone is practicing their body positioning in corners and end up in a crash. Theories are very very important to replicate the learning on the race track. Moreover, the trainers on track will be watching you, can't hide your mistakes.

Deepak Ravikumar on the tail of a rider



This is how you take a corner



And this is me, casually taking that exact same corner



After a quick break for lunch at around 2:00 PM, we had only two sessions left, the race start & launch and a "free ride". We were not expecting a free ride, but we were told not to push it and instead put into work whatever training we had got from the morning, which would be throttle control, taking the racing line into the corner, braking, and body positioning. It necessarily didn't work out in this way for me as I was way confused and the riders were fast around me. Heck, I used to take my left leg out when taking a right hander, that was how confused I was. After a couple of laps though, I did get into my groove and was hitting the apex's albeit without much of a knee down, which though is necessary if you want to take the corner at speeds. We got 20 mins of free ride for each batch, if you are fast, you could that extra couple of laps than the rest. The trainers led us out for a couple of laps with an improvement in speed compared to the morning sessions and then backed out of it to settle at viewing spots to see how the pack is performing.

Ready for round 2







We did have a crash during the free ride, a couple more during the training drill as well. TVS had a medical car and an ambulance on stand by, nothing serious, just damages to the bike.



The day ended at 5:00 PM after receiving feedback's from respective gurus and a mouthful for some for ignoring red flags and continuing to ride and entering the pits from the exit.





To Conclude

Is it worth spending money for a L1 certification?
- Absolutely, worth every rupee. It helps you to be a better rider - Stole this line from deepfreak15's thread.

Can I take L2 & L3 certification immediately after this?
- Yes you can, but the TVS team was against it and advised to invest in track time and ace the basics before going for further certifications.

What will I do next?
- Take up a class with Rajni sir at Kari with my own bike.

Can you boast around your friends that you are a racer now?
- 100% yes, you can

I did manage this at the end of the day

[deepfreak15]

Simply superb! Deepak and Jagan are trainers at RACR too, in fact Deepak was my track instructor for L1 and L2 and was a joy to learn from him so Im pretty sure the TVS sessions were well worth it! I actually was about to sign up for this session but had to back out at the last minute, would have been nice to catch up with you. The thing is, I have had 4 days around Kari so I know the track layout and now have to just keep improving but I have zero track time on MMRT. For the first time, it pays to have a trainer take you around and thats where I see the TVS academy as a very cost effective way of doing so and will sign up for their courses pretty soon. Im so happy you got to live your dream and looking forward to spending some track time with you, considering you always ran the other way when the topic of weekend rides came up might as well meet at the track

[FURY_44]

Originally Posted by deepfreak15

Simply superb! Deepak and Jagan are trainers at RACR too, in fact Deepak was my track instructor for L1 and L2 and was a joy to learn from him so Im pretty sure the TVS sessions were well worth it!

Im so happy you got to live your dream and looking forward to spending some track time with you, considering you always ran the other way when the topic of weekend rides came up might as well meet at the track

Deepak and Jagan are really cool guys to train with, it doesn't matter how bad you are, they keep giving you feedback's. After my race start and braking demo Jagan came up to me and said "You are following everything to the T, but you are taking it very casually, you need to launch faster and brake harder", well you can't take the tourer out of me I guess.

Oh yes, track times are worth it, may we meet at Kari or MMRT next time.

[GTO]

Thanks for sharing, FURY_44! Moved your post to a new thread, and will also go to our homepage today

[jomson13]

I'm so jealous of you guys for having two tracks that are relatively close by. I have been thinking of going to one such event for a really long time but it hasn't materialized.
TVS does a toned down version of this in cities that don't have a proper race track - the call it the ARE - Apache Racing Experience. That seems to be a good place to start out for me.

[Rocketscience]

Originally Posted by FURY_44

This is how you take a corner

Attachment 2129675

And this is me, casually taking that exact same corner

Attachment 2129676

This is something i'am always curious about, i think i take corners like you do (i have been riding for only 2-3 years with a total experience of not more than 5,000 kms, i don't ride a lot), is there any downside of doing this? Why do the pros take corners like in the first picture? I always thought they stick themselves so much out of the bike that in single mountain roads they almost reach the other lane and is a potential hazard? Is this kind of cornering even required in regular street riding?

[Leem]

Thanks FURY_44 for your humor laced article.

Can you (or anyone who can) please explain L1, L2, L3 levels a bit more.

[FURY_44]

Originally Posted by jomson13

TVS does a toned down version of this in cities that don't have a proper race track - the call it the ARE - Apache Racing Experience. That seems to be a good place to start out for me.

The Apache Racing Experience they conduct in go kart tracks comes nowhere close to track training and riding. I believe the fee for ARE is around 5k, instead invest 10k and opt for the training course at MMRT.

Originally Posted by Rocketscience

Why do the pros take corners like in the first picture? I always thought they stick themselves so much out of the bike that in single mountain roads they almost reach the other lane and is a potential hazard? Is this kind of cornering even required in regular street riding?

By sticking themselves out it helps in maintaining corner speed which will not be possible if you are sitting upright. The racing line to take a corner is Out - In - Out, Out denotes the outside of the track, In denotes the apex and again hitting the outside of the track for more maximum traction and speed. The instructor was very clear and repeatedly asked us to keep the track riding techniques to tracks only.

The examples you mentioned of rider going to the opposite lane during cornering is a clear example of noob's on road taking a racing line causing potential hazard to oncoming vehicles and themselves.

Originally Posted by Leem

Thanks FURY_44 for your humor laced article.

Can you (or anyone who can) please explain L1, L2, L3 levels a bit more.

deepfreak15 is the man who can give a bit more idea about L2 & L3, I think I have covered L1 in detail, there's not going to much difference in L1 sessions across different training schools.

[Rocketscience]

Originally Posted by FURY_44

The examples you mentioned of rider going to the opposite lane during cornering is a clear example of noob's on road taking a racing line causing potential hazard to oncoming vehicles and themselves.

Thank you for your response, it does clear it completely.
Also, it is not limited to noobs, youtube is flooded with such vloggers/reviewers both from India and abroad, i always felt it looks risky, their leg almost always occupies the oncoming lane, i never felt the need to do this while cornering at speeds i'am comfortable with.

[Matrix888]

Good review Fury44. Congrats on your experience and happy racing.

Planning similar adventures in coming months, very inspiring thread brother!