Crossing the blend line | GTAMotorcycle.com

Crossing the blend line

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Brian P

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In rider's meeting (at well organized events) there's always that discussion about "crossing the blend line" ... in short ... DON'T.

And just because you get to the end of the blend line doesn't mean it's a good idea to cut across the track. Keep going on that side of the track and SPEED UP until you are up to race speed THEN merge at the next corner.

Here's why. (Waste of a perfectly good brand new 2016 ZX10R, too) Crash at 1:16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cG7u8HWpI4
 
What a bonehead.
It sucks to have to pay for damage you didn't cause yourself.
I wonder how many guys man up and give the person they screwed some cash to help with repairs?
 
Good reminder Brian.Lol at the guy that caused it..."they gave me a clear signal"! The Kawi guy handled it really well tho.This is the kind of thing that can happen at trackdays unfortunately.And part of the reason i don't do it anymore.Biggest mistake seen at trackdays is people that can't pick a line and hold it.Lost count of the number of times i've had to throw out the anchor entering t8 at Mosport because of people signing up in the wrong group and entering the turn too early etc.
 
AGAVE said:
What a bonehead.
It sucks to have to pay for damage you didn't cause yourself.
I wonder how many guys man up and give the person they screwed some cash to help with repairs?
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It's a racetrack,it happens.
 
Wingboy said:
It's a racetrack,it happens.
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I know, i used to race cars, 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.
In GT-2 car racing, you expect to rub sides once in awhile, harder to wreck a whole car than a bike.
So the question stands, has anyone heard of a situation where the crash-ee helped out the crash-er?
 
I stopped doing track days years ago because of an incident going into T5 at Bogie. Advanced group (as was the original post).

Approaching the corner, up ahead, was someone going relatively slowly and roughly in the middle of the track. Proper line into that corner requires being near the left edge of the track, which I was, the full length of the straightaway. I had a decision to make: go to the inside of that rider which would force me to be on a completely messed up line going through T5, or go past on the outside on the brakes. The timing was such that I would be going past before the turn-in point, so that shouldn't be an issue. There was lots of room, so I committed to going past on the brakes, on the outside.

Then the other rider decided that they really should be on the left edge of the track going into this corner.

At that point I was already at max braking, rear wheel barely touching the ground. There was no way I could change directions to be on the other side of the other bike at that point. So I made it past, front wheel on the white line, rear wheel skimming the ground, with +/- 2 inches to spare, going probably 50 km/h faster. It could easily have been a hit, just like in the video but left/right mirror image.

Yes, it's my responsibility to overtake safely. But it's also the responsibility of the rider in front to be predictable and consistent.

If you are on a straightaway ... GO.

The beginning of that straightaway is the time to plan your action for the next corner. Aim STRAIGHT for your turn in point for the WHOLE length of the straightaway.

Once committed, don't change your mind. If you are on a screwed up line into a corner, deal with it. Don't change your mind.
 
Wingboy said:
It's a racetrack,it happens.
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no. this shouldn't have happened. and that is what brianp is trying to show, display, and educate.

looks like a nice track. where is it?

edit: this kind of thing can also happen fairly easy at shanny T1 nelson. if a rider doesn't stay to the far left entering at shanny T1. I cringe when i see a person entering and not staying to the far left "pit on" lane - then blend
 
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boyoboy said:
no. this shouldn't have happened. and that is what brianp is trying to show, display, and educate.

looks like a nice track. where is it?

edit: this kind of thing can also happen fairly easy at shanny T1 nelson. if a rider doesn't stay to the far left entering at shanny T1. I cringe when i see a person entering and not staying to the far left "pit on" lane - then blend
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Agreed,it shouldn't have happened.But it does happen at trackdays because they are the playgrounds for people that don't know what they are doing.
 
Wingboy said:
Agreed,it shouldn't have happened.But it does happen at trackdays because they are the playgrounds for people that don't know what they are doing.
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Or alternatively they are playgrounds for people who want to learn, are trying to learn, what to do, isn't that why we have novice groups?

On another note are there any circuit guides for the Ontario tracks showing the correct lines etc, MCN in England publish a circuit guide covering all circuits in the UK (& there's a lot of them) showing all the lines, even braking points etc., would be really handy for the novice like me to have a read through before hitting a new circuit.
 
smudger said:
Or alternatively they are playgrounds for people who want to learn, are trying to learn, what to do, isn't that why we have novice groups?

On another note are there any circuit guides for the Ontario tracks showing the correct lines etc, MCN in England publish a circuit guide covering all circuits in the UK (& there's a lot of them) showing all the lines, even braking points etc., would be really handy for the novice like me to have a read through before hitting a new circuit.
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There is a massive difference with READING about what are proper lines....and actually doing it though.

People tend to get freaked out, being around other riders on track days all the time. One of the biggest issues with Green and Yellow group riders is target fixation...leading to a crash.
 
LWTRacer said:
There is a massive difference with READING about what are proper lines....and actually doing it though.

People tend to get freaked out, being around other riders on track days all the time. One of the biggest issues with Green and Yellow group riders is target fixation...leading to a crash.
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Oh for sure, I get that but I'm thinking for particular turns such as mentioned earlier where you must be at the left side of the straight etc, just gives you some idea of where other riders expect you to be at any given point.
Am OK with other (normally faster) ridersaround me & always try to hold my line, even if I realize it's not quite correct.
Target fixation is a big one, takes some effort to refocus your attention, even if you do catch yourself target fixating in time to correct it.
 
smudger said:
Or alternatively they are playgrounds for people who want to learn, are trying to learn, what to do, isn't that why we have novice groups?
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Being in the correct group works well if the organizers have the balls to tell slow riders to go back a group.They very often don't.(I want to ride with my husband,buddy etc) Have a look at the closing speeds on the back straight in this vid.I wasn't doing very quick laps because of all the traffic and had to back off a lot of times so as not to scare riders that were way over their head.
[video=youtube;bxnCFQ0qrQw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxnCFQ0qrQw[/video]
 
smudger said:
Or alternatively they are playgrounds for people who want to learn, are trying to learn, what to do, isn't that why we have novice groups?

On another note are there any circuit guides for the Ontario tracks showing the correct lines etc, MCN in England publish a circuit guide covering all circuits in the UK (& there's a lot of them) showing all the lines, even braking points etc., would be really handy for the novice like me to have a read through before hitting a new circuit.
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Why do you need circuit guides for? It might help.. but actually doing it at the track it's diff story. For example if you're attend a track day with pro6 either bogie- mosport etc-and you're a novice it is mandatory to attend a second rider meeting (orientation)
  • Rider receives an in depth secondary riders meeting prior to entry on the circuit. At which time, the rider can ask questions, become familiarized with track layout and flags, and get acquainted with their coach and others in their group.
 
Track days are fine for learning but listen during the rider's meeting. Beyond a certain point it's time to go racing. You will not learn anything from less experienced riders and they will screw up more often. When I started doing track days you had to have a race license or be known to the organizer to be in the advanced group. I wish people had to take a course first and I always encourage people to do that.
 
So Brian, why did you stop doing track days? For a single accident at bogie...hmmm
Just racing now?
 
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Wingboy said:
Being in the correct group works well if the organizers have the balls to tell slow riders to go back a group.They very often don't.(I want to ride with my husband,buddy etc) Have a look at the closing speeds on the back straight in this vid.I wasn't doing very quick laps because of all the traffic and had to back off a lot of times so as not to scare riders that were way over their head.
[video=youtube;bxnCFQ0qrQw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxnCFQ0qrQw[/video]
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Yep, see what you mean, that was slow traffic as you came down the straight, no offence to those riders but they did seem slow for red group.
I was novice last season (my first season back after 10 years away from riding) & wil stay novice for the start of this season, besides I don't want to ride in the same group as my red group freinds, I value their feedback after my sessions on track such as "did you even have the engine going" etc
Definitely not ready for racing but ultimately would like to race at some point, we'll see.
 
https://youtu.be/vWo6pEEtAQc

This a video from the last track day that I did on my 400.... It was scary out there, it seemed to me like nobody knew what a line was!

The best thing you can do is be predictable. At 100mph you don't or can't think what the other person is thinking.

I am with Brian when he says that more people need to take a course, or hold a licence before they should be able to go into certain TD groups.

RED when I first started racing was purely for RACERS...

Yellow was a decently fast group

Green was broken into 2 groups. Green 1- 600cc and up, Green 2- 599cc and down.

Because you are only allowed to pass on corner exit and on straights in Green...splitting the groups allowed for the small bikes to not get blitzed by the big bikes on the straights.

I remember hearing about a guy on a GSXR1000 plowing into a guy on a Ninja 250 on the back straight at Mosport...both in the green group but over 130hp difference in bike. Not Safe.
 
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Damn! That bandit really hauls.

Sent from my Le Pan TC802A using Tapatalk
 
sempre1 said:
So Brian, why did you stop doing track days? For a single accident at bogie...hmmm
Just racing now?
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That incident was the deciding factor but not the only one. The other thing is that running a lightweight bike at a track day means I get mixed up with riders who blow past on straightaways and then hold me up in corners. Getting a bigger-displacement track bike would fix that but it would aggravate the speed differential and I'm getting too olde for that. The green flag tends to sort things out so that you are on track with riders on comparable bikes and with comparable experience.

I have done the occasional track day since then, but it has to be something special. Jennings in the winter, or a track that I otherwise wouldn't have a chance to ride on (Barber, Tremblant, etc). Or racers-only, like the SOAR practice day, or the VRRA invitational event at Calabogie last year (which was a blast).

Between VRRA and SOAR, that's enough track time.
 
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