Oulton Park report-short version

DCEMotorsports · 07-29-2003, 4:13 PM

Huge Thanks to The Doctor for arranging a rental R6 and getting me signed up for a fantastic day on Oulton Park in the UK.

After sitting through a pointless half hour of spewing from the event director, we went out in the intermediate group for a few laps of 'where the track goes'. Oulton Park is a fun track. Different radius turns with banking, large elevation changes, blind high speed sweepers, 'whoops' that get the front light in 5th gear, great traction and loads of run off.

I hung with The Doctor so I could coach her and learn some of the lines. I watched the instructors on track so I had a good idea of what to do by lunch. The Doctor dropped her lap times by at least 3 seconds and started to fly - she can hussle that RS125 around quite well. I saw her embarrass many riders on much larger bikes. I got to mix it up a bit with the locals in our sessions. It seemed that there were alot of Gixxer 1000's and R1's along with some 954's too. I was having fun bombing these big bikes under braking and getting better drives out of the corners. Oulton is a semi-tight track so the big boys didn't have that much of an advantage on me. I caught up to one Gixxer thou and showed him a wheel going into a chicane under braking. Well he decided to block me in a couple of corners so I figured I would go around the outside of him while he was being 'smart'. I made the pass and drove out of the corner hard on the gas only to hit a divit on the top of one of the 'whoops' while leaned over. That got me into a monsterous tank slapper that almost spit me over the high side. After I calmed the R6 down I was heading into a 90deg right and needed to be in 3rd gear. I went for the brake lever and it pulled back to the grip! ! ! ! DANG. So I proceeded to do a tap dance on the gear shift and rear brake pedal while pumping the front brake lever and fixating on the tire wall that was rushing up at me really quick. Just before I was leaving the track surface I got the front brakes back - useless off road. I jumped into the kitty litter stareing at the tire wall on the far side. I rationalized it would be a bad thing to plow into the tires so I laid the bike over to make sure I would stop. My lovely wife saw the whole thing. All day long she reminded me that it was just a track day, not a race. I wasn't racing......too hard. Local knowledge said to steer clear of that divit coming out of Druids, nobody filled me in until after. I felt really embarrassed dropping somebody elses bike in the kitty litter. To top it all off, the guy I got the R6 from sold it at lunch to another dude and didn't tell me! Fortunately the bike suffered some minor paint damage from the stones, nothing broken, bent or dented. I didn't even scratch the end can. I didn't argue at the 300 UKP fee for the bike. Jim and I shook hands as friends. The corner workers had a laugh at my expense when the guy who helped me push the flooded R6 out of harms way broadcast over the 2 ways saying, 'The American is up and OK' and the reply was 'no wonder he fell off, he's a bloody Yank'.

lfg929 · 07-29-2003, 4:51 PM

Sounds like you had a lot of fun. I would probably freak if I crashed someone else's bike, especially if it wasn't race prepped (race bikes are meant to be crashed).

I was looking for you last week at the AMA/WERA races. I figured you might make it to Mid-Ohio to race. I saw Brighton Superbike with their riders but didn't stop to talk (they looked busy working on the bikes).

luvtolean · 07-29-2003, 5:24 PM

Wow, that is cool. International track day!

DCEMotorsports · 08-01-2003, 10:09 AM

Yup, international track day. Track days in the UK are big business. There are lots of shops that 'hire' (rent) race bikes to licensed riders. All I needed was my Michigan Drivers License! They didn't care about my racing resume.

There was one tire vendor that sold all the race rubber (Dunflop, Michelin, Bridgerock, Pie-relli). There were other vendors selling leathers, helmets, etc. I think the registration closed at 60 bikes for 3 groups. Full corner working brigade and a medical center (that I HAD to visit cuz I fell off).

Oulton Park even had a training track for rally cars in the infield that you could rent (cars included&#33.

I've been trying to figure out how I could start a similar business in the US (renting race bikes for track days) but the lawyers scared me away when I asked one about it.

phozed · 08-01-2003, 10:47 AM

well DCE you've done Barber and now this... boy I'm jealous! Sounds like a great time and too bad about the get off, but it sounds like it could have been a lot worse!

tigerblade · 08-01-2003, 12:13 PM

Too bad about binning it, but otherwise sounds awesome!

coderedcbr · 08-02-2003, 3:19 AM

Quote:

DCEMotorsports : broadcast over the 2 ways saying, 'The American is up and OK' and the reply was 'no wonder he fell off, he's a bloody Yank'.

to funny

Chindian · 08-07-2003, 2:02 PM

Very cool to read, i never made it out to Oulton but the year isn't over yet. Did Brands last year and Donnington in June this year, I have to say that I still love Brands a bit better it's just so much more of a 'bike' track... i found Donnington's flow to be off, it could have been my riding style or the bikes I was riding (VFR400 or GSXR750 proper track bikes), it was either too fast of a track for the 400 or too slow of a track for the 750. i think a 600 or a 250 2 stroke would have been prime.

What did the track day cost ya and who organized it?
oh yeah and the guy who loaned you the R6, was it all black?

DCEMotorsports · 08-19-2003, 9:15 AM

I think the cost of the Oulton Park track day was 150 UKP. The organizer was Track Time Promotions. The hire bike was orange and light blue from Jim Stock at Slingshot Racing (slingshotracing.co.uk) 'top bloke'.

Ondablade, Proto and I were talking of doing a Donington track day the next time I visit the UK.

Good to see you are able to ride those fabulous tracks.