This section is designed to give a new racer an idea of what to expect on a race weekend, what to look out for and what they will need to do. It will also give an insight to non-racers as to just why us racer types get so tired from less than an hour of racing!

New racers: We recommend that you tip up to your appointed racetrack on Thursday night. There are two good reasons for this. The first is you get a good place to park your helicopter/motorhome/caravan/Transit/Mondeo with trailer and put up an awning, as well as getting a space with all your mates. The second is that if there is any electicity available, you can get yourself hooked up - at many tracks this is quite limited (see the circuit guide for details).  If you entered the race before the closing date you will have received your entry in the post a week before the race meeting. This includes a Race Instruction leaflet which gives you some rules for the event and a timetable, a Technical Inspection Card with your race number in the corner, 3 tickets to the gate and sometimes a vehicle pass.

All racing begins in earnest on Friday morning with practice day. You will have pre-booked practice at least 2 weeks prior to the event as racers tend to be a damned keen bunch with a very blasé attitude towards work which leaves them plenty of time to fill the bookings.  You must go to the race office well before 9am to present your particulars and sign on and you must have your ACU licence to hand for inspection by the racing police. You won’t be allowed near the track if the club secretary has not taken down said particulars.

Friday practice runs similar to a track day in that there will normally be four groups of riders with seven sessions. The groups will be split into bike classes rather than ability, as we are all super fast racers dontchaknow? At Bemsee there are usually a couple of groups for 650cc and below, then another couple for 600s and 1000s. Sometimes sidecars make up a fifth group in the afternoon.  You think that sounds like a lot of groups and you won’t get much track time? Think again, you will be so knackered by the end of the day you’ll wish you had got your mum to pack the Raljex and a nice hot water bottle.

Late in the afternoon the technical inspection bay will open and you will have two or three hours to get yourself through it. You can also get inspected on Saturday morning but it’s SO much easier to get it out of the way Friday night; if you don’t do this, you’ll be in a long queue at 7.30am and will be knackered by 9am. Also if the inspection throws up a problem you’ll have a whole evening to sort it out. So after your last practice session take your technical inspection card, completed, your bike and yourself to the scrutineering bay to get inspected. This happens in two parts: bike inspection, for which you will receive a sticker on your bike, and personal protective equipment (you have to wear your leathers, helmet, gloves, boots and identity tag) for which you will receive a sticker on your helmet. Your card will be signed by both inspectors and given back to you – put it somewhere safe like the screen of your bike as you need this to sign on in the morning.

Once this all done you can relax and enjoy the evening… unless you’re the Feisty team in which case you’ll be frog-marched onto a track walk… it’s for your own good you know!  Here we will discuss any particular lines, braking points etc. as well as any problems you came across during the day.  A track walk helps with focus, is a great way of benefiting from the experience of your mentors, and it’s also a pleasant way to have a nice cold beer after a hard day. Just one beer of course since we’re dedicated racer types and would never spend the rest of the evening in the pub. No, that’s the job of the pit bitches.

Race day

Race Office will be open from around 7.30am, although all timings can be later on a Sunday or a track surrounded by overly sensitive eared busybody types – your Race Instruction leaflet will give you all of this handy information so read it.  Your first port of call after a nervous loo session and the world’s coldest shower will be the Race Office with your completed Technical Inspection Card and your ACU licence. The Card will be swapped for a practice pass and a nice Race Program. Your banter will be swapped for sweets/hugs/sporting insults/general derision depending on your relationship with the lovely officials.  The Race Program should be inspected for pictures of you, your mates, your name in writing on the entry list, names of rivals to snarl at, etc. Your practice schedule and the race schedule will be on an itinerary in the Race Instruction and the Race Program.

The first practice session in the morning usually kicks off at about 9am and is compulsory as all competitors must complete a minimum of three laps. Tuck your practice card into an available orifice and head down to the collecting area, where they will check your transponder and you get your 10 or 15 minutes on the track.

Race one will normally be at around 10.30am but the only certainty after that is lunch will be at around 1pm for 45 miinutes, though even that’s not guaranteed. The itinerary will only list the race order as stoppages and weather often dictate subsequent race times and starts once the previous race is complete. You need to keep a keen eye on which race is on the circuit in comparison to yours as although there are tannoy announcements, there are also noisy machines and gobby mechanics flying around everywhere and likely as not you will miss them, even though you are barked at three times. Some areas don’t have tannoy coverage at all and other times they just stop working when you had thought you could rely on them. So don’t. As a rookie, you will need to be down in the collecting area in plenty of time, so stay awake. Use the experience of the team for when to go to the line up as you want your tyres to still be nice and warm by the time you get to the grid.

Your grid position for race one on Saturday is dictated by your championship position (grids for the first race of the season is picked randomly). Grids will be posted on the paddock office wall, usually the night before.

So here we go…..

The collecting area is your initial port of call. Here you will be reminded of your grid position, because you’ve more than likely forgotten while riding there from the garage/paddock/toilet. There is a kind of false grid on the floor with all the slots on blackboards. When you’ve parked on your number, try to remember who is around you, because believe it or not, when you drive out of the collecting area to the real grid, in that 30 seconds you’ll have probably forgotten again. Line up on your number, the grid row is on a board on the side of the track and the grid position is normally painted on the tarmac.

On the warm up lap, each row will be flagged off individually by the starter; he will point at your row, and then lift his/her little green flag. It’s a good opportunity to practice getting your bike of the line for the race start. You will all complete a full lap and re-group in your grid positions; it’s about this time when the nerves are really telling you maybe five loos trips before the race would have been better than 4 four. The starter will be at the front with his red flag in the air and, once the entire grid is ready to go, he will point the flag at the lights and get out of the way. Red lights on…… when they go out, you’re off.

You are now “a racer”.

Your race results will show your position, fastest lap and total race time, will take about 20 or 30 minutes to be printed and are available from the Race Office. It’s a good idea to collect these for your future reference and also to show off to your mates at home (who will yawn and show a sudden interest in fauna). Your result from race one will dictate your grid position for race two but if you crash in race one (ahem, which you won’t) you will start race two from the back.

Sunday runs pretty much the same as Saturday except you don’t have to practice, (unless you crash on Saturday). There are limited practice passes, as the session on Sunday is only five minutes long, but you are strongly recommended to get out there to at least shake off the morning cobwebs. If you’re a Feisty your team-mates will crowbar you out, unless it’s peeing down with rain in which case they’ll be hiding under a tarpaulin avoiding eye contact and making excuses about allergies/colds/worn wets.

Of course, all of the above is an example of a perfect race day.

When it all goes pear-shaped:

Technical inspection failure
Don’t panic, you’ll have a whole evening to sort the problem and the team to help you. The technical inspection dudes will keep your technical inspection card and the problem will be documented. Once the problem is squared up, you will go back through the technical and get your stickers and card.

Crashing
Your bike will need to be inspected again before you can continue on it. It will be taken to the technical inspection bay and a report of the damage will be written. You will probably need to take it away, fix it up and have another inspection which will pass the bike fit to ride again. If you damage yourself, you will be taken to the medical centre. If it’s minor, you will need the doctor to sign you off as fit to ride again and this form will need to be taken to the paddock office.