Memoirs of a Track Day Virgin

It was in the year 2008 when i first got my hands on my Ninja 250R. I’d no prior experience in riding a motorcycle. In fact i did not even had much experience riding a bicycle. Being a Chinese descendant in Malaysia, riding a two wheel is definitely a taboo. Theres a Famous saying where old Chinese folks always chant when it comes to motorcycling “if you don’t hit on something you are bound to get hit by something” or “Steel wrapped in skin” to describe the scenario of a man strapped around his motorcycle while riding. Back then there wasn’t much of information available online besides forums such as superbikemalaysia.com or msportsbike.com (they only exist in our heart now)

I’ve often trained in roundabouts to knee down and also going up hill roads to train my entry and exit  speed. In an event of doing so, i’ve met some really important people in my life where they told gave me a alot of solid advises. Amongst the famous ones. If you are gonna ride fast, which you’re definitely gonna do so, wear a full suit. Also, when are you going to the track! It took me months of mental preparation to get myself into that mood because i’ve always thought track was a place that only welcomes pro riders. So i did some research online, asked some questions in the forum, met up with many track riders during TTS and start stalking their activities in the forum to see what sorta breed of human these track riders are. They definitely talk like us, sound like us, rides the same bike as us, goes to coffee bean like any of us.

It was somewhere around the end of 2009 when i rode my first track day in SIC but a week before that, i was still trembling thinking of what i may get myself into.

One Week earlier

I paid the trackday fee through online transfer and got so excited to share the news with my friends. I WhatsApp them a receipt and tell them i’d be joining and they told me to prep my bike. So, i sent my bike over to the workshop telling my mechanic that i will be riding on track. He gave me an advise on changing my tire to Pirelli Supercorsa. I though to myself, dang! im really gonna put on this top notch race tires on my bike. The very same ones that those racers in Malaysia Super Series (MSS now being replaced as MSBK) is using. We got the bike ready and i spent a few more days watching youtube video on the track layout, gearing, pit exit and entry so i won’t get lost in an eternal loop in SIC.

Three days earlier

Ive been watching tons of riding on a circuit video, tutorials on newbie riding on track, reading up articles on track riding and etiquettes so that i won’t appear too over myself at that time. Every video and article i watched and read i asked my friends for confirmation as i was expecting more in depth answers.

One day earlier

The anticipation and count down to the track day is getting faster and i couldn’t help but to feel a little bit worried. Hence, i did something very therapeutic. I polished my helmet and wax my suit. It felt like im going to a high school prom all over again and there’s no such thing as enough preparation. I couldn’t even sleep despite my friends telling me to get enough rest. I couldn’t drink enough water to hydrate myself because id pee it back out just after minutes (perhaps i may have over did it)

The Day has come

I woke up about 3 minutes earlier than the alarm i set the night before. I gear up myself feeling like a cadet going to a war. I double checked my gears and i start up my bike to warm it up. As i was ready to get out of my house, i forgot my pouch bag and my autogate remote. So much for the preparation, pffffffftttt.

Upon reaching the circuit

I called my friend looking for them like a lost puppy as the track is something new to me. I’ve no idea where i was. They came and look for me instead then brought me to the registration counter. By then i was totally nervous when i saw all these great warriors in their gears lining up in the registration counter with all their knee sliders used up. Some even had some battle scars on their suits. They’ve this aura surrounding them indicating that they’re fast and here i am getting in line with them. I definitely felt out of place. As the lines got shorter in front of me, i heard the sound of these track bikes racing through the front straights of sepang. It was another trackday before us in session. The screaming exhaust sounds came and go in just a blink of an eye. Pretty much like a mosquito flew pass your ears. The sound of idling engines could be heard within the pit, like a bunch of war planes getting ready to hit the air strip. The sound itself is already daunting. My friend told me its normal because we are at a standstill in a paddock, the sound is amplified and will resonate within these walls. He gave a pat on my shoulder and said, it will be like karak highway once i get my ass out there.

Safety briefing

There was a guy with a loud hailer yelling at riders like those bus conductors in bus terminals telling us to get to the safety briefing. Everyone were seated in a high school classroom manner. There were some loud ones which i assume were the fast ones and there were some quiet ones, which i supposed im one of those. The moment the speaker introduced himself, i gave him my 110% attention. I didn’t even concentrate that much during school or college days and yet on a track day. True enough, nothing i watched in YouTube were mentioned during this briefing. All i could remember was DO NOT CROSS THE FUCKING WHITE LINES AT THE PIT EXIT STRAIGHT TO TURN ONE (which i hope no one would learn this the hard way.) also, STATE YOUR INTENTION DURING PIT RE-ENTRY, MAKE YOUR ACTIONS SPEAK THROUGH YOUR BODY. Fair enough, We do not have radios in our helmet and certainly we can’t whisper to the rider behind about our intention to pit in.

First Lap in my life

As i was walking towards my bike, my heart was racing faster than some farm animals fornicating. It was intense and overwhelming. My friend laughed at me for looking so stressed up over something so petty and told me to follow him for a few laps to show some lines. I was glad, it almost felt like someone held my hand to reach out for my penis to pee in the urinal when im drunk. Very reassuring. won’t miss. It was only 3 laps i could follow and that was just the warm up lap, Sure enough these track riders are fast as they left me behind even during the warm up lap. I was lost and quite afraid actually. The voices of my ancestors echoed into my helmet saying “You don’t bang people, people will bang you”. Every turn it felt like my grandmother was standing at the apex waving me to go slower. Suddenly, after a few laps my friend overlapped me and i was able to see that light at the end of the tunnel emitting through his ass. Booty was swaying from left to right, knees dragging on the tarmac, hitting every apex and i instantly gained my confidence again. This time im not gonna let things distract me so i told my ah ma to go back to taman nirwana. chopped a few gears down and the chase begins. Soon i found myself tailing closer and images of my ah ma was fading from the apex and i started to see the dotted lines connecting the entry, apex and exit of the turns. Eager and excited on this discovery, my friend waved me back to the pit.

Pit In

I couldn’t wait to park my bike and remove my helmet. Theres so many questions to ask. First off, how my ah ma know about my trackday (nah just kidding). I needed to ask them how did i perform, was that speed ok? is the lean angle enough? because it certainly felt like my face was planted on the apex as we throttle out. My friends told me, i was far from what i felt inside my helmet. While it was a big difference from our genting rides but still far from a track riders poise. At that point i felt a little bit disappointed but not discouraged. I took my bike out for another session but this time, i manage it on my own.

Second Outing

I didn’t want to spoil my friends track day so i went out myself in an attempt to connect the dots that i just saw on a few turns. Many riders rode pass me and every rider passing by me slowly fills up the dots. Then i got the idea to stitch the 5 riders in front of me as a point to point guide (not a very good idea but it seems like the brightest idea at that time) so everyone lined up into a turn in an orderly fashion before a turn. i told myself to stick to them as close as possible so that i won’t get left out too far behind. After a lap tailing them i soon found that i could actually overtake them. They’re not exactly beyond my reach. I overtook a few of them in a row in Turn 4 and slowly i found myself leading the pack of riders that was in front of me previously. That instant boost of confidence gave me courage to increase my entry speed, lean lower, gave a more aggressive throttle. Somehow we formed a line of 6-7 bikes and we all decided to pit in together.

Second Pit In

We all got into the pit together not knowing each other but we only recognise the suit and helmet that we were all wearing. I was eager to find them and true enough it was the same goes to them. We manage to bump into each other and start chatting about the few laps we had. It was exciting to find someone thats riding in the track that shares the same pace as you (coming from a road riding, this is like my proudest moment). That was when i felt belonged to the trackday. After that i felt gay. A lone guy went seek for 6 sweaty guys in tight leather suit. URrrgghhh…..

10 years later

Till today i could recall my first trackday experience like it was yesterday. It was one of my fondest memories ive ever had on a motorcycle. Looking back 10 years ago, there wasn’t a proper time or preparation that was needed to hit the track. Everyone needs to start somewhere and the more we read or watch, the move confusing it gets as there are many school of thoughts. Dont get me wrong, reading and learning the theories is good, and in fact im still reading the basics till today. Just that, we need to put those theories into practice. Then from there, experience will guide you further. It is still very intimidating up till today despite riding on a circuit for 10 years now, but in a very different form. It is the exhilaration of careful planning and executing a task in a trackday to further improve and to break your current timing, But that is an entirely different story for another time.

I sure hope this memoir will give you some insight of how a track day could be but if you are already planning on breaking that virginity of yours. Click Here for our track day dates. Perhaps one day you would be able to look back and have a smile about it.