Building on the success of the 2025 program, the collaboration now delivers a fully integrated R-Experience platform, combining Yamaha machinery, performance parts and professional coaching into a unified national rider experience. Central to the program is MotoSchool’s all-new fleet of YZF-R9s, supported by Yamaha Genuine Accessories and race-proven components.

MotoSchool’s training environment will now fully integrate Yamalube oils and maintenance products, GYTR performance accessories, Akrapovic exhaust systems, and Dunlop tyres via Ficeda Accessories. Together, these elements create a premium accessible setup for riders looking to develop skills in a professional track environment.At the heart of the 2026 program is MotoSchool’s R-Experience, a structured, race-inspired immersion anchored by the new YZF-R9. Each bike is fitted with a GYTR Akrapovič titanium race exhaust system and prepared to professional standards. Riders can choose between Dunlop race slicks for advanced training or Dunlop treaded slick track day tyres for high-performance road-based track riding.

MotoSchool says the R-Experience is designed as a true brand engagement platform rather than a simple hire fleet, allowing participants to arrive, ride and immerse themselves in Yamaha’s next-generation supersport technology.An exclusive Yamaha Customer Day has also been confirmed for Sunday, March 29 at Sydney Motorsport Park’s Grand Prix Circuit. Open to all Yamaha road models and rider experience levels, the YamaFest event will offer customers their first public opportunity to hire a YZF-R9 and take part in the R-Experience.

“What we’ve built with MotoSchool goes far beyond a traditional partnership,” says Mathew Ferry, General Manager Sales & Marketing, Land Mobility at Yamaha Motor Australia.

“It’s a platform that brings riders closer to our brand, our technology, and our philosophy. Extending this partnership into 2026 and launching the YZF-R9 hire fleet and Yamaha Customer Day, allows us to offer something truly unique to our customers,” he adds. “What Yamaha Motor Australia has created through this partnership is something truly special,” says Haydan Parker, Managing Director and Founder of MotoSchool.”

“The Yamaha team has shown what’s possible when a manufacturer genuinely commits to riders through experience, education, and community. This partnership is a blueprint for how brands can invest in the future of motorcycling in a meaningful way.”

“Together, we’ve built a model that removes barriers and opens doors. An environment where world-class machinery and elite coaching are no longer reserved for the few. The 2026 program proves that when motorcycle distributors and rider development organisations work in true partnership, the result is not just better riders, but a stronger, more connected global motorcycle culture,” he continues.

“For the first time, riders can step straight into a race-inspired Yamaha environment, ride the new YZF-R9, train with elite coaches, and be part of a community that’s built around learning and passion. We aim to offer riders the chance to experience something completely new,” ends Parker.

More details on the R-Experience and YamaFest Customer Day will be announced shortly.

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To celebrate International Female Ride Day 2024, Leanne partnered with two-time World Superbike champion Troy Corser to conduct the first of what she plans to be an ongoing series of coaching days tailored exclusively for female motorcycle riders. “Today is all about empowering women and helping them improve their skills as riders, whether it be on the road or the racetrack,” Leanne explained before the start of her first event at the Marulan’s Pheasant Wood circuit in NSW. “I want to assist these girls in having more confidence within themselves and their riding. It’s a two-pronged approach based on the sort of guidance I wish I had been given when I first started riding. Providing the girls with an environment where they can be relaxed, ask questions, and not feel intimidated is paramount. This includes not feeling overwhelmed by the speeds and on-track congestion you can sometimes experience at regular track days.”

Addressing the participants at the rider’s briefing, Leanne emphasised that the day is about learning and improving, not speed. “The focus today is on improving, and I want to see everyone having a great time,” she told the assembled group. Leanne also explained why the Pheasant Wood circuit is the ideal location for the coaching day. “Scott and the Pheasant Wood team could not have been more accommodating with making the day happen, the track here is perfect for the coaching we are doing. Experienced riders can enjoy the challenge, while those who have never been on a track before will not find it as intimidating as a big high-speed circuit.”

Despite the unpredictable weather, the day attracted the targeted 25 entrants, and looking at the smiles on faces as the day unfolded, it appears Leanne is onto a winner. “There’s a type of camaraderie at female-only days that you don’t get at a regular track day,” she said. “Most of these girls didn’t know each other before the day started, but you can already tell they will leave as friends.”

The Yamaha brand was well represented during the day, and we spoke with riders to learn more about their passion for riding and what they hope to get from the day.

Tania Smith – Yamaha YZF-R15M
Don’t let her slight build and calm, softly spoken demeanour fool you; Tania Smith is a life-long adrenalin junky who lives in the fast lane. Despite being a recent convert to the two-wheeled lifestyle, she has already accumulated an impressive collection of high-performance machinery, which she rides at every opportunity. However, when it comes to improving as a rider and becoming faster and safer on track, Tania decided Yamaha’s 150cc YZF-R15M sportsbike was the best machine to fine-tune her riding technique.

“I’ve always been an adrenaline junkie, I’m so glad I’ve taken up motorcycle riding. I’ve been riding for five years now, and I’m totally addicted,” she laughed. “But I’m only relatively new to track days; this is my fourth. I want to do much more.” One of the few regrets Tania has in life is her failure to take up motorcycle riding at a much younger age. “I’ve always been an adrenaline junkie, but water sports were my thing. I’m so glad I’ve taken up motorcycle riding and I’ll certainly be making up for lost time.” Tania explained that her partner Tim is responsible for getting her into motorcycle riding, “At first, I was on the back with Tim, but after a while, I thought to myself, you know what? I can do that.”

Roxanne Guzman – Yamaha XSR900
Roxanne – or Rox as everyone likes to call her – is a true Yam Fan. Starting her two-wheeled journey a little over two years ago on a YZF-R3, she always had her eye on an XSR900, “This bike is my absolute dream bike,” she explained while showing off her red and white sport heritage machine with its personalised accessories. “I love riding every day; I commute to work on the XSR900 and also ride it all weekend.”

Rox had received some previous on-track coaching, but after reading the Motor | Life | Passion story about Leanne Nelson and hearing about her all-female coaching event, she jumped at the chance to attend the Marulan coaching day. While addicted to riding of all kinds, Rox has developed a soft spot for long-distance riding, “Last week, I completed a ride from Sydney to Victoria in less than 24 hours,” she explained, “If I could ride all day, every day.”

As a member of the Iron Butt Association, a group dedicated to long-distance time-limited riding, Rox has already completed her 1600km in 24-hours certificate and is now eyeing off the next challenge, “I love to test my physical and mental ability, to go as long as possible and to travel as far as possible; endurance riding lets me do that,” she explained, “It’s amazing how many Yamahas are part of the Iron Butt group, I guess it’s due to their legendary reliability; it’s certainly one of the main reasons I chose a Yamaha.”

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LEVEL ONE
The first thing you will notice when you start riding is that everyone is an expert. The second thing you notice is that generally, they aren’t. Enter California Superbike School. These guys actually are experts.

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Keith Code is the Founding Father of the CSS (California Superbike School) and it’s on his teachings that the school is based. If you’ve not heard of his [Twist of the Wrist] books, they’re the first documentation of the key principles relating to riding motorcycles around racetracks. He wrote the book and created the program combining theory and practice to make the track a better place for us.

Once the gates are open we make our way to a garage, unpack all the gear and take care of all the formalities – forms to be signed, bike to go to the scrutineers, and me to be registered and assigned to a group – in this case Level 1. 

Firstly, we had to cover rules and regulations. We’re taught the flags and their meanings, safe passing distance and the like. There is an eclectic group of riders in class today. The good thing is that we’re all taken back to basics, what’s more basic than throttle control?

If you want to take this stuff seriously, take a pen and paper. There is lots of info, all of it valuable. Steve almost has us chanting, “What’s your job?”, ‘Stabilise the bike.’, “With what?”, ‘With the throttle.’, “What’s your job…” It’s a quick lesson on the track, fourth gear only and no brakes allowed. 

There is a stellar team of riding coaches who are teamed with us out on the track. Small groups are assigned to each coach. It’s their job for the day to shadow us on-track and give us practical instruction. You notice them waiting at certain points along the way and they’ll shoot out after you. In this first drill we’re taught hand signals that the instructors will use to show us when to roll on and off the throttle coming into and out of corners.

Choosing a turn-in point into a corner is one of those important things. It sets you up so you come out free to set up for the next turn and, on the street, stops you running into oncoming traffic. The idea is to pick your apex and straighten the turn.

This is by far my favourite lesson because, like it tells you in the drill sheet, in this one you’re spoon-fed. The turn-in points are marked for you on each corner with tape. You’re allowed the use of third and fourth gear this time, but still no brakes. But with the combination of knowing when exactly to throw my bike into the corner – and coaches leading to remind me when to roll the throttle on – my confidence soars. This is evident by my dramatically increased speed through the turns.

Along with a few others, I’m picked out after this classroom lesson to take our bikes up to an off-track area where we’re given individual counter-steering drills, consciously pushing down on the bars to throw the bike left or right. It doesn’t take long but it gives you a much better idea of how quickly you can have the bike move to where you want it to move.

Your bike will respond to you, your riding position, and how tightly you’re holding on to the bars. This lesson is all about learning how to relax. Light braking as well as third, fourth and fifth gears were allowed in this session.

It doesn’t take long before you realise the effect that a nervous death grip on the bars has on the suspension. Leaving your arms relaxed and loose but using your stomach muscles and legs to grip the bike and control your posture allows the suspension to do what it was designed to do. Let the bike do all the work.

The last lesson was basically an intro to Level 2 visual skills and drills. Full gears and brakes allowed this time.

“Step one – Locate your entry point as soon as possible. Step two – When you’re confident you’ll hit your entry point, look in and locate the apex.”

The idea of two-step turning is to pick your apex before you start to turn your bike in. This enables you to get a more consistent line, and when you’ve got a predictable line you can increase your speed – that’s why we’re really all here, isn’t it?

LEVEL 2
Having done the Level 1 course only a few months earlier and finding it a fantastic experience and an eye opener in many ways, I returned for the Level 2 Course.

I’m a mature rider, I turned 53 a few weeks back but I’m no stranger to riding, I’ve owned motorcycles since I was eight. In fact I’ve never been without a motorcycle in my possession since then. So I would consider myself an experienced rider, just through my years of riding alone.

But I have also spent many years in the NSW Police Force, 18 of those years as a Police HWP motorcyclist. Obviously I had extensive training within the NSW Police Driver/Rider Training unit to deal with high-speed pursuit work, traffic work and even VIP escorts.  I’ve also been racing motorcycles for most of my life, from motocross to classic road racing and more recently modern bikes and in particular BEARS racing.

So in many ways I’ve had my share of experience from many different perspectives of riding. I have learned and adapted to my chosen riding over the years but making the decision to attend the California Superbike School was a very definite positive step in my never ending learning curve of motorcycle riding.

It’s funny though, the name, California Superbike School in some ways can give a false impression of what it is all about. Yes, you will learn how to ride a superbike fast, and if you want, go racing from that tuition. But the courses also suit all riders, from sportbikes to cruisers and everything in between, you see, the School is all about teaching and then showing you in a very practical way the teachings of the creator and owner of the California Superbike School worldwide franchise, Keith Code. 

Keith, over many decades of observation, training, analysis, practical application and countless hours of thought has developed the business to the point where it is arguably the best training school in the world.

“The days are extremely well run from the moment you arrive at the track to the very last moment of the day.”

The day starts with you arriving and attending the registration area, here you fill out the necessary paperwork, have you name checked off, and are given some instructions on how the day will progress, you get assigned to a particular group which is in a certain area of the pits. Numbers that are given to you have to be attached to your bike, your bike also has to be scrutineered for safety prior to the start of the day.

The day is split into sections, including classroom work with Steve Brouggy as the facilitator. Steve has a very concise and deliberate way of teaching and discussing the different tasks and drills that you will do throughout the day. Each classroom session will then be followed by a practical session on track where the tasks or drills that were given to you are applied on track. There are a large number of the school’s coaches on hand to ride with you or around you on track, even at times ushering you to follow them for a lap or so, and vice versa. 

At the end of the practical session there is a sort of debrief with your allocated coach on how you went or on how the coach feels you may better do the drill and so on. The days are regulated with warning bells and announcements given as where each group needs to be at that time or within five minutes, it’s not an easy day but the time flies very quickly as you go from class to track for the day. There is a lunch break, which everyone enjoys.

Now, many of the drills you do are controlled very carefully, for example you will be required to use only one gear for the whole of the track, you may or may not be allowed to use brakes, you may be allowed to use up to fourth gear only on some drills.  All of these requirements have a purpose and a deliberate meaning for the student. 

If you attend the day with an attitude that you are there to learn and take something away from the day, you will have one of the best learning experiences for motorcycling that can be given to you. Level 2 really starts to open to you the whole world of rider behaviour and how to get the most from your riding with one of the best schools in the world.

The single most important thing I believe, is to come away from the day and from that day on put into practice what you have learnt and become a better rider for it. Points covered in Level 2 included Reference Points, Changing lines, Vanishing Points, Wide Screen Track View and Pick Up. This is what the California Superbike School is really all about.

LEVEL 3
As with all the School days whether you are there for your first level or your fourth level it is very regimented and controlled during the day. I liked this, especially after having done the two other levels it gave me a sense of confidence and knowing about how the day will transpire and what to expect during that day. Good stuff!

Level 3 is really where it all starts to come together, the drills and skills you have learnt and developed with the previous two levels now give you the base to develop and to put these and the new skills that you will learn through the drills into practise.

It all really starts for fall into place in level three. The coaching is very similar, you will spend time on track in a small group with coaches that will observe and check you on track, at the end of each session you will have a debrief and a critique of how you were doing. The coaches will give you practical, hand on tuition on a bike to show and highlight the drills and the body movements needed for some of the drills. The coaches are acutely aware that you are there for Level 3 training and they make every effort to talk to you and help you in any way that may improve how you can perform the drills, the coaches really do want to see you do well, no, better than that they want to see you do great!

Off track it’s back to the classroom – Steve Brouggy the owner of the franchise here in Australia is like a man possessed! But in the most absolute and positive way that could be imagined. It seems that his whole being is there for YOU! Steve has a charisma that is unique and very right for him and his teaching roles. The clarity, confidence and total certainty that he delivers the classroom training leave absolutely no one with any doubt as to what they have just been taught and no doubt in what they now need to do on track.

“The class room with Steve is not a chore, not a bore and not a waste of any second of your time, it is complete, exact and compelling, and it complements totally what the coaches are teaching you on the track.”

As with the other levels there is time to absorb what Steve has just coached you on in the classroom before you go on track again. I also found this time to make acquaintances with other riders in my level and learn a little about why they were there. Many were riders with years of road experience that needed to come up to speed so to speak with riding skills, many had done courses with other schools but were hear, as I was because of the need to learn more and learn in a different way to how others teach.

While others were looking at doing track days and wanted to get their skill and knowledge levels up before they did track days, others were long term track day junkies that recognised the need to improve their skill level, some were just new to motorcycling but wanted to learn as much as possible.

I suppose that this is what it is really about, as riders of whatever level of skill or experience, we need or want to know more, improve more, enjoy more, and understand more of what our life style is all about. Yes you can ignore all the experts out there and do it all on your own, but at what cost? Can you really learn and understand it all? Can you really afford to take twenty years of riding to develop the skills you need to stay safe on our roads today?

I don’t think so, That is why taking that step to enrol in motorcycle training is one of the most important steps you will ever take in your life and you can’t do much better than doing that training with the California Superbike School.

LEVEL 4
Over the past levels I’ve tried to give you all some insight into the California Superbike School and how it works and what you get out of it. We have had a look at the first three levels of the school, which you must do in order to progress and get the maximum out of these courses.

The first three levels bring you to a level of skill, control, confidence and self-awareness that can only be achieved by doing courses of this nature. They are designed and implemented in such a way as to make each compliment the previous and to make all the levels come together as one learning revelation by the end. Well that last paragraph is really a bit of a prelude to the final outcome. 

The level four course is conducted alongside the other courses over the same days as the other courses but this level is done in a far different and ultimately better way to what you have done and learnt in the previous levels. This is where it all comes together, this is where it all makes sense and this is where you really start to see the reasons for the drills. You discover the reasons for the levels and an understanding of the quality of coaching from the staff at the California Superbike School.

As I mentioned very early in these stories, I’ve been riding for over 40 years and have done a lot of riding, including racing both road and dirt, touring, bar hopping, cafe crawling. I’ve raced in snow, I’ve ridden a road bike through the Daintree and up the Cape and any other form of motorcycle riding that can be possibly done. All of this though has been done with a certain level of blissful ignorance as to what I was actually doing and why I was doing it. Sure I’ve developed some skills along the way, even won my share of trophies and titles – both state and national.

But I have to admit with humility that I learnt techniques, skills and heightened my awareness by participating in the California Superbike Schools. All of this culminates to level four, where it all happens – it’s the centre of the universe, it’s the Yoda of Star Wars, it’s the Wizard from OZ, it is the understanding of all things in the motorcycling world.

At this level in the School, you get a much more personal experience, the group size is small – about five or six. The coaches that are looking after you are some of the best in the business and at the highest levels within the California Superbike School system around the world. You have more time with the coach, you get closer scrutiny on the track and you get better personal evaluation of what you were doing. You get to have a full and thorough training day with coaches that care and want to see you improve and come away from the final level as the best rider you can.

Everything from the very first drill you do, to the culmination of all the days and drills learnt, are all finally understood in level four and you are shown, given, coached and critiqued in all that you have done and learnt.

All of this new found knowledge is what this is all about. Anything we can do as motorcyclists to improve our skills, better understand ourself and our motorcycle are qualities that we need and must have. 

Anyone can ride a bike fast but to have the skills to truly get the best from the bike and yourself is something that very few of us can achieve from just experience on the road. We can all learn, we can all improve and we can all learn that fast is not the only thing a motorcycle is for.

Schools also give us wisdom, we learn that there are limits to ourselves and to the motorcycle. These limits then act to control us better on the road, we now know that we can’t do 180km/h in the rain around a 40km/h corner. We have learnt that it is simply impossible. So we now can control our actions better, with more skill and more wisdom.

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However he worked on his weakness so well that these days if there is rain the lad is considered the master. Tony Hatton was also exceptional in the rain, so what skills do Anthony and Tony share, given that both these riders are generations apart? The one constant is that both Tony and Anthony have enjoyed the benefit of dirt track racing. Dirt track racing teaches you the feel for grip; the trick to road racing is to be able to ride on the edge and to be able to ride as if you are out of control but staying in control.

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Wet weather riding requires a brilliant system of control, smooth efficient riding style, knowledge of body English skills, what the bike is doing is just paramount, heck if you are untidy, lack discipline and can’t find the same line two laps in a row in the dry, then you are in for a rude shock come your first wet weather session.

So what makes your wet weather race or track day successful? The answer is a good plan! This includes bike set up, personal riding equipment, rider technique, mental focus, race start and race plan, and the ability to shift and plan ahead in changing conditions with a cool head is paramount! Slow and steady will always win the race. 

Concentration is and should be heightened in the wet, however in a relaxed state of mind by planning ahead, scanning the track for puddles, camber, humps and bumps.

 The sensation and intensity that riding in the wet offers is awesome, very satisfying, if you don’t feel this way work on it!

Remember the job is to be the first bike and rider over then line on the last lap. Trust your plan, let it work and you could be crossing the line first like a top rider with ease.

BIKE SET-UP
Back off the springs and damping without to create a softer suspension setting allows the rider more feel for grip, obviously the rain affects our grip level. We can afford to make the bike softer as we are not going to run the cornering forces or ride the motorcycle the same as we do in the dry, sacrificing the stiffness that offers a more precise ride for grip in a sense. If you have a steering damper get rid of it or at least turn it off or to the lightest settings, remember a steering damper will take the sensitivity and feel of the bike away.

Incorrect tyres will lead to spending way too much time on your backside! In the rain it is so important to have the best rubber available and a spare set of wheels fitted up with some nice new wets is a must. Trying to get a motorcycle around a wet track on the latest dry weather sports tyre is going to be a real test of your skills and can I say you will need also a lot of luck to stay on board. So invest in a set of wheels so you can have the best set of wets available, it’s no good turning up to a gunfight with a knife! 

Tyre pressures are also critical, the ability to be able to drain water form the tyre and cut a path through the water creating a good contact patch and grip is all part of the tyre performance while out in the wet. 

If you have an adjustable fuel map and or ignition map you may even consider making adjustment of how the power to the rear wheel is being delivered, getting power to the ground without wheelspin is what we are looking for in the wet, also using the throttle to gain grip in the front of the bike to help the motorcycle turn is very important, without a nice throttle response, riding a bike in the wet is really difficult in acceleration and turning.

Making sure the chain is adjusted is critical, ensuring you have exact throttle response to the rear wheel, not only does the throttle accelerate and turn bike it also can stop or slow bike in the rain that can create a range of issues and I am not just talking about power slides but also engine brake slides.

GEAR
I can still remember John Koncinski, a sponsored Honda rider at Honda’s home track event, the prestigious Suzuki 8 Hour race. John’s helmet would not demist properly and it lost him the race. Helmets need to be able to vent and deal with anti fogging, plenty of venting and a visor that seals well is essential, especially when you are riding in a deluge. Clean your visor with Mr Sheen or a cleaner that has a silicone content…

A wet weather suit will protect you from the elements as well as look after your leathers, ensure that the suit does not interfere with your movement. This restriction will affect how you control your bike.

Keep an eye on the weather app to see when and where the rain will be, the radar will be a few steps ahead of you so you can begin preparing…

Your equipment must be functional and is a large part of whether you do the job well or just get the job done. Concentration skills and extra attention time available to you enables you to see and take advantage of opportunities that the opposition may not have, all because they are not prepared.

THE TRACK
The advantage of a good track walk in the morning and after every day’s ride especially if it’s wet is huge. The rain drainage and the natural terrain around the circuit will have a big impact on what happens during a heavy deluge of rain.

Understanding the track and where it is going, the type of turns, humps, bumps, negative and positive cambers, drainage and possible problems that will create issues like puddles forming on clipping points, can all be noted.

TECHNIQUE
So we now have the bike set-up, the correct riding equipment, knowledge of the track and where we can expect the puddles and rivers etc to come from. We can work on our body English now.

The important skill of using your posture cannot be underestimated. The bike’s lean angle and ride in the wet is so much different to a dry ride. The lean angles and grip differ, the aggression of acceleration, the braking points and overlapping of the brakes are all affected, making what we do on the bike very different. Use your body English to stand the motorcycle up and gain maximum drive out of the turns reducing wheel slip, using your legs and top half of your body.

Weighing your feet to help with sudden shifts and slides is essential, pinning your knees to the tank while heavy braking in a straight line. We are really trying to relax our arms and hands so we can feel any feedback from the handlebars, the bar movements are giving us the feel of loss and gain of grip, a relaxed grip also allows us to use the throttle as required to make the motorcycle steer while also assisting in controlling slides.

Being able to effectively rev back during down changes is so important, the use of a small amount of clutch slip is just as important; we need rear stabilising and engine braking and don’t need engine lock ups from abrupt gear changes.

RACE STARTS
Remember on the startline, try to keep your head from sitting over the hot engine, otherwise you may be affected by steam fogging the visor. A minor burnout to get some heat into the rear tyre could save on wheel spin off the line if it is allowed.

Getting ahead of the group or the front is pretty important especially if it is heavy in rain in an attempt to minimise the effects of spray especially if there is a huge group of riders the spray of other bikes can restrict vision so badly that you can barely see what is happening in front of you, making your job very dangerous.

Never position yourself on the outside of another competitor or a rider, your success will be in their hands, if the inside rider throws it away (which is a good possibility in the rain) he/she will be taking you with them. 

RACE PLAN
Planning an overtake can be difficult on a drying track as you are required to get of the fast line to pass the opposition, work out your strengths and plan a clean over take A drying line will have changing grip level which comes with some complications especially if you are on wets you may have to go searching for puddles to cool west so you can survive the race, as the track dries be aware of wet patches, where will I stand up the bike…

A drying track means developing more speed and slightly different lines every time we are getting around the track, ensure you are used to picking brake off points and scanning into turns is essential, keep looking for the drying line.

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You really need to have a good front end feeling and good confidence and feel in the front tyre. This will come only from testing your limits on the braking markers in practice and seeing how late you can actually brake without running off the track. This also will give you a good idea of how your front reacts when you grab the brakes a little harder and a little later. For example if the front dives too hard and fast it will pick the rear up meaning you will have to release the brakes a little to get the rear contact back or the rear will go sideways and try to overtake the front.

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If you have ridden around on your own all the way through practice and maybe cutting fast laps all the time it can be easy to find yourself in trouble in the race when you suddenly have to take a different line into a corner and brake in a different way when you need to overtake. This is why I always tried to run a few hard laps with someone fast and make sure I had made a few passes on the brakes during practice just so I knew how the bike would be and if we were set up properly to race.

In early 2005 when I was on the new R1 with the Yamaha Italia World Superbike and we were trying to find our base setup and get the right slipper clutch setting overtaking wasn’t really an option. I could get fast laps done in qualifying but I just didn’t have the confidence or feel from the front end to lunge up the inside of someone and confidently know I would pull it off and come out the other side of the corner.

I think for the first three or four rounds of the championship that year I didn’t make any passes on the brakes/front end on any of the faster guys I was racing with. Whereas later in the year and particularly the next year 2006 I could pass anyone on the brakes. 

When you have that confidence and you are trying to get past someone who also has their bike working well and is braking really late it will take a bit more planning. Sometimes an overtaking move can take a combination of any number of corners to pass someone or even numerous laps to set someone up finally for a decisive pass. If you have identified a corner where you think you can make a pass it may require the perfect exit from a corner five turns before and gathering momentum through every section just to get up alongside someone so that you can get past them.

Even then you both might grab the brakes, at the same time, both on the limit, each rider easing the brakes on and off to stay ahead all the way to the apex when the guy on the outside has to give way because you have taken his line. Then if you have pulled it off try and pull a gap straight away because most people will try to come straight back past. 

If someone had a little more pace than me but I could hang onto them and even pass them but not get away I would continually pass and re-pass to upset their rhythm and hopefully after lots of that I would have a little more tyre left at the end when things got tougher.

Another type of pass is a sort of momentum pass that starts with a good exit out of a turn and gathering that momentum through a series of faster turns and as you are flicking from one side to another under power running it up the inside. I liked to try a pass on the change of direction into the hayshed at Phillip Island.

This started though on the exit of Honda and then gaining a little more and getting a little closer on the run into Siberia and picking up the throttle at worst the same time as the rider in front getting your face right into their exhausts up through the left kink and over the bump and while they are keeping it left for the run through the Hayshed you are almost grazing their ducktail with your left shoulder and going straight to the apex and up the inside. The only trick there is making sure you are not out on the grass on the exit and approaching Lukey Heights on the green stuff.

Of course the other way to overtake is on the straight but the real key to that is having horsepower. It can be done with an amazing exit out of say Turn 12 at Phillip Island and catching a slipstream all the way down the straight and popping out as you start to run downhill after the bridge into Turn one.

People will also try the desperate moves that they have no idea if they can pull them off but have a go anyway which sometimes you just have to do. Anyway, if you are racing motorbikes or anything for that matter overtaking is always going to be part of it and the more often you do it the easier it is but you can be sure of one thing there is always going to be someone you want to overtake.

Executing a good passing manoeuvre takes skill and experience… Words: Andrew Pitt. 

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There are four levels of advanced rider training offered at CSS all designed to teach you step by step how to improve the stability of your bike around a corner by refining riding technique. I enrolled for Level 1, which teaches the fundamentals, gets you comfortable with the track and corrects bad habits.

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My riding experience surmounts to a little over a year of inner-city Sydney commuting. So although I am quite proficient at dodging apparently blinker-less cars at speeds less than 80km/h, I had never graced the track. As the date for the event drew closer and closer, my trepidation grew and grew. 

My pride and joy is a 2013 Honda CBR250R Moriwaki Edition, a bike that until the morning of the CSS day, I felt had more than enough power. Arriving at Eastern Creek Raceway at 7am sharp, my nervousness was compounded as my little bike seemed to shrink in the company of the other motorcycles lining up to be inspected by the CSS staff. 

As I fretted about potentially being the only person to never have ridden on a track before, I struck up a conversation with some gentlemen waiting in line next to me. Both had been riding for over a decade, but had never set tyre to track either. Throughout the day I met a huge variety of people, mainly participating in Levels 1 and 2, and it became clear to me that CSS caters for every rider.

After my bike was inspected and deemed ‘track-worthy’, the charismatic Steve Brouggy, the co-founder and managing director of CSS, gave us an introductory safety briefing. Steve was quick to establish a sense of ease and excitement among the students, peppering his talk with jokes that bordered on inappropriate, but were nonetheless hilarious. After this initial talk, we were split into our respective classes and assigned coaches with no more than three students allocated to each coach. 

Our group was the first on the track – a daunting prospect for any first-timer. The first session was an orientation lap, where we could only use fourth gear and absolutely no brakes. I was mildly terrified at this announcement, thinking it would be a virtually impossible task based on my winding, convoluted map of the track. These first laps were also designed to get us comfortable with the entry speeds of each corner of the track.

Shaking with adrenalin after the initial slow but nerve-wracking session on the track, we were marched directly upstairs for our first lesson with Steve – throttle control, arguably the most important control for cornering. On the track, the coaches would locate each of us in turn and ride ahead, signalling with a specific hand movement when and how much to throttle-on in the corner. Out of all the drills, this was probably the one I had least trouble with. I found my normal pattern of acceleration was similar to what my coach was instructing, if a little early in the corner. The second drill however, had a profound effect on my mindset and consequently on my riding. 

In this drill we studied turn points, or simply the spot you aim for in a curve that will give you the straightest line through the corner and the most predictable exit line. The turn points for each corner were marked with a white cross and on the first lap, all of the turn points felt very late in the corner and about a quarter of them felt nearly impossible to hit. It was then I learned that I had been inadvertently increasing the curve of my line around a corner by turning too early. 

By the end of the 20-minute track session, I was getting accustomed to the new turn points with the most significant improvement being a tight finishing line, rather than the usual line, consistently wide and less-predictable. 

Up until that point, I am ashamed to admit that I had never been aware of counter-steering. This drill was a revelation, and from talking to the other participates, I believe it was enlightening for everyone. The drill involved weaving at a constant speed down a straight line by consciously counter-steering. Two coaches watched from the start line and corrected positioning and technique. We all had to repeat the laps of the straight at least five times before the coaches were satisfied. Although the drill was tricky to get the hang of, once I had the hang of it, achieving the turn points on the track became easy as I learnt to quick steer later in the turn to avoid correcting in the middle of the corner.

The next drill also had a profound effect on all the riders present. The drill was called ‘rider input’ and focused on allowing the motorcycle to have its head in a corner, not trying to fight against bike. All of us found that since we were concentrating hard to put all our learning into practice, as well as the fact that we were repeatedly putting our bodies into a stressful, adrenalin-ridden state, we tended to grip the handlebars for dear life, tensing our upper bodies. 

As we discovered, this makes the vehicle unstable in a corner. A bike oscillates within a natural degree of lateral movement, particularly when headed around a corner. By allowing the motorcycle to move within its own framework by relaxing the grip on the bars and dropping the elbows into a relaxed state, the motorbike becomes perceivably more stable. Coming out of the infamous turn two hairpin, I audibly gasped in amazement at the difference in stability exiting the curve compared to the previous session. However old habits die hard and I still had to fight my body at each corner as it attempted to tense up at the prospect of leaning closer to the asphalt.

Early in the day I had felt the unexpected thrill of terror and then triumph as my boot scraped the ground around my favourite hairpin on the track (turn 9). The concentration I held on the track gave me a symbiosis with the bike and I didn’t even realise how far I was leaning until this sudden jolt. 

Naturally, I freaked out and immediately backed off the throttle, ending up with a wide exit line. After this and as the day wore on, I felt as if I was actually decreasing my speed into the corners and each one began to feel laboured. I thought this may be a result of muscle fatigue after four separate adrenalin shots around the track. On the fifth and final drill, the reason for my discomfort became apparent. Since the second drill teaching us about turn points, I had had my attention focused too much on meeting the white crosses on the track. This meant as I approached the cross, I reduced entry speed too much and was tense moving into the corner. Drill five was called ‘two-step turning’ and focussed on teaching us to locate the turn point on the road, then once it is clear that you will hit that mark, change your eye line to focus on the apex of your corner.

“Once I understood this, all the other drills and skills I learnt throughout the day fell together, the corners felt much more natural and it became an immensely thrilling last hurrah around the track. I was cornering faster and with much more stability and I now had the confidence I was lacking previously.”

The first few laps on the track are frightening because the experience was completely foreign to me. I had never had somebody tape up my rear vision mirrors and speedometer and tell me ride – presumably at high speed – with no cars and your control of the motorcycle being the only potential hazard. Besides forcing myself to stop trying to check my mirrors, as the day wore on and with the help of Steve and the coaches I became immensely comfortable in this environment. There is something entirely euphoric about the experience. You become removed from your body as you execute a series of actions to bring you successfully around a corner at ludicrous speeds. 

In your mind you know you are putting yourself in danger, but the risk is confined entirely to the accuracy of your actions. As a result, leaving at the end of the day to putt once more through Sydney traffic felt as foreign and dangerous to me as the initial laps around the track did at 8am that morning. As I grew accustomed once again to city riding, I found I had a new confidence in my abilities to handle my motorcycle. 

I found myself consciously applying each drill we learnt into my riding and felt my old habits – the ones I hadn’t realised were there – gradually dissipate. The school exceeded my expectations 10-fold and I was utterly spent after the long day – both mentally and physically – having crammed so much information into a single day. The skills learned are so important to any rider, I fervently believe everyone with a newly acquired full riders licence should participate in a day at California Superbike School and set their standard of riding early for an inherently safer and undoubtedly more enjoyable ride.

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Sportsbikes are fast and there are a lot of riders out there who should be sticking to ride days for a speed fix… Ride days are fantastic – everyone is going in the same direction, there is run-off areas, emergency medical help and no speed limits.

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Fines, injuries, jail, loss of licence… all these things happen at 200-plus on the street. Plus of course there is the fun factor. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve met a rider at a track day that is grinning ear-to-ear after his or her very first session lapping a track. The feeling is one that none of us forget and, like that first knee slide moment, it becomes an addiction. Once you go track, you’ll never go back…

Unfortunately, I also, from time to time, meet riders that really want to experience the racetrack but are either too shy to head out there with experienced riders, are not sure they have the ability or think expenses mean it is out of their reach but it doesn’t have to be that way.

THE DAY HAS COME
Like anything, for sure, the first time can be a little nerve wrecking and a bit of a hurdle but, once that chequered flag signals the end of your very first session, all of those butterflies go away. It’s just the buzz that will stay with you for the whole day. 

Getting in to ride days is easy. All you need to do is get your bike checked over by your mechanic, get the appropriate tyres on it, sort your riding gear and book the day. There are multiple ride day companies and all of them are accommodating, experienced and smart operators. You’ll be made to feel at home and you will receive expert advice and be treated with kid gloves on your very first day. Ride day operators have special Novice and First Timer briefings and groups for riding in and some will also ensure you have an instructor shadow you if required to help out with tips. There are strict overtaking rules to avoid you getting blasted off the track and fantastic signalling and flag systems that are universal and easy to understand.

When you arrive you generally look for a garage and set up, just ask the others in there if there is room. Once you unload and set-up, you’ll find there will be a quick briefing where all new riders will be pulled aside for a bit of extra help. You’ll then be allocated in to the appropriate riding group for your ability and given a wristband. There will usually be timetables up around the place with your session times. So it is a matter of keeping your bike fuelled up and suiting up with 10 minutes or so to spare. Getting leathers on in a panic at the last minute before you ride is a disaster waiting to happen…

Aside from the odd ego tripper (they show up everywhere not just at the track) the pits on ride days are full of like-minded riders sharing a fun day and socially, ride days can be brilliant – lunch time is always a laugh…

At the end of a good ride day, you will feel completely mentally and physically exhausted and at the same time invigorated and on a massive high. And when you get home and crack that first beer – the grin will be immense.

Which Bike?
It really doesn’t matter what you ride really. If it has an engine, brakes, suspension and tyres then it’ll be fun. However, sportsbikes and sports-slanted nakedbikes are more suitable due to ground clearance. Once you get in to ride days more, you can get serious about your bike. But first up, even on a little 250, you will be packing bricks so showing up on a 1000 on slicks is not the go – trust me…

Make sure you have new brake fluid and plenty of meat on your brake pads, no oil leaks, new or very good tyres and excellent condition chain and sprockets and good suspension with no oil seals leaking. There will be scrutineering on the day so to avoid disappointment of a knock back, get your bike in order before you go. 

What To Wear
OK, this is important. You need really good leathers, good gloves and boots and a top quality helmet. No point showing up in jeans and a leather jacket, as you won’t be allowed on the track. You will also be knocked back if your helmet shows signs of a previous drop, your gear is torn or in bad condition, and you are not allowed on tracks without a back protector. It is recommended that you wear a chest protector.

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The next thing to do is to join a club that includes people with a common interest or are located locally. Log on to Motorcycling Australia’s website  (www.ma.org.au). MA are the sanctioning body for all motorcycle racing (other than drag racing) in Australia. On their website you’ll find a full list of clubs in your state or territory. While you’re on the site, download their ‘Getting started in Motorcycle Sport’.

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Don’t be scared about checking out a few clubs before joining one. They’re all unique and finding the right one for you will make the transition to road racer much easier.

Getting Licensed
Every club has a secretary who looks after licencing and they will be more than happy to guide you through the process that includes an open book theory test. If you have a civil rider’s licence or have attended a suitably accredited riding school, that should be enough to satisfy the MA State Controlling Body otherwise you may have to undergo a practical riding test to make sure you know the clutch lever from the front brake lever. 

Protection
While we don’t like talking about it, people do fall off motorbikes on racetracks. MA requires all licence holders to have their own personal Ambulance subscription. We’d recommend that you have your own income protection and that it includes coverage for motorcycle racing. No one wants to use up all of their sickies and holidays recovering from an accident.

Protection also includes your own riding gear. Starting from the top, you require a full-face helmet that is approved to AS1698, which is the Australian Standard for helmets for street use anyway. A set of one-piece leathers that fit is the preferred way to cover the larger parts of your anatomy. Make sure they’re roomy enough for you to wear the mandatory back protector underneath, and a chest protector is recommended too.

The best leather gloves you can afford will keep your digits intact if you’re sliding down the track and using your hands as brakes. There’s a huge variety of suitable boots on display at any decent-sized motorcycle shop. Take the time to find a pair that fit properly without being too tight. Tight boots will ruin your day very quickly.

Getting Your Bike Ready
If you’re not overly mechanically minded, don’t worry, your local bike shop should be able to check your bike over before you venture on track for the first time. A full service and tune-up now could save you from a big bill later. All racing classes have common rules to ensure bikes don’t fall apart or leak fluid on the track. Before you’re allowed on track at any race meeting, your bike will be inspected by a scrutineer.

Don’t give them a hard time if they pull you up and point out something you’ve forgotten. The majority of them have been doing this for a long time and don’t want to see anybody get hurt due to an oversight. Full rules for your class are in the Manual of Motorcycle Sport you receive from MA once licenced. But keep in mind that bike preparation is very important and quite in-depth for racing. Like you, your bike needs controlled fluid retention.

Tips For Keeping Comfortable
Assuming you’re like the rest of us, you’ll be carting yourself and your bike to the track in a trailer, ute or van. There are a few things we’d advise you chuck in. These may sound obvious but people still forget. Grab an esky and fill it with ice bricks and bottles of cold water. You’ll be amazed at just how easy it is to dehydrate while racing on a hot day.

Even though racetrack food has improved from the days of dodgy hamburgers and warm soft drinks, chuck snack-type things in the esky along with sandwiches. You’ll burn off a lot of calories in a day and replacing them with racetrack food could send you broke.

Not all racetracks offer covered pit areas so some sort of shade device will make your day much more enjoyable. Don’t forget the sunscreen either. The most important thing to take with you is a sense of humour. On its own this could be the difference between a day best forgotten and one of the best experiences of your life.

If you think you can’t afford to race think again. It costs the same to race as it does to maintain a road bike or a track day bike, and entry fees for club racing are around that of a ride day – but you get a lot more laps at many race meetings…

The Bike
You’ll need to spend a bit of time here – all fluid retaining fasteners need to be lockwired, fairings need catch areas in the bellypan, you need a tether kill switch, brake callipers bolts need to be lockwired and you need good suspension, brakes and bodywork. You also need a bullet-proof engine because you are going to thrash it beyond any ride day or road level of thrash! No need to spend big. Start racing on an old bike that you can crash. A lot. Because you will… 

Get Your Gear On
You need the best you can afford and then some more. Spend more on your gear than your bike if you have to but, like is the case with your bike, having shiny new parts is a waste if you are learning. You will inevitably test your riding gear. A lot. So go for an affordable compromise. Don’t buy the most expensive graphics on your lid if a plain white one is going to be cheaper, for example. But don’t skimp on quality…

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Before really getting into throttle opening, there was always one part of the setup that I needed very smooth before I could really focus on throttle opening and that is the initial pick-up of the throttle or the transition from closed throttle to that first crack. This is just to get the bike settled and pick-up the drivetrain and feel the connection with the rear tyre.

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On a new bike or even when a new map was installed and particularly since the heavy reliance on traction control has come to the fore, that initial pickup became the priority that everything else was built on.

The first day of testing a new bike, and sometimes just the arrival at a new circuit, could mean plenty of time spent on smoothing out the aggressiveness of that initial crack of the throttle. When it is too aggressive the bike tends to jump, which unloads the front suspension then reloads it when you try and get it back under control. The compromise is definitely two-way with the need for feel from the direct connection to the rear tyre but also not too soft on opening so that you can’t really feel the grip level of the rear tyre.

Once the desired pickup is achieved and the rider has the confidence to then really open the throttle it becomes a matter of laps and each particular corner in working out the quickest way to exit the particular turn in question.

In a long constant-radius-type turn like the Southern Loop (Turn 2) at Phillip Island, it requires getting back on the throttle quite soon after releasing the brakes and hitting that first apex on the entry. It is more to keep a constant speed around the corner and get the bike loaded and set up for the exit. When you have it turned and pointed down towards turn three, you then start to pick it up more to the centre part of the tyre or off the edge of the tyre and really get the throttle open.

The opposite type of corner is Honda Corner (Turn 4) which is much slower and more of a stop corner that involves much lower corner speed but then a sudden need to get the bike up and accelerating back to speed again down towards Siberia. It is pointless trying to carry a lot of corner speed around a corner like Honda Corner. Getting on the throttle too early you run out wider on the exit and therefore never really get the bike off the side of the tyre and sometime never really to full throttle.

I always found it better to sacrifice a little mid-turn speed around Honda and get the bike turned and over the little bump in the middle of the corner so that I could pick it up and get the throttle opened to full as soon as possible in order to use the power the bike has on the fat part of the tyre.

I touched earlier on traction control and its effect on throttle opening. Put more correctly and simply would be to say traction control lets you open the throttle earlier. When a rider feels that the task of getting the tyre hooked up on the first part of the opening is being taken care of electronically you tend you get more and more confident with throttle opening but it does depend on traction still and if the traction is simply not there then the bike just won’t go anywhere. Keep in mind though that it is still very much possible to highside a bike with traction control. 

The point where you can open the throttle can also vary a lot from the first day of practice when the circuit is dirty to race day when the track is a lot faster. Usually on day one, tyres are not working really well on the dirty track and as the rubber gets laid down things will improve. 

A wet track and wet tyres can change things quite a lot too, compared to your reference points in the dry. In the wet, I generally found that I picked the throttle up quite early just to keep the bike loaded around the turn and balanced because any sudden movement can leave you sliding up the road on your arse or head. I’m only talking maybe five per cent throttle opening but just enough to keep the tyres loaded. Of course, once you start opening it on the exit you really need to be smooth and consistent all the way to full throttle. I found the mental concentration was really intense in the rain but staying on top of it really allowed you to reap the rewards.

Once wheelie control started to be introduced, that also made throttle opening quite a bit easier whereas before you had to control it with the rear brake or try and short shift a little and keep it out of the power a bit. The wheelie control allowed you to just open the throttle to the stop and get on with it but again the delicate balancing act was in not taking too much power out of it so you lost out on acceleration.

Another interesting experience I want to share with you is the ‘against all logic’ of opening the throttle on qualifying tyres. You really need to forget what your brain is telling you and open the throttle so much earlier and harder on the side of the tyre for one lap.

The most fun I had one day was when I was testing the factory Yamaha M1 800 for Michelin in Spain when we were trying to get the tyres on the pace of the Bridgestones. We spent a whole morning testing rear qualifiers and then front and rear qualifiers together. With the fronts I could simply brake hard all the way to the apex and then crack the throttle almost as soon as I got off the brakes and get it onto the super-sticky rear qualifier that didn’t move.

The trap there was that straight after lunch I was back out on race tyres and sure enough I took the bait and fell straight into the trap of losing the front on the brakes entering a fast right-hander. Lesson learned I suppose. In summary, the biggest piece of advice I could give on throttle opening is to go by the conditions of the track and the type of corner you are going through because no two corners are the same and therefore openings will vary. Of course you need keep in mind that old saying of ‘Sometimes you need to slow down a little to go faster.’

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