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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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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