Passing at the track

[shmike]

Originally Posted by The Awesome

I understand holding novice riders back from passing in corners. The issue I have is organizations that allow passing in corners, but only on the outside. There is certainly nothing wrong with passing on the outside, but opportunities to do it are few and far between compared to a traditional inside maneuver, so new riders should start working on that very early on. If riders were better at passing across the board, track days would be much less frustrating. Having your first opportunity to pass traditionally come when you are grouped in advanced with a bunch of racers and seasoned track riders is a bad situation. Not only will you have trouble filtering through traffic, but you will be unprepared for the maneuvers that faster riders will be putting on you.

Which is a nice segue into...



From the perspective of a faster amateur rider, I do NOT want a slow rider to try to help me pass them. As I approach a slower rider, I already know exactly what I am going to do to get around them when I get there. When riders alter their line, look behind and slow down, or do anything else that is unpredictable, it changes the situation from a calculated maneuver to an educated guess. Educated guesses can end badly if one or both of the riders guess wrong. Some of the closest calls I ever had were scenarios exactly like this.

When slower riders do this, it's often because the faster rider caught them in a spot they personally find difficult/impossible to pass in, therefore they have no idea what the faster rider is about to do to get around them. To execute the pass, the faster rider is counting on the slower one to maintain a predictable race line. If the slower rider becomes aware of the presence of the faster rider and tries to "give up" to allow the faster rider by, they can easily create a collision scenario.

The best thing a slow rider can do for everyone else on the track is to ignore what's behind them and ride in a predictable and controlled manner.

100% Agreement.

At our local trackdays it is absolutely not allowed in Novice. Azoom explained the reasons why.

While I agree that the outside pass is overly burdensome, that is somewhat on purpose. It places the burden squarely on the passer. If he goes in too hot and stands the bike up, he doesn't collect the bike he tried to pass. Same thing with a washed front end.

How many times have you seen ricky racer with more balls then brains shoot way hot into a turn, brake all the way to the edge of the track, pull a u-turn and rocket to the next missed entry point? Him having to pass on the outside helps protect the riders trying to learn the proper line.

We frown upon passing on the inside in Intermediate but there is room to fudge the rules based on the situation. If you out brake someone into the turn, odds are it is on the inside. We ask that riders get the move done before turning in.

Obviously if you have a multi-turn complex, there may be an inside pass made but we'd prefer you wait until the next straight.

Like Mr. Awesome said please DO NOT try to "help out" the faster riders. They will get by. It is safer for all involved to hold your line and look forward. If I saw you going off-line and looking back, we'd have chat on hot-pit.