@pricetta and I completed level one of CSS yesterday at Brands Hatch. We had a truly fantastic time and learnt so much. Wow, what an experience. I can thoroughly recommend it to anyone interested in fast riding. Applicable to road riding as much as track riding, though for us the focus is on improving our track riding.
The weather forecast was terrible, but we didn’t let that deter us, and as luck would have it, the weather held off and gave us a gloriously warm day, right up until the last session of the day when it rained. We skipped that session as there were reports of oil resurfacing from the tarmac and we have a trackday in a couple of weeks so didn’t want to risk damaging the bikes before then.
Claire’s a couple of seasons in to trackdays now, so this is the perfect time for her to go through it, helping her to make maximum progression through the techniques they teach without having any bad track habits already.
Me on the other hand - I’ve been doing trackdays for nearly 20 years and can hold my own on track, so have some ingrained habits that are harder to fix in a single day, but still came away feeling blown away at how instructive and valuable the lessons and techniques were. I made what I felt like was significant improvement in a couple of key areas: turn in points, and turn speed. I knew about the former, but was amazed at how the second; turning in speed. By being given confidence through education and drilling on track, I was able to make a marked improvement in my turn in speed, which helped with overall speed as I could feel safe enough to arrive at turn in points at a higher speed and still make the turn. Eye-opening.
For those that don’t know, this is a school day, the format is roughly:
- Based on a trackday, so sign-on, briefings, groups and sessions
- You ride at 75% to give you headspace to think about the techniques you’re drilling on track
- You get schooled in a class on a technique
- You drill the technique on track with an assigned instructor who observes you and pulls you around
- You finish your session and have a debrief with two other people with your instructor
- You do more class work and repeat…
The staff and instructors are really nice people. Super friendly, no egos, just there to help you improve your riding. The whole day is run very well. You’re well looked after with free water, fruit and snacks. The whole atmosphere is super positive. No dickheads like you get on trackdays at times. Very good safety regime and track record.
We’re going to book in asap for Level Two, and will most certainly complete all four levels if the first was anything to go by. The end result is you feel more confident, safer as a result and a happy by product is you become faster on track and thus get more satisfaction out of track riding. Win, win, win!
Overall, I can’t think of a better way to spend your money if you’re interested in track riding. The value is huge from their instruction. I really should have done this before now.
You spend time together as a group in the pit-lane, unlike a trackday. Very good atmosphere as a result.
Claire
Me
End of day, time to get changed and packed away.
Not many pictures in between as we’re so focused on learning, and the tempo of the day is high. No time for photos.
Claire’s RS660
My Panigale V2
As we were packing up, we met this helpful chap who let us fawn over his amazing RS 660 track bike. I think we’ve gained some inspiration. Clip-ons and a new top-yoke for Claire’s bike next to improve the riding position.
All the buttons/levers.
Claire strapping my V2 down.
One of the instructors V4. What a bike.
The school is partnered with Kawasaki. You can hire from a range of bikes. 300’s up to 1000’s.
It rained just before the last sessions of the day. Most bikes were hiding from the rain here, but earlier it was a line of bikes all the way to the end of the pit lane!
