One of the longest established race curcuits in the UK, Castle Combe, has encouraged novices to take part in their in-house motorcycle track day programme for the past 15 years. Due to very strict noise regulations they allow only 12 riders on track at any one time and employ numerous, experienced instructors to provide tips and advice on your lines and riding style.
With a promise of plenty of space on the 1.85 mile circuit and as a complete track novice, I signed up to one of their weekday events to investigate..
Before I left London, a quick history lesson from Editorial Director Mark Forsyth concluded with a tale of how he broke a 14 year old lap record set by 'B.Sheene' on his last visit to the tricky Wiltshire circuit. MF, we are not worthy!
Armed with my old man’s trusty Honda VFR 750 and some shiny new knee sliders, I was keen to improve my road riding skills on a track that was once one of the fastest in the UK.
Nerves building, the day started with a friendly safety briefing where riders with very limited experience are given the choice of sporting a blue ‘New To Track’ bib and inclusion in an all novice group.
The first outing on track consists of several sighting laps in order to familiarise yourself with the course. Nerves settled, the rest of the day consisted of approximately six sessions of 10 minutes each.
If you’ve ever been to Castle Combe you’ll know that nearly all the corners are right handers except for the several chicanes introduced in the late 1980s to reduce average track speeds. As the rider of one mean looking Suzuki Bandit found out, too much throttle on a cold left hand tyre edge spells a rather broken Streetfighter and a painful kiss with the tarmac.