I've been talking about doing my ACU licence for years but never got around to doing it. Until last week, that is. The thought of travelling to Rugby to sit in a classroom and have flags waved at me was never that appealing. That and the fact I had to take a test, I hate taking tests.
Now, there's a new way to get your ACU licence. MotorSport Vision have teamed up with the ACU to offer ACU licence tests as part of their trackdays. You can either book in on the trackday and choose to take your ACU licence as a bolt-on or, just take the ACU licence and not join in on the trackday.
Having got home from Cartagena in the early hours, it was sleep I needed and not track time, so I opted for the ACU licence test-only which meant I didn't have to be at the trackday's 7:30am sign-on at Bedford Autodrome.
I arrived at Bedford at around 11am, enough time to mooch around, sign on and grab a coffee. When the trackday stopped for lunch, the ACU training began.
The ACU test comprises of two parts: a written test and an on-track assessment. Myself and three other wannabe racers headed to a room just off the main pit garages where we perched on our chairs and stared at a blank projector screen. The room's electric heaters threatened to make this session as dry as a sauna, but thankfully our ACU instructor, Stuart Stevenson kept things lively.
In the hour-long session we were shown plenty of slides, covering everything from how to join a club, to the all-important flag system, to preparing yourself and the bike. There's a lot to take in but if you've done a fair few trackdays, it'll feel very familiar.
After the briefing session, we were handed an 18 question multiple choice test. It took me around 10 minutes to fill it out. It's reassuring to know that when you line up on the grid, everyone around you has taken the same test. You can't say that about a trackday.
Once we'd all completed the written test, it was time to face up to the unavoidably rain-soaked Bedford circuit. On a brand new 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R, with 200 miles on the clock.
Stuart gave us all a quick briefing before heading out onto track. The main message was 'you're not here to set your fastest lap, ride how you normally would'.
With that fixed in my mind, we lined up ready to head out on track. Our line-up would have looked odd at even the most liberal of open-class club races: a Monster 900, an ex British Supersport Daytona 675, a race tuned GSX-R1000 on wets and a bog-stock ZX-10R. Nevermind, we headed out onto the track, with Stuart positioned behind the lead rider and the rest of us behind Stuart.
Our pace was set with the lead rider. We started off fairly cautiously as we were out on track with the normal trackday session. So some bikes were coming past and we were coming up on others. I don't know what you need to do to fail your ACU riding assessment, but skittling another rider onto the grass is probably high up the list of don'ts. Discretion being the better part of valour; it's probably not a good idea to re-create your favourite Rossi overtakes on random trackday punters when your ACU instructor is sat a couple of metres from your rear wheel. Save that for your first race, I imagine.
After a couple of laps, Stuart waved the next rider past and this went on until it was my turn to go. I rode in the exact way I do when I'm coming home knackered in the rain: self-preservation was my number-one aim, followed by avoiding large patches of water and white lines. Any spare brain power went into braking and turning in at the right time and being as smooth as I could. I was conciously trying to keep heat in my front tyre. The ZX-10R is new to me and this was the first time I had it on track, so I couldn't resist the temptation to open it up. Towards the end of the lap I saw 172mph on the clocks down the back straight, passing a trackdayer on a CBF1000 into the braking zone, braking as hard as I could given the conditions. Instructor Stuart was just a few metres behind me taking it all in.
At the end of my lap Stuart signalled and everyone entered the pits. Everyone except me that is. I wasn't looking at his signal and carried on riding. A corner later I looked in my mirrors and Stuart wasn't there. No-one was there. The lap ahead was one of the longest I've ever ridden. Next time around, I pulled into the pits and rushed to find Stuart, spitting out an apology from my folorn face. "You looked like you were enjoying yourself, I guessed you wanted to stay out for another lap" said a cheery Stuart. I think I got away with it.
After the riding assessment, Stuart ran us all through our written and riding scores on a one-to-one basis. I scored 18 out of 18 on the written test and seven As and one C (for body positioning) on my riding test. If only my Physics A-levels went so smoothly.
After being given our certificates, Stuart ran us through the next steps to getting our licence. He explained about the eye test and gave us some rough prices (mine was £20 from Boots) and he ran us through the ACU licence form to make sure we knew what boxes we had to tick. To get my licence for the year and my novice bib (!) cost me £50. The ACU licence test with MSV cost £150.
I went through a range of emotions on the day and even though I'm an experienced road rider, I had my moments of self-doubt. First, as the test paper loomed infront of me and secondly, putting my lid on and heading out into the pouring rain. However, after the assessment I felt like I'd chalked up a serious milestone. If only I'd done it sooner.
Click here if you're interested in taking your ACU licence with MSV. I'd thoroughly recommend it.
