One of the BSB teams lining up on the grid at the first round of the championship this weekend is helping improve the skills of road riders. Rapid CDH Racing has teamed up with its main sponsor Rapid Training to develop the machine control section of Rapid’s acclaimed road riding courses.
“Our courses are built on our racing heritage,” says Rapid boss Brian Glover-Smith, “and our coaching team wouldn’t be what it is without a close involvement in professional racing. Riding at the extreme limits gives us the unique understanding of performance riding that sets Rapid apart.”
For road riders, there are three main aspects to riding well: reading the road, planning, and machine control skills. It’s the latter that Rapid are using track work to develop. “If you were to push machine control skills to the limit on the road, that would be dangerous,” says Brian. “But you can do it on track, and that’s where professional racers come in.”
Besides working with Rapid CDH Racing’s Dean Hipwell and Josh Owens, Rapid’s team also includes Obsession Engineering, run by respected TT racer and track coach Dave Hewson.
He gives an example of how Rapid’s unique racing development program reaps benefits: “Working with Rapid’s road coaches on track, I noticed they were exceptionally smooth, but at the limit on track you can go quicker if your steering inputs are more aggressive. We’ve been working together to incorporate some of this technique into road riding. It’s really exciting – especially for me, as I’ve learned a hell of a lot about road riding from the road coaches!”
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Brian sums up the process: “Our courses are born from a close involvement in racing melded with our road riding skills and we work as one team to research and develop new riding skills and concepts. Many of our coaches and racers ride together on road and track and it is through this ‘one team’ approach that we refine our unique ideas to increase the fun and safety of road riders.”
For more information, head to: Rapidtraining.co.uk
