The Fast
Line Around Race City SpeedWay
by Paul Penzo
Professional roadracer Paul Penzo has
been kind enough to offer his insight into getting around
Race City at speeds not seen by wobblers like myself. Paul is
a a former Suzuki factory racer, won the RACE AM 750
Supersport and Superbike in 1994 and the Quebec/Ontario Pro
Open Superbike title in 1996. This year, Paul plans on
campaigning a YZF 600 R6 and is sponsored by Cycle World in
Ontario. To read about Paul's adventures so far this year
with his new R6 you can
check out his website Thanks for sharing your
insight Paul, and good luck with the season! Talk to you in
"Cow Town"!
Starting from the 3/4 mile
long straight, gear the bike so you have an awesome drive out
of the last corner coming onto the longest straight (This is
usually the most important corner on any race track). Ensure
gearing is tall enough so you almost, but not quite, run out
of top end.
Turns 1- 4
Go down two gears while braking
hard for Turn 1, tip the bike into the left hander at the end
of the straight (turn 1) going faster than you think
physically possible, down one more gear between corner 1 and
2 ( a short right hander). Hold third gear through corners 2,
3 and 4. (Good riders will take turn 3 and 4 as one
big left hand corners -ed)
Turns 4-6
You may have to go up one gear
before turn 4, but then only have to up-shift one through
turn 5. Depending on what you did, up-shift one or two gears
through the long right hand sweeper in turn 5 and down 1 into
the left hander (turn 6). Turn 6 is the fastest
corner on the track and is taken at over 100 mph.
The Chicane (Turns 7-8)
Downshift one more gear either
during the entrance to the chicane or between the right to
left transition. You're now back in third gear coming out of
the chicane onto the little straight before the bus stop.
The Bus Stop
Up one gear coming out of the
chicane onto the short straight, and go down one going into
the bus stop. The Bus
stop is a right, left, left, right combination that is taken
at lower speeds. A lot of passing takes place here as
we see who is better on the brakes.
Turns 9, 10, 11
Up 2 gears along the short
straight going into the bowl, down one before the sharp left
in the bowl (Turn 12) (The area leading onto the front
straightaway is called "the chute" and is lined by
high concrete walls made necessary by the drag racing they do
at Race City. The fast line leads you quite close to the
walls- ed.). and carry it out until the front straight.
Go through the gears as effectively as you can, and down 2
gears for corner one.
That was one lap going
through the gearbox as I remember it. The gearbox sure does get a workout, and I have a
feeling the R6 is going to be very picky regarding which gear you're in
since the power curve is very high, and pretty short in terms of the RPM range
in which it is most effective.
Sounds easy right? It becomes
second nature after a few laps, and the key
is to always follow the same
shift patterns, braking points, turning points,
corner speed and acceleration.
You are always racing the clock, and that's
the only way to get consistent
lap times from which to make improvements.
Once you've got those, you make
a change and see what happens.