Thread: Using the Whole Track

Using the Whole Track

What’s the best way to get around a race track on a motorcycle? Is there only one “good line” that will be the fastest, safest and most consistent way to run laps? Why think about “apexes” and stuff? Wouldn’t it be fine to just ride around the middle of the track?

If you’ve watched professional motorcycle roadracing on TV, you’ve probably noticed that all the riders follow pretty much the same line around the track, only deviating when they are trying to pass someone. Why do they all like to take that same line, and how do they know where it is, especially if they haven’t been to the track before? Are they just following a bunch of dark tire marks on the track where the heaviest traffic has occurred, or are there reasons behind their choice?

Actually, there is a science to selecting the best lines, and it’s not really that complicated. Once you learn it, you’ll be a much faster, safer, and more confident rider. You’ll find that it’s fun to go to a new track and figure out the best lines in a hurry, even without asking a local expert to show them to you.

The best racers and trackday riders make a point to use the whole track, from edge to edge, curbing to curbing. Why? It really comes down to the concept of lean angle. For maximum speed and safety, you want to minimize the amount of time your bike is at its maximum lean angle. This is especially the case while braking or accelerating, when you are likely to have the least amount of traction.

Using the whole track, from edge to edge, gives you the maximum amount of room to get your braking done prior to maximum lean angle through the turn. Similarly, it gives you the greatest possible amount of room to accelerate out of the turn after your point of maximum lean angle. If you aren’t using the whole track, you’re asking a lot more of your tires, which decreases your safety and limits your ability to go faster.

In a way, you can think of your ideal line around the track as being a series of the straightest possible lines. Riding straight lines keeps the bike upright as much as possible, in order to have the most traction available while on the gas or braking. Those straight lines can be a lot longer if you’re going all the way to the edges of the track.

What’s an Apex, and Why is it Important?

Simply put, the apex is the inside point of the corner that you want to be parallel to as you go from point to point across the turn, from one edge of the track to the other.


Let’s look at an illustration of using the whole track, and hitting the proper apex point. Here we see a pretty standard 90 degree corner. Assuming that there is a straightaway on either side of this corner, let’s think about some different ways we could get through it. The early apex line, represented in red, would allow us to take lots of speed into the corner, keeping the bike pretty upright. But what happens at exit? We run out of track in a hurry, forcing us to slow down or lean the bike a whole bunch, or both. How about the orange line, showing a late apex? In this scenario, we go in wide, but have to slow down and lean the bike a whole bunch to make the turn, before we can power out after the late apex. But there’s a whole bunch of track we’re not using at the exit, which means we’re giving up free speed.

The blue line shows a more balanced approach for this particular corner. The rider is using the whole track, keeping excessive lean angle to a minimum, giving himself plenty of room for braking at entry, and for getting on the gas hard at the exit.

Of course, not all turns are that simple.[BREAK=Three types of turns]

Generally, there are three types of turns you will encounter on a racetrack. Understanding how to identify these will definitely help you choose the best line to take. The three are determined by the conditions you will encounter at entry and exit of the corner. They are:
· Entry turns
· Exit turns
· Balanced turns

Turns that require you to enter slowly, but allow you to be hard on the gas at the exit are considered exit turns. Those that allow you to take lots of speed in, but require a slower and more careful line coming out are called entry turns. Still others are taken at about the same speed in as out: we’ll call those balanced turns.

Think about some of the turns at your favorite track, or take a look at a track map. Which would be considered entry turns? Exit turns? Balanced turns?

Here’s an example of an interesting turn from the West track at Miller Motorsports Park. It’s called the Blackrock Hairpin, at the end of a very long, fast section. It’s a very tight corner, where riders are braking from more than 100 MPH to less than half that speed. It then leads to a short straight the opposite direction. Would this be considered an entry corner, exit corner, or balanced corner? Why?

What line would you take through this corner, based on what sort of turn you think it is?

I think of this turn as an exit turn. Because it is so tight, you must be very slow going in. However, by moving out to the right of the apex, it really opens up at the exit, enabling the rider to really get on the gas and power out. Therefore, approaching this corner, the rider needs to think about how to set up to really accelerate out. Taking extra speed into the turn will not help here – it will just run you wide and possibly off the track.

The blue line shows a good line through this turn. The rider enters the turn just left of mid-track, having scrubbed quite a bit of speed off at that point. Now it’s all about setting up the exit. You can see that just after the apex point, there is another point where the bike will be at maximum lean – the slowest part of the turn – just before pointing the bike to the outside of the track and getting on the gas.[BREAK=Planning your way around the track]

How Do You Plan Your Way Around The Track? Backwards!
As you can see, there are three main points of each corner that we’ve been thinking about, and that you should be very aware of in each turn you negotiate on the track.
· Corner Entry
· Apex
· Corner Exit

For the most part, your planning will work backward from your intended exit path. The exit you need to have will determine the apex you need to hit, and will show you the entry you'll need to make to hit that apex.

When I go to an unfamiliar track, I always get a copy of the track map from the internet to study and plan before I get there. This helps me to test my skills at understanding the proper lines and to quickly get up to speed when I arrive.

Once I have the map, I first try to get a feel for the overall layout. Does it look really tight and technical – or long and flowing? Have you heard others talk about particular corners that they love (or hate)? I’ve often found that the toughest turns for riders to deal with become my favorites.

I remember going through STAR school at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada a few years back. The students generally hated turns 3 and 5A/5B. They were both pretty tight and tricky for everyone – including me. Now they’re two of my favorites, because I find them very interesting. I also find that using the techniques we’re talking about makes these turns the ones where I have the best chance to pass people (or set up a pass) which, of course, is always fun!

You can’t necessarily plan each turn individually. Often, there is another turn just beyond that one, which may provide an opportunity for a great exit. Because of that, both turns will be all about setting up that eventual exit of the second turn. As a result, you really need to plan your approach backwards from corner exits.[BREAK=Real world examples]


Real World Example - Miller East
Let’s look at a track map and think about how we might do this. This is the East track at Miller, which is considered the more technical of the two sides of that amazing facility. As you can see from the arrow at the top, the direction is counter-clockwise; meaning more left turns than right. You might want to print this map out and practice the process of planning your lines using a pencil.

How does the flow of the track look to you? Are there any particular corners that look like they’d be really tough? Of course, sometimes there are features of a track that you would need to take into consideration that won’t show up on a map. Elevation changes, blind corners, distractions, and off-camber conditions may dictate needed adjustments you will make to your line.

Can you identify the corners according to the three different types mentioned above? Which look like entry corners, and why? Which are exit corners, or balanced corners?

Okay, now let’s visualize being on our bike, heading down the straightaway (top of the page) toward turn one. We’re going pretty fast, and that’s a pretty slow turn. Remember, we want to work backward from the exit, so what’s our plan? The next two bends are called “Fast” and “Faster,” so that should give you a clue that we’re going to be on the gas pretty hard at the exit. Therefore, it’s an exit turn, so I want to set up the best possible line. As you can see, turn one is a bit of a double apex turn. I want to use the whole track, so I’m going to take a bunch of speed, cutting across the first apex and shooting all the way to the outside edge of the track, where I’ll then be at the slowest point of the turn, pointing the bike on that perfect exit line where I can drive the bike hard all the way to turn three in as straight a line as possible.

In turn three, should we have an early entry, late entry, or somewhere in between? If you go in early, what is likely to happen? Early entrance usually leads to a wider exit. Because of what comes up next, that will send you wide at exactly the wrong time. Turn four comes up pretty quickly, and your entry to four definitely impacts the exit you’ll need from three. So, working backwards from the exit of four (which, using the whole track, would require you to enter three fairly tight to produce a wide exit), what does that then dictate for the preferred route through three? A mid-to-late entry, that will keep you more to the center/left of the track entering four, and will enable a fairly early turn-in to four.

Now you find yourself approaching turn five, which exits into a fast straight down into six. Again, using the whole track, we’re on the outer edge of the track after exiting four, and we’re going to exit turn five hard on the gas, going all the way to the outside (left) edge of the track. A late entry would give you a narrow exit along the right edge of the track, sacrificing the acceleration you want. Therefore, an early-to-mid entry would be best here.

I see people take a lot of different lines through the double-apex turn six. More often than not, riders will turn it into a big sweeping arc, entering fairly wide in 6A, then winding up with a fairly tight exit that does not use the whole track. I learned a terrific line through six at the Freddie Spencer School a couple of years ago, that really helps me pass a lot of people there. Taking a tight line across the apex of 6A, I shoot all the way to the outside edge of the track. This enables me to take a whole bunch of speed into the turn, braking while the bike is still quite vertical. Then, there is one very slow section of the turn, when I’m leaning the bike to maximum lean angle to point the bike in the direction of my exit from 6B. I stand the bike up, open the throttle, and shoot across the apex to the outer edge of the track. It’s very fast in, slow for a couple of seconds (that seem much longer!), then very fast on the exit. This is a good example of the concept of thinking of the track as a bunch of interconnected straight lines.

By comparison, the rider who treats 6A/6B as a big arc will be on the edge of the tire much longer, making both braking and acceleration for that turn quite risky.
This diagram shows the lines I’ve found to be the fastest and safest around this particular track. How do they compare with what lines you chose as you mapped out your approach? Of course, choosing lines around a track is part science, part art. If you’re confused or disagree with any of the lines I’ve shown on this diagram, post up your opinions! I’d love to have a dialogue about it.

Here's a video I put together that may be helpful. It shows a rider going around the East track at Miller at full speed, beginning at turn seven. The rider with the camera on the chase bike is an expert who is taking the preferred lines, using the concepts we've been reviewing above. The rider ahead runs some very good lines, but you may see a few spots where he's not quite on the same line as the bike with the camera. See if you can tell from the video how this could hurt his lap times (or even compromise his safety).

YouTube - MCADX Miller East Lines

I like Keith's 10 dollar bill demonstration, but there are points made about physics in the book I found distracting (as I believe them to be incorrect) and I find there are better books out there.

An alternate choice is Sport Riding Techniques by Ienatsch.