What I'm Working On 2.0

A year later

Author

Scott Clayton
March 17, 2025

Getting my knee down in this corner (9, at The Ridge) would surely shave off some time. And put some hair on my chest. Can it be in less than 770 laps?

Out of a potential 70 laps during the day. How many can I complete? That’s what I’m working on this year.

Let say an average of a two minute lap time; sometimes a little slower, sometimes a little faster. With twenty minutes in a session and seven sessions in a day. I’ve come up with 70 potential laps, excluding any red flags. Again, averaging out; I can complete about half the sessions. More than half in the morning and then less than half by the end of the day. If there is a second consecutive day, it is just the opposite. I am too stiff and sore in the morning sessions.

I don’t need more track days in a year than what the season pass accounts for (typically 11 or 12). However, I do need to maximize the amount of potential laps within the days of the season pass. To do this, all the work is done off track. I think my weight is the biggest factor in my under-utilization of the available laps. March 3rd’s newsletter describes a recent breakthrough in my plateau.

So this takes care of the work being done off the track. What about on the track? Where am I with the things I was working on last year? This leads me back to “What I’m Working On 1.0”. These skills and techniques I listed a year ago are not things that can be mastered in a year; if ever.

Let me simplify last years newsletter into bullet points:

  • The more skilled you are, the more fun it is… (Anything and everything in life.)

  • If your arms are tense, you’re a thinker. If your arms are loose, you’re a feeler. -Ryan Hughes. (Also, applies to anything and everything in life)

  • Lightly dragging the brakes past the slow point. (I think my recent game of “Direction” solves this problem.)

  • Freddie Spencer Exits: Sacrificing some corner speed for a longer drag-strip between corners. (Turning past “direction”, and committing to the throttle so you don’t run off the track; to the inside)

  • More brake pressure turning into the corner.

Reference Points:

  • Newsletter #5 has been edited. This newsletter is the update.

  • MotoAmerica at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, TX. March 28th -30th.

  • Jerez Circuit in Spain had some flooding. They are trying to get it cleaned up and fixed before upcoming races.

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