Thompson lap times?

[xxaarraa]

I searched and couldn't find a "Thompson PB's" thread. I would like to see what guys are running so I can benchmark / strive towards.

Anyone point me to what "good" track day laptimes are for Thompson?

[Chippertheripper]

Doesn't matter. It's not a race.
Pardon my "get off my lawn".

[The Snowman]

Doesn't matter. It's not a race.

Exactly. Track days aren't about how fast you go, but about how much fun you have while becoming a better rider.

That said, if they ever did start racing there (doubtful, due to the lack of run-off in certain areas), then there may be a PB thread.

The Loudon PB thread is for officially timed laps anyway, not those timed by a GPS timer or if one brings their own beacon type.

[xxaarraa]

Doesn't matter. It's not a race.
Pardon my "get off my lawn".

No it does not matter since track days are definitely NOT races.

Yes it does matter, since I like to have a pulse on my evolution at every track and have something to strive for each season. All motivated track riders want to get faster. Lap times are a reasonably scientific proxy for 'faster' than butt dyno and "dude did you see that" anecdotes.

[Chippertheripper]

Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals.
The fast will follow.

I'm sorry to piss on your breakfast, I really am.

[csmutty]

I agree with tonys idea on fb. If you aren't getting passed in black group you're doing it right. Gauge yourself by other riders without riding over your head.

[xxaarraa]

Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals.
The fast will follow.

I'm sorry to piss on your breakfast, I really am.

Oh boy, I don't want to turn this into a philosophical debate of the relative significance of track days versus racing, etc. Do I think lap times are the end-all and be-all? Nope, I am not that naive or stupid. Track days isn't racing, I have no illusions about that.

Do I think laptimes are a reasonably scientific proxy? Yes. Let me put it this way. My time is my most valuable commodity. If I am spending all weekend in a sweaty pit and sleeping in a truck and hauling gear and bikes somewhere, I want a tad bit more scientific measure on my progress than how many guys I pass or how my body position looks in a photo. Trackdays are inherently a more organized pursuit than taking a gold wing out on a country road, though both can be "fun" If I were to extrapolate your philosophy to the medical field, all doctors would have to say is "focus on exercise and good diet, everything else will follow" and wouldn't have to run blood work to find out why you may be about to die in 3 months.

You are certainly not pissing on my breakfast, trust me.

[Chippertheripper]

I hope you get what you need out of your experience.
I say this as I eat a Reese's ice cream bar and have tossed diet and excercize out the window for the day.

[xxaarraa]

I hope you get what you need out of your experience.
I say this as I eat a Reese's ice cream bar and have tossed diet and excercize out the window for the day.

Reese's ice cream bar at 11:31 AM? Geezuz you are a badass

[Pigman]

I won a TD one time then Savas passed me........

[Ductard]

I won a TD one time then Savas passed me........

Then he bumped up when he found out there was no TD championship at the amateur level....

[Pigman]

Then he bumped up when he found out there was no TD championship at the amateur level....

Or points.......

[Ductard]

Or points.......

Yes there ARE points, but they're just for gridding your trailer in the paddock. :

[Chippertheripper]

Points of her own sitting way up high. Way up firm and high.

[xxaarraa]

Are there points for listing sponsor names in your NESR signature?

Racing is the epitome not just in motorcycles, in any powersports. No doubt. But sometimes guys seem to think racing for the sake of racing and listing sponsor names makes them hot shit. Said another way, for me personally, racing and finishing 5th, 7th, 10th, 15th is just as pointless as track days. Racing is about winning and if you are consistently not winning, you might as well run track days.

[Pigman]

Are there points for listing sponsor names in your NESR signature?

Racing is the epitome not just in motorcycles, in any Powersports. No doubt. But sometimes guys seem to think racing for the sake of racing and listing sponsor names makes them hot shit. Said another way, for me personally, racing and finishing 5th, 7th, 10th, 15th is just as pointless as track days. Racing is about winning and if you are consistently not winning you might as well run track days.

They are only to win the Big Penis contest out back at the track..... I came in 3Rd

[nhbubba]

I was almost on xxaarraa's side of this one until post 15.
Your interwebz personality is really hard to pull for.

[Ductard]

Are there points for listing sponsor names in your NESR signature?

Racing is the epitome not just in motorcycles, in any Powersports. No doubt. But sometimes guys seem to think racing for the sake of racing and listing sponsor names makes them hot shit. Said another way, for me personally, racing and finishing 5th, 7th, 10th, 15th is just as pointless as track days. Racing is about winning and if you are consistently not winning you might as well run track days.

That's just silly. No offense to you personally, but the people I *usually* hear that from are the guys that don't want to race but still want to sound like they are an overall badass "I'm good at so many things that I can only spend time on ones that I can be the best in."

I entered 6 races and I got the podium ONCE this past weekend. At the amateur level (i.e. the fastest guys [experts] were too good to even be in the race), in a race with 4 guys in it I got third. Meanwhile, the most fun / best racing I participated in was fighting for 10th place in Unlimited Superbike (after coming up from 20th) and fighting for not-last-place in motard.


That's like saying if you're not Tiger Woods, you should never enter a golf tournament. Hell, even Tiger Woods hasn't been Tiger Woods for like 10 years. Maybe he should just quit at life, but I digress...

Anywho, the best way to get above 5th, 7th, 10th, 15th, is to race. To put it another way, you will drop seconds at least twice as fast by racing than doing trackdays.

This weekend alone, I dropped 1.8 seconds on 1 bike and 7 seconds on the other (probably 4 seconds from sorting out suspension issues and 3 from growing a pair.)

Again, no offense but you've complained about spending all of your time at trackdays chasing seconds that aren't coming very easy.

Grid up and watch those unwanted seconds just melt away....

[nhbubba]

Grid up and watch those unwanted seconds just melt away....

Truth. Plus you get to pass.

The downside is that if you're used to using the right wrist to do your passing for you, you will be very frustrated.

[xxaarraa]

That's like saying if you're not Tiger Woods, you should never enter a golf tournament.

Nope, not what I said. You should still enter golf tournaments even if you are not Tiger Woods, but with the goal of wanting to be Tiger Woods. Entering just to enter is making up the numbers and just as pointless as the country club golfer.

Anywho, the best way to get above 5th, 7th, 10th, 15th, is to race. To put it another way, you will drop seconds at least twice as fast by racing than doing trackdays.

I agree with you Ductard. Racing accelerates your evolution as a rider, no doubt. Precisely why I want to, and will give it a go. No matter where I place though, I wouldn't be part of the gallery that is quick to jump in with "you don't need to know anything since you are not racing" sentiment because they finished 5th in a race last weekend and have sponsors listed in their signature.

[Mgiossi]

Though I don't have any "official" lap times. I have been just using a stop watch and timing the fast guys along with my own times. I currently "unofficially" have done a low 1:24 at Thompson. I have timed "unofficial" times of most fast guys running low 20's to very rarely high teens and mostly the high teens were done by a certain guy on a black rsv4 ;-) I have no want to get into a debate on what is being said about having times or not but for myself it is a way to help me gauge how I am doing vs. The fastest guys. All my times and there's are far from tenth of a second correct of course

[Ductard]

Are there points for listing sponsor names in your NESR signature?

Racing is the epitome not just in motorcycles, in any powersports. No doubt. But sometimes guys seem to think racing for the sake of racing and listing sponsor names makes them hot shit. Said another way, for me personally, racing and finishing 5th, 7th, 10th, 15th is just as pointless as track days. Racing is about winning and if you are consistently not winning, you might as well run track days.

PS - before this escalates, let me explain what all the points talk was about - It wasn't a "racers turn their nose up on trackdays" thing, in the LRRS page on FB, Sav pointed out something in the rulebook that made it sound like there were no amateur championships and then dozens of people piled on about "well there are points" "but those are just for gridding" and "amateur championships don't mean anything anyways"...

So it was a semi-public inside joke of sorts.

Just bringing that up because you sort of came out swinging at Pigman (I would take all the sponsors I could get, and try to get their name out as much as possible, as long as I believed in their product, and it made this ungodly expensive hobby somewhat cheaper.)

So no, guys don't put sponsors in their signature as a badge of honor. They are fulfilling their commitment of trying to help further the sponsor's brand.

[Jim]

Xxaarraa, if we're not consistently winning races, do we not deserve to have sponsors? Should we go back to track days?

Can you please post when you're next track day is and what group you're riding? I'm sure where's a few undeserving racers like myself that would love the opportunity to ride with you.

[sedanman]

As a veteran of two, yes TWO trackdays l can see the validity of an expert level rider wanting a guage to measure their performance. I wouldn't mind knowing my lap times, but l have much work to do before that is a major concern.

[Kurlon]

So... seeing as I and a bunch of others were just called out by group...

That group of sponsors in my signature line? It has nothing to do with me wanting to beat my own chest and brag. I do that JUST fine on my own thank you. While I'm a legend in my own mind, I don't consider myself 'hot shit' 'cause I like to race. I race 'cause I've got a competitive itch a mile long that other forms of riding won't scratch. The list of sponsors is there because we, the sponsors and I have an agreement that they'll help me out if I help them out. Links and helping get eyeballs on their names is a tiiiiiiiiny portion of that deal.

Now, back to that competitive streak. That want to not just go fast but do so VS others is why I generally don't do track days any more. It's no fun to put my head down, charge hard, claw my way up to someone only to have to immediately rub the red mist from my eyes and determine if I can safely make a clean outside pass in a legal zone around this person or if I'd be better off pitting in, waiting for the pack to get behind me and pit out ahead of them later in the session for a bit more clear track time. I might as well be remembering to check my mirrors and use my turn signals... did I mention I don't street ride now either for the same reason? I can downshift mentally to TD mode, but at that point I'm really just circulating and not getting any benefit out of the time, so for me, personally I don't do many now.

If you're chasing lap times you're already starting to treat this closer to racing than is really proper for a track day. You're not SUPPOSED to be timing yourself at any of the TD orgs short of Penguin to begin with. Striving for personal skill improvement is great, but keep in mind the environment you're playing in, it's NOT A RACE EVENT. Not even vs a clock.