ESS sets the pace

The European Superbike School is launching what it is hailing as the next generation of track day with every rider timed and grouped according to the pace they can really ride.

The aim of the new format is to provide riders with more time on track with less use of red flags and less time spent stuck behind slow riders, all with significantly improved safety.

The Pace Day sessions will be based on the Sports days already run by the school but without the extended classroom sessions. Sports days also have one instructor for every four riders.

For the first time in the UK, ESS will provide all the staff for the circuit, including all marshals and an extended medical crew, unlike usual track day sessions where these services are provided by the circuit.

By doing this Tony Scott of the European Superbike school hopes that riders will get far more time on track than usual in a much safer environment. “I got fed up with riding track days where every time a bike went on the grass, the session was red flagged. We are going to run these days in the same way as a race meeting and let the sessions continue under yellow flags unless an accident poses a threat to the other riders or the rider involved is injured and can’t be moved.”

All riders on the school will also be supplied with a timing transponder and lap times will be recorded throughout the day. This will let the school organise the groups so the fastest riders go out on track first cutting down the amount of time that quick riders are held up, and slower riders have to put up with people flying past.

The school also offers a further level of track day, the Pace Day Special, in which all the riders would have to qualify for it by first attending several of the normal Pace days and proving not only their ability but also their level of track courtesy. The school can then guarantee an extremely high level of riding by all riders.

The groups for this session will be set by the capacity of the bike rather than lap times, making it more in line with what riders might expect to experience in a race situation.