#Circuit Zolder
And yet it is already the last time for me this 2024 year at Circuit Zolder!
Hot hot hot! It was a day where the weather was very hot. We brought hoses that we could use to cool ourselves down.
First time on Zolder with good weather. Due to many riders saying the have fast laptimes the fast group was full. So we had to start in the less fast group and that was not very nice. The first session there was already a red flag and the second session to.
The last day on the track and what a present! Sun shining brightly and the temperature was climbing fast!
Yet another day on Zolder. The weather was more or less in the early morning. The first session I went out and came back in without passing the finish. The reason for this was that the track was still wet from the rain that fell last night. Some riders stayed out but there was no fun in riding around the wet patches and the back part of the circuit was completely wet.
And yet again back on the track. The weather was nice but it had rain in the forecast. Little but it had. The sessions went fine and had a reasonable rhythm but not a very fast one. The other guys that I drive with where just faster. Not by much but enough to loose them.
Code yellow was the rain forecast and yes it did get bad. But we had a good 2 morning sessions with nice speed. The first session was a good one but it was HOT 🥵, despite there was no sun it was very humid and which made it extremely hard to ride. But the speed was there and had some nice laps.
Yet another day in the same wee as we visited the TT circuit of Assen. It was yet a nice day with lots of sun and a cool breeze. Because we already had the Assen day everything stayed in the van. This made it easy and we just needed to appear on the track and take everything out. We where the first ones of the tay in the expert group (fast) and it went fine.
The day was a nice and hot. Did some nice laps and had a lot of fun with Peter. Some good overtaking actions and decent speed. Unfortunately in the middle of session 4 the bike started to make a lot of noise in turn 1 and 2 and I decided to slow down and finish the lap. Back in the pits the engine was making more noise then a coffee machine and I had to call it a day.
It has been a week since we went to Circuit Zolder that was halted very quickly by black flags due to the noise. So today we “tried” to avoid it.
A very sunny day and a lot of fun to come! After the 5 hours of Assen I had to change the breakpads. They where completely gone. With the new ones I had to break them in for a few corners. After the session the break leaver was on the handlebar but that was fine. I always do the first session in a slower pace to feel hoe the bike and track is.
The last day of the 2021 season has arrived. The day started cold but we where in a good mood. The sun was shining and I wanted to continue my work on the Honda even more. The first session I’m always careful and today was not different. Lots of riders passed me like I was staning still. The track was still cold and I didn’t felt the grip and therefore I took it “slowly”.
I have forgotten the last day of Assen and we are back at Zolder.
Building up the bike from the last crash at SPA took some time. Dashboard was not working and all fairings where destroyed. Brought the bike to Ten Kate Racing and they fixed up the bike very fast.
New day new results. The weather has been good all week and this Friday was not exception. 27℃ and a cool breeze made the day perfect for riding. The rear tire I had on the bike a Metzler K2 was a little worn due to wrong suspension settings. During the first 2 sessions the rear was sliding and I decided to change the tire before the 3rd session. When I switched to a new K2 tire the bike felt very good and the lap times dropped each time I went out.
Last minute trackday and it was a GOOD one! A slight delay because of the highway being closed. Mounted new foot pegs that allowed reverse shifting but one screw got loose and could not shift. I was at the end of the start finish line so I could enter the pits pretty easy, mounted a new bolt and got on my way again in less then 9 minutes!
Happiness and tears at the same time. I sold the old 2008 FireBlade 😥 and bought a newer 2019 SP model 😍. First track day at Zolder with the new bike and not all went well. The day was cold and the temperature only got up to 11℃ which for the time of the year is pretty cold. During every session there was without any exception a red flag 🚩 that caused the session to stop because of a accident.
It has only been 1 week since we where at Zolder but I thought, why not go again it’s been so long since I went 🤫.
After the Corona dificulties were back at the track! The weahter forecast was not so greath, the morning sunny but the afternoon perhaps rain. Well it rained A LOT!
And we are back again! The sun was 30 degrees and strong! Temperature was very good and the day started excellent. Together with @Peter we had 5 sessions of fun on the track. Started off with a 1:53 and ended with a 1:51.00. My physical condition is still not that good and I noticed this when moving my body on the corners. Leaning of and keeping in position was so tough… We rode in the fastest group and of 70 riders I made it to the 37th time. Not bad if I say so myself. Leaving the track with a big smile and lots of run and FAST laps.
First time back on the track at Circuit Zolder! The weather forecast was 10 degrees and cloudy, not ideal but doable for the time of the year. But after the first session the sun appeared and it became a very nice day. It was very good to be back on the bike again and started immediately with confidence and putting down 1:56 lap times. Not the fastest ones but it was still cold (track) and it felt like a good rhythm. @Peter was not that confident yet with his bike but we had some fun playing and making good video footage. Check our the videos in this post to. I did no workout during the winter time and my muscles started to struggle a lot in the 3rd session. During the rest of the day I could not go to the max due to not beeing fully fit. Have to go back to the gym!!! But rode all 6 sessions of 20 minutes and the fastest laptime I did was a 1:54 and felt comfortable with this start. The bike worked perfectly and was pretty fast, notices with other younger 1000cc bikes that it still has the drive. The sprocket changes helped of course to get the power down to the tarmac :P Now up to plan our new track day and go to the gym to put down some better times and compete with the field.
When we booked this day we did not that on the 6th of June 2017 we are going to ride the 4 hours of Assen. Therefore we took the opportunity to check out our pitbord, train the crew and do full sessions to see our physical endurance. The morning started out with rain, rain and rain. Because I totally destroyed my rain tyres last time and did not bought new ones I had to pass on the 2 morning sessions. The other crew was riding ok and @Peter had his motorcycle in the shop and drove a BMW K1200RS (not a race bike :P ) but left @Dennis and me for some good training. My first session was a good one, the track was dry and the sun appeared so we could but down a nice pace. Started with a 2:01, and ended with a 1:52. Every lap I did I was faster and feeling better on the bike. Tried to get comfortable with a riding style that I could keep up for 30 minutes and that 3 times for the endurance. Made progress and could keep the times consistent. The second and third sessions went better and better. Did many 1:50’s and @Dennis also dropped to the 1:50 and did even a 1:49 (a PR for him).The last session was 25 minutes and could do it ease but made some breaking errors so the times where not so consistent but my goal was to do the full 25 minutes. Had a good day even missing out on the 2 sessions and made some good improvement. Next time will be a race on Assen!
Zolder again, lets see what it will bring this time. And it did bring something… The day before we looked at the weather and no rain was predicted. So my bike was still on rain tires from Assen so I switched them to Slick. Of course when we got there RAIN… Switched back to rain and went out again. Very soon I noticed that the tires where not in a good condition anymore (used them to much on the dry) and the right corners the bike was dancing. So I kept the speed below the critical point and did some good laps. @Peter was much much much faster (7 seconds per lap) and no change to keep up with him. The second session was more like the same but @Peter decided to make huge highsider and crashend good. The bike was beyond repair for today (see photos). But despite the rain tires the track dried up and I could mount the slicks. Straight from the tire warmers on the track and I noticed that after +/- 10 minutes the tires where lossing grip and I knew that point I could not keep the heat in the tire during the session. The track and outside temperature was low but kept out for the full session. We had 7 sessions that day and the last 2 where the best. Track warmed up a little sometimes the sun appeared and the 7th session was the one I put down the fastest time 1:54. Definitely not the fastest I did but the pass was around 1:56 ~ 1:58 during the sessions. Not bad considered the conditions. In 3 weeks we ride again on Zolder, lets hope the weather will be better and everybody stays on their bikes ( @Peter )
At the lat ART training @Peter was the fastest person with a 1:48. The last chance of 2016 to improve the time. Due to a event “Petrol Head” there where only 3 sessions in the afternoon but they where great 3 sessions! In the morning it was poring with rain but we saw on the weather forecast that it should stop at 12:00 and our first session would be on 14:00. When we started the track dried completely and we where driving in the sun. In the first corner I got a warning from the tires that where not yet at temperature and because of this @Peter was already gone. But had a nice fight with some other riders. Session 2 was very promising, after I got back in the pits I saw a 1:47.99 on my laptimer \o/ Very pleased by beating the time of @Peter and it was indeed a very good session but very hot. The last session was a nice session of overtaking. Our speed improved a lot and we start to notice that even in the fasted session we are riding from group to group. Passing riders is getting more and more easy. You can also notice the lap times are getting more consistent. All below 1:50 for 11 laps! The intention for this year was to get below the 1:45 but it seems to unreachable. Next year we will try to break the 1:45 at @Circuit_Zolder.
A second attempt for a training. Our last training fell into ☔ It was not possible for safe instructions and we did some nice laps of our own. The day started very well. The circuit was dry and we where in the fasted training frou with Nickey the Wit as instructor. The first session was to discover the track and build up the speed so that the instructor could see the level of speed that we could follow. Each of the riders could follow the instructor for 2 laps and see the lines he was doing. After the session we got instructions about how to attack the corners and the acceleration. The second session we started with individual chase of the instructor for 3 laps and receive comments about the riding style. Of course a day at @Circuit_Zolder cannot stay without rain and we aborted the session early. Some changed to rain tires and wend out for session 3 but we stayed in. I did not have a spare set of rims with rain tires and the rain was only briefly. Just made the lunch a little longer ;) The 4th session Nickey was follwing me to check out my riding style, they were fun laps but we could not use the curbs. They where still to slippery because of the previous rain and that prevented my for doing some fast laps. The final commend that @Peter an I got where the same. Put the bike up faster so that we can open the throttle even faster and break later. Our styles where good to start building up the speed in a responsible way. The last session was a free session in the sun and we all went on the track. Because we went on as last we could start our overtaking. @Peter always starts from the first corner very fast that caused to get caught up in some traffic. Tried to put the suggestion into practice and had a fun session. It was a nice day even with the rain.
3rd track day at @Circuit_Zolder and as always curious about the weather. The gods where with us today and we had a beautiful start and only the first session was a little slippery. My personal goals was to break trough the 1:50 limit and I did it! 1:49.680 was on my laptimer the last session. The feeling was good with the fasted riders and could compete with others as well. The differences where small and I could do my best to keep up with them and even gain speed on them.
To improve our qualities we decided to take a course Advanced Rider Training (ART) at @Motorsportschool. The weather was as always very wild with rain in the afternoon. With the best intentions on slicks we started our first sunny session. Following the instructor went very well at the speed he started. After we came back from the first session it started to rain. It not wet enough for rain tires but to wet for slicks. So we waited… After lunch we changed to rain tires and it went well. A second instructor went out with us and was surprised we could keep up with him and could even stick at his tail. The 4th and last session was not a good one for @Peter, he was trying to pass me on the inside but hit the white line and his front slipped away and crashed :/ We called it a day and wend home with a good feeling despite the rain and the crash.
The 2016 season started and it is the first trackday of the year. It was cold, moist and did not look attractive at all. But we started our day with good intentions. We met a know friend that we met on this site @Alain_-_PINTJE but he was in a different group as us so we did not had a lot time to share some time. Due to the low temperature the track was slippery and far from ideal. But as the day progressed the track became dryer and the grip increased each hour passed. After lunch the 3rd session we had a good feeling and we could put down some nice times and fun laps. @Peter and I noticed we where to fast for the “less” fast group. Its time to step up and go ride with the fast riders :-) Once in the fast group we could ride better times. @Peter and I where exactly at the same speed. with a difference of only 0:00.300 for several laps we were very competitive and we had a lot of fun. The last session @Peter passed me instantly when we entered the track, he didn’t wanted to keep behind me the whole session and it was a smart decision. He immediately pulled away and I could enter the attack mode to hunt him down. Did a 1:51.407 but in the last lap I wanted to make a pass on him but misjudged the fast corner en had to put the bike up. Trough the gravel ended up on the track again to finish the day. Despite the temperature it was a fantastic start of the season.
Last day of the year again. The confidence is growing and the times where way to fast for the “less” fast group. After 2 sessions being the fasted rider jumped to the fast group. I noticed that it was easy to keep up with the fast riders. Many laps behind @Peter I felt very good and confident again. A nice way to close the 2015 season after a big crash.
My hand is recovering slowly and on the @TT-Circuit_Assen I had the chance to feel the bike again. Slowly improving and a much better tire choice shows a better feeling. Got more confidence to build the speed up again.
New bike + new tires + cold track = big high sider + 🚑 + end of day + broken hand 🏥…
For the second time at @Circuit_Zolder and this time on a sunny day. All those laps in the rain are quickly forgotten and the long fast left corner is my personal favorite!
First time ever at @Circuit_Zolder. A day with only rain and also the first time on rain tires… Had no trouble making the switch and had a great confidence in the tires. When you have never driven on rain tires it is difficult to understand, but the grip and corner abilities are amazing.