Biking Techniques (Part 35)

Did I Get It Right?

Exit speed is the only real measure of how good you are at a corner. If you want an objective measure of how well you did a corner, get yourself a site picture of the exit and pick a spot just after your track-out point. Your rpms, or speed, there is the measure of your corner. If it's a corner where you have to shift after it, see where you have to shift up -- the sooner you have to shift, the better the exit speed.
Another measure is that you should be riding the whole track. There should not be one point on the track where you're not working hard at it. If you find yourself cruising a section of the track, then you're not applying enough attention to it and need to think harder about that area.

Complete lap times mean nothing unless grid position is at stake. I'm not going to address the special needs of a qualifying session, except to say that they don't apply for any other type of session

So we don't need no steenkin' lap times. They mean nothing today. With the techniques I've outlined, you will know whether you got it right or not, for you and your bike on this day. Don't waste attention on worrying about lap times. Take each corner right, exit fast, and the lap time will come.

From TrackDoD Novice Group Orientation