TVS Racing Young Media Racer Program – Track Training

Believe it or not but to fine tune our throttle game, Harry suggested that we do our laps without using our brakes at all, instead, we use our throttle and engine to modulate our momentum. Seems tricky at first but once you start putting it to practice, it really does help as you realize the amount of control you can exercise through merely the throttle, which in turn leaves a lot of room for braking (if you find the need to use it).

Race starts are one of the most vital lessons worth mastering

Another stint back to the class and though everyone is exhausted, our spirits are still high and mighty. The next lesson for us is race starts and the use of front brakes. I cannot tell you how important this lesson is to me as launches have been my weak spot. The start is one of the most vital parts of a race, it’s the place where all the riders are gathered together and a very crucial place for overtakes to be made. You can cover up so many positions merely by landing your launch.

We were given 3 launches each and right at the end of each launch, we were told to slow down but by trying to only use the front brake. Most people avoid applying more of the front brake but this test really helped how important the front brakes are on the track. The biggest challenge while launching a bike is not overdoing it. If your launch is too lazy, you might as well move aside because you’re going to lose a lot of speed and time. If your launch isn’t well-calculated, you could end up pointing to the sky and falling. I don’t know which one is worse but if you find that sweet spot, you can shoot down the start like a bullet with zero disregard for wind. I mean it really goes.

We head back to our beloved air conditioned classroom and go over all of our errors and room for improvement. Everyone seemed pretty up to speed with all their shortcomings and were eager to go out and work on them. Which is exactly what TVS let us do, they gave us the next lesson as free time on the track, unshackled, untamed and unleashed out on the track to put whatever we’ve learned to use.

This was honestly my favorite part of our session. When you’re left with all the knowledge with nothing but your own guiding voice inside your head telling you what to and what not to do. You feel yourself pushing further than you do, you can hear yourself calming and instructing yourself. Once we were done with our final laps, I could feel the improvement myself. The pure rush of adrenaline, the nervousness, the doubt and that sense of achievement, I guess all of this put together is the best way to define thrill. This has been a wonderful experience and I only wish it is shared with more people. Thank you TVS for letting us in on such a beautiful experience and taking our country’s name forward in motorsports.