Refinement with Vision
Late on controls? You might want to adjust your aim.
As of this writing, I’ve only had a single weekend out on the big tracks for 2026, and this was at Thunderhill East. I wasn’t able to get to last year’s pace yet and I have plenty of excuses: the track was green, my stamina wasn’t where I’d like it, traffic, etc. Regardless of the reason, it gives me a point to start working from for this season.
My riding coach asked for my data and I reluctantly obliged. He just picked a few corners but the one that stood out to me was Turn 1, a fast left-hander following the front straight which is good for 160 mph on a liter bike. Braking from ~160 mph and gauging your appropriate speed for the corner happens quickly and takes some rapid calculations as you tip in and ease off the brake pressure and prepare to get back to throttle with positive acceleration past the apex. The exit reference is out of sight until you’re fairly close to the apex and it’s at the edge of a track with no runoff. On my better laps, I’m 110 mph or faster exiting Turn 1. Adding to that, the hard braking on the way to Turn 1 is bumpy and the exit too; the wheelie control is working full-time.
What my coach noticed was that I was a bit late getting back to the throttle and sometimes when I do, it’s too much initially. This corner has stymied me for years, and even in my best laps I feel like I could do it better. Since my coach e-mailed me his observations over a week ago, it’s been in the back of my mind. Earlier this morning I recalled something he told me a few years ago. My coach’s coach was Freddie Spencer and he had told Ken that on some corners he aims for the dirt inside the apex and then uses the throttle to take him out from the dirt, back to the apex. Effectively, the idea is to aim inside the apex and once back to the throttle, use degree of application to put yourself on the apex. For me, I think this approach could be useful.
Since the throttle data is also in the image, I want to address that as well. You can see where I’m late to the throttle in T1 and there’s too much initial throttle particularly in Turns 2 & 3, I’m also going to be focusing on that. The goal in nearly all corners is to be able to smoothly continue to add throttle without backing off, which I clearly wasn’t executing on. To assist with this I’ve also adjusted the throttle map and engine braking on the bike. Full-suite electronics add several dimensions to the game and I haven’t really thought about those as much as I probably ought. My nature is a set-it-and-forget it and just ride what you have, but premium liter bikes have so much power, I’m beginning to come to the conclusion that to ride them effectively, you really may need to lean into the electronics to at least a bit.
Aiming for the dirt isn’t for everyone, and depending on where you are with your riding, you may be a ways off from it but for me, I think this could be useful. By aiming inside the apex, this will force me to get direction sooner and the sooner that I’ve got the bike pointed, the sooner I can get back to positive acceleration (throttle) which should happen as I’m both opening up the radius and slowly taking away lean angle. This doesn’t work with all corners but in corners where you should be accelerating past the apex and camber and gravity are in your favor, as well as having enough power that you can effectively steer the bike with the throttle, it may make sense.
When I go back to Thunderhill, I’m going to make a point of moving my eyes to initially focus on the dirt just inside the apex and use my throttle to adjust my bike’s position on the track. Of course, I’m also going to deliberately work on my throttle hand and building a smoother and initially lighter build.
To repeat, my summary is that I have two core things to work on at my next Thunderhill outing:
Getting direction earlier by aiming toward the dirt on Turn 1; getting direction earlier should put me in the right place to start throttle earlier to line up with my coach’s initial throttle.
Working on the quality of my initial throttle by not grabbing as much at the outset and working toward a continual build. When I’ve focused on this in the past, it makes everything feel slower, though it’s usually the opposite. I am going to take advantage of the bike’s electronics to calm the engine response as well as less engine braking which may help prevent so much over-slowing. I do also like to feel the front tire working.
My objective report cards will be easy to measure—beginning of throttle for T1 should be earlier and if my throttle application starts slower and builds in a linear way. My fitness is already improved from the first outing and for me, sometimes I just need to get a few good laps to build momentum. I’m hoping to get to that because then I should start getting into my preferred bike geometry at turn in (~105-115 mm front travel at turn in and smoother suspension travel through the corner). I could soften the front end but I kind of liking riding to the bike, especially when I know how good it is when I can get to my pace.
My ideal would be able to get my control usage to look like it did on a pretty decent session on my Tuono V4 from last year. Granted, the BMW is appreciably faster and lighter so it may take some time. Yes, I’ve gone faster on the BMW than the Tuono, but my inputs weren’t as disciplined.
